Emerging dancehall artiste Furtyle is calling on all entertainers to plant fruits of positivity to yield a lower crime rate.

“Artistes can do more positive music and leading by example in positive actions to influence their listeners,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Furtyle is on a promotional campaign for his song Worthless Choppa, released on September 4. It was produced by Egypt Recordings.

According to him, the song is aimed at inspiring young men to spend wisely and invest in assets.

“Being from Montego Bay, we value any opportunity we can get to make money and put that money to good use. But there are some youths who spend all their money on flashy things like cars but then they have nowhere to live so this song highlights making better choices,” he explained.

“Choppa doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a scammer; any hustle you have, whether it’s a business overseas or you’re selling produce down in the market, just being a hustler overall makes you a choppa,” he continued.

Montego Bay is the tourist capital in St James and one of the island’s hot spots. Yesterday, Governor General Patrick Allen ordered a state of emergency for St James, Westmoreland, and Hanover, and the police divisions of St Andrew South, Kingston West, Kingston Central and Kingston East. In a press briefing Sunday morning, Prime Minister Andrew Holness said this was due to the rise in crime and violence in these areas.

The regional crime investigative reporting organisation Insight Crime reported that Jamaica had the highest murder rate in the Latin America/Caribbean region in 2020, at 46.5 per 100,000, ahead of Venezuela and Honduras.

The accompanying music video for Worthless Choppa, directed by Tinman of Swag TV Films, was released with the track and has racked up 104,000 views on YouTube.

“I’m confident that this will be my breakthrough song; I see where it has the potential to reach as far as other planets so I believe it can skyrocket and do a great deal for my career. It has been played on Hot97 so it’s definitely going in the right direction,” the deejay added.

Furtyle (given name Kenardo Robinson) launched his career in 2010. His previously released songs include Boss Up, Ambush, and Money Mek.