Emerging deejay Ovarall is appealing to Jamaicans to hold firm in their faith amid these trying times.

“Jamaicans, these are not normal times. Mankind has lost their true purpose in life. The hearts of men have become desperately wicked. It seems COVID-19 has hit us with multiple side effects — one of which is allowing Satan to totally control our thoughts and actions,” the 32-year-old told the Jamaica Observer.

“Look at the crime! Look how dem kill Khanice Jackson. Look how dem kill the Clarendon teacher Natalie Dawkins. These are trying times,” he continued.

Jackson, 20, was allegedly killed by a 50-year-old mechanic who offered her a lift in Portmore, St Catherine.

Dawkins’s body was found dumped in a shallow grave in Clarendon. The educator’s motor vehicle was found in Bellas Gate, St Catherine on Saturday, April 3, after two men attempted to sell it. The men engaged police in a shootout and one was subsequently killed, while the other escaped.

The deejay’s project, Walk Wid Faith, is scheduled to be released next month on the Diamond Ink Production label.

Ovarall, given name Marlon McKenzie, said Walk Wid Faith is coming from personal experience.

“I lost my job in the midst of COVID-19 and it wasn’t easy with a family of my own and bills to pay. I tried getting a new job without success,” he said.

“Instead of turning away from God as many persons would have done, I continued to walk wid faith like Job (in the Bible) who had lost all his wealth and health and came out of my problem with more than he had lost. Faith moves mountains so when Lazarus lay dead and Mary and Martha, mourning, called on Jesus, the man of God to come, and commanded: ‘Lazarus comes forth! And Lazarus alighted from the tomb. So, I jus’ keep holding to my faith,” he continued.

The emerging deejay was born in the tough inner-city community of Waterhouse in Kingston. He, however, moved to Central Village in Spanish Town; then to Thornton in St Elizabeth. He currently resides in St James.

“It was in Central Village I recorded my first professional song, Down Inna Di Streets in 2007. This was to highlight the stalk reality of life in the ghetto, including crime and violence,” he said.

The song done on the Ivor Wiser Production label made the deejay a positive figure in Central Village and earned him performances at several school concerts.

The former St Elizabeth Technical High School student entered the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s Big Stage All-Island Competition in 2016 and placing a promising second with his original song, Lunch Time on Diamond Ink Production label.