Chronic Law defends ‘Self Protection’ single

Jamaican dancehall music has for long been pigeon-holed as a genre that promotes violence through the constant references to guns and bad man behaviour.

For this reason, several dancehall artistes have come under fire for their use of 'gun talk', leading to the banning of some songs like Bounty Killer's Anytime.

Still, Ackeme Campbell, more popularly known as Chronic Law, is not concerned that he would get any heat from the message he is sending in his latest single Self Protection.

In the track, the St Thomas deejay talks about the need to own a gun. The Hillside deejay told THE STAR, "The idea of the song was penned on what is happening in today's world - how people can betray and hurt their family or friends - what goes on in the country and worldwide."

Remaining resolute regardless of the implications was of utmost importance to the deejay, and making that declaration in this slow-paced lyrical project was exactly what he wanted to accomplish. The track and accompanying visuals were released last Friday and the song is currently trending at number two on YouTube with more than 300,000 views thus far.

Chronic Law elaborated on the different calibre sizes of guns, some of which are illegal to own. But he quickly pointed out, "I don't condone persons who have both illegal and legal guns that act on their ego or for bad".

"But I think responsible individuals should be able to get a licensed firearm depending on their reasons," he said. "I would say to my critics that it is an individual's choice how they interpret Self Protection, whether it be positive or negative. For me, my protection first comes from The Most High God and myself, to use wisdom in everything. Every artiste needs to know their mission, the reason they do the music they do. That's all I can say." Producer Droptop said that he does not believe artistes who write 'gun tunes' should be targeted.

"I don't think you should target any one artiste from their lyrics because you can sing or deejay a positive message and based off how individuals process information, they might think the opposite," Droptop said. He said that Chronic Law has a strong sense of character and, "believes that this single will do better than they have ever imagined".

"Chronic Law will cement his spot in reggae and dancehall to become a well sought-after commodity. I anticipate this track will be number one with it getting a lot of traction on every local and international platforms," he said.