I-Maroon ditches bleaching

In June 2019, Rastafarian singer I-Maroon caused quite a stir when he revealed that he had joined the clan of bleached-out face entertainers.

Fast-forward to 2022 and the Mi Salt singer is back where he started, as a black man. And, he has vowed never to bleach again, nor pour colour in his hair. And he is making a determined effort to sing conscious songs. The reason for the change, he confessed, is twofold.

"Yuh know, sometimes the bleaching cream get a little expensive and plus the elders who mi respect seh that, as a Bobo youth and a Maroon youth, the bleaching ting don't look good," I-Maroon, who hails from Elderslie, a stone's throw from Accompong Town in St Elizabeth, explained.

He added that he wanted the "forward" and hoped that the skin-bleaching would do the trick, but refused to say whether or not it worked.

"Mi get over 29,000 views after me bleach and the comments were good and bad. But, right now, mi a low the bleaching ting, see mi colour start come back. Mi always love the fashion, that's why mi did put colour inna mi hair. But now I am wearing beads, because that is from ancient days. From it have to do with skin, me a leave that alone forever, even when me can afford fi buy di bleaching cream," I-Maroon said.

He is now focused on a song which he says is gaining quite a bit of traction in the dancehall space, Give the Children the Love They Deserve. It is the first track from an as-yet-untitled album he is working on for producer Andre Golden Records.

"I did this song before the pandemic but it was released at the right time. The child molesting and the raping increase since corona and the kids are at home unsupervised. And then there is the bag a gun violence which is getting out of hand. We have to help the Government to 'radicate the crime. Dem seh we a di influence fi di youth, so we haffi use our platform wisely," he said.

This newfound wisdom has seen I-Maroon "leggo offa di comedy song dem like Mi Salt" and delve deep into his consciousness and reality lyrics.