Yung Ras wants cleaner lyrics in songs

Rising dancehall artiste Yung Ras said as he is poised to getting a major breakthrough in 2025, his musical content will continue to be free of scamming and violence.

As he sat in THE STAR offices earlier this week, the entertainer said he is alarmed by the nation's crime rate while stating that he and fellow artistes have a role to play in curbing it.

"I would change the content of the music that we as artistes choose to put out there. The bag a 'chopping' and violence, mi would definetly cut out of the lyrics that's going out. Look back at 2024 and it wasn't that nice. Some of the things that we as influencers are putting out to the world influence children to fight inna school and stab up each other. Music will make yuh feel mighty, enuh, and strong, and we have to remember that music contribute to all type of emotions," he said.

The artiste said that while some may not agree, he strongly believes that music is powerful enough to influence an individual's feelings which could lead to criminal activities.

"We nuh need to a motivate the youths dem to scam and do violence because that is gonna only go one way. We should do songs about making money, but the right and honest way. Music contributes to everything in life, so of course music gonna contribute to the crime rate. There are certain things that people say musically that connect with people and push them to want to do certain things. We need to alleviate or cut down on the violence that we sing about," she said.

Yung Ras, whose given name is Ambasa Beckford, hails from Palmers Cross, Clarendon. Signed to Good Times Entertainment, helmed by Vybz Kartel's former manager Rohan Bulter, Yung Ras is currently creating a wave with his sexy single Whine For Me. He said the song sets the mood for lovemaking and this was obvious when he gave a captivating and soulful performance for the STAR team.

"[The song] is about a unique way of making love to your woman. It's about a unique way of showing ownership and being dominant. Make sure yuh tell yuh woman say she a yours and don't bother give it away or she ago inna trouble. It's about embracing and just making good love to your woman ," he said.

Yung Ras described his musical style as a mixture of different genres while stating that there are no limits to his sounds.

"I dabble in all genres and I can do anything musically that I put my mind to. There are no limits to me. I fused different sounds from different genres and merge it with dancehall and make our culture sound better. Mi is from a musical family, as my parents are musicians and my sister is a singer. In fact, mi did all have a dog inna mi yard weh can do music," he said between laughter.

In addition to Whine for Me, Yung Ras is also promoting other singles such as Cut Dem off, Break Up Cheating and Bareback.

"A whole heap a time mi get a little one viral song here and there, enuh, but I have a song name She Likes. It was one of the first songs that gave me recognition weh make artistes like Lila Ike and others reach out to me. I can't even speak of my plans for the rest of the year because I am very talented, so yuh can expect just about anything except songs weh a influence the crime rate. Too much people dead last year," he said.