Strugglas hopes to reach youth

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

Singer Strugglas is eyeing a breakthrough in Jamaica after a decade of living abroad. But he hopes his latest song reaches the ears of misguided ghetto youth.

Ghetto Love, the second release from a four-song set the singer released on his Roaring Tone Productions label early this year, is partially directed at hostilities that have scarred the Waterhouse community for decades.

Strugglas told The Gleaner recently that even though he no longer lives there, his family still calls Waterhouse home and he would love to make a difference.

"Whether mi near or mi far mi always hold a 'meds' pon mi community," he said. "Knowing sey mi come outa a area wey have so much violence gi mi a strength to bring out my upbringing inna mi songs."

Strugglas (given name Tafahee Campbell) hails from Drewsland, one of the tougher sections of Waterhouse. He left the area nine years ago and immigrated to the United States, but keeps up to date with developments there through relatives and the Internet.

Based on what he has heard and seen, not much has changed. Police say gangs in Waterhouse are involved in a longstanding feud with thugs from the nearby community of Marverley.

"Wi want to mek everybody know sey Waterhouse is one place, not because a gully separates us," he said.

Ghetto Love is the follow-up to John Prophecy which Strugglas says got satisfactory airplay in Jamaica. Both songs were self-produced for Roaring Tone and initially released largely to a Jamaican audience in New York City where Strugglas has lived for the last decade.

The Waterhouse where he was raised was not only a tough area, it was known for producing top-notch roots-reggae acts like Black Uhuru, Junior Reid and producer Lloyd 'King Jammy' James.

Black Uhuru took off internationally during the early 1980s, but it was at Jammys studio in Drewsland that some of the biggest hit songs of the modern dancehall era were recorded.

Strugglas was still a student at Kingston College when the Waterhouse music scene was hot, but says he was not big on an entertainment career at the time. That changed when he moved to the US and began recording.

A discussion with roots singer Richie Spice at a dance in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, influenced Strugglas to try and get a foothold in Jamaica. The mini album which also includes It's Free and Lie Dem a Tell, is his first attempt at that breakthrough.

Strugglas said it is important to make it in Jamaica and at the same time make an impact in his war-torn hometown.