Cocoa Tea, Jahman collab on positive single

St Croix reggae artiste Jahman had an idea for a song that would deliver a positive message to the world, so he called on veteran reggae artiste Cocoa Tea to help reinforce that message.

The song, We Up, Never Down, was released last week. Based on the early, positive vibrations, the artistes are upbeat that the message will resonate with music lovers. Jahman has been a fan of Cocoa Tea's music from he was a youngster.

"Cocoa Tea is part of the foundation of reggae music. Just listening to him, he's like a walking library with so much knowledge about reggae music. One of my favourite songs is Rykers Island," said Jahman. Cocoa Tea spoke about collaborating with Jahman.

"Troy McLean (radio disc jock) called me and told me that he had someone who would like to do a collaboration with me. So I asked him who it was and he said Jahman. I told him to send me the song so I could listen to it, and after listening to the song, I thought it had a positive message. I decided that I would do it," he explained. "It was really easy working with Jahman because he was very humble, and I like that about him."

Cocoa Tea said the title of the song carries a message of hope and aspirations for the world, especially with the current pandemic.

"It's easy for people to give up hope and lose focus in these times. But this song is telling people that although there is so much fear being instilled in the people, just remember that 'We Up, Never Down'. ... and remember to trod with a positive sound," said Cocoa Tea.

Jahman said the response has so far been phenomenal.

"The message that we want the world to get from it is, no matter what you're going through in life, just tell yourself, your bredrin or family member to just hold the faith. No matter what life tosses at you, once you have the breath of life and feeling healthy, you're up," he said.

Jahman, given name Jabari Carrington, hit the Billboard Reggae Albums chart in 2018 with the album Altitude, which peaked at number seven.