Whenever Autarchii visits Jamaica, he is amazed by the number of wayward youths roaming the streets.

He sings about those disturbing scenes in Wake Up, his latest song which he co-produced with Tyrone Hardman.

The New York-based artiste not only bemoans young men on the ‘corners’ drinking “boom an’ rum”, but offers solutions on the track, which is distributed by Tuff Gong International for his Red A Red Music Group and Grand Lion Productions.

“The scenes I am exposed to in Jamaica are usually uncensored and raw, especially in the ghetto, giving me insight into some of the toxicity within the culture. Wake Up is a firsthand observation of graphic activities that unfolded in front of my very eyes,” Autarchii told the Jamaica Observer.

Education and discovering the uplifting messages of black heroes like Jamaican Pan African icon Marcus Garvey and Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, are directions he believes many Jamaicans can take to stay clear from criminality and laziness.

“It’s definitely critical for youths to know their story or they will follow the wrong path, thinking it’s right. Oftentimes, emphasis is placed on the bad imagery that misleads the youths instead of putting the good imagery in front of them that they should be following, which is the aim of Wake Up,” Autarchii explained.

Autarchii (real name Jermaine Joseph) first heard the message of roots-reggae in his youth. His father, singer Donovan Joseph, was part of the Maxfield Avenue/Greenwich Farm grassroots scene that produced a flurry of socially-conscious artistes during the late 1970s.

Wake Up is the follow-up to Blood Ago Run, another hard-hitting song distributed by Tuff Gong International that railed against European colonialism and saluted black freedom fighters such as Fred Hampton.

– Howard Campbell