WITH over 1,400 murders recorded in Jamaica for 2021, the Government again finds crime atop its agenda as it starts the year. The frightening homicide rate and lawlessness also concerns singer Karamanti.

Her debut album, Spiritual Warfare, was released in December as Jamaicans grappled with a spike in homicides and novel coronavirus cases. The set’s title takes direct aim at social degradation in her country.

“The message in Spiritual Warfare is this: Choose God, choose righteousness. Turn away from evil. As a Jamaican, I am stunned at the level of vicious crime taking place on such a small island,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

“For me this means that real, raw evil is alive and well here. I am talking about demonic forces; and it is consuming our youths. The Government and the police can and should do whatever is in their power to fight this evil, but the fact is that this requires spiritual warfare,” Karamanti added.

Spiritual Warfare has 10 songs. One of those, Start With A Prayer, was released in August.

Some of the tracks are produced by Delroy “Fatta” Pottinger of Anchor Studios in Kingston and Lamar Thompson whose Audio Traxx Production is based in Old Harbour, St Catherine.

Karamanti also worked with Arioso Legato out of New Jersey, Major P from the Czech Republic, and Teban Cee from South Florida, giving Spiritual Warfare an international flavour.

“One of the advantages of working with producers from different countries is that it provided an opportunity for me to grow as a songwriter. I received several beats, ranging from Afrobeats to roots-reggae, to hip hop, to dub. This meant that I had to push myself as a writer by creating something that not only sounds good, but was also consistent as it relates to the message that I am trying to convey,” she explained.

Though describing herself as “a God-fearing/believing person”, Karamanti says she is not a gospel artiste. Born Shelly-Ann Jackson in Kingston, most of her life was spent in Montreal and Toronto, Canada; she returned to Jamaica 10 years ago.

The video for Start With A Prayer will be released in late January.