Jada Kingdom drops her first major lable single, “Jungle.”
The audio was released a couple hours before the music video which chronicles life in streets of Jamaica with rampant corruption in the island. Produced by Sak Pase, Khalil Hazzard, and Nascent Beats, the single is placed on a reggae beat that bolsters the somber and serious message behind the song.
The song’s visual deeply reflect the heart-wrenching and thought-provoking lyrics of the song. “Jungle” is centered around a city plagued by gun violence which affects the people of the city and the most vulnerable group of people in any population, the children.
“Careful how yuh moving when yuh walk outta street/ Man dem over ya suh have more guns than police/ Hungry man ah rob to put some food on his plate / Dah dirty preacher boy yah, him just get charge for rape,” sings Jada.
Jada Kingdom lyrics reflect a harsh but true reality of the state of living of many Jamaicans. She continued further to briefly explore the exploitation of local authorities in the lyrics, “Soldier come, we have to scatter/ try fi put we in a shackles/ take wi goods, knock off wi hustle/ have to stash away the duffel.”
Her message is then truly brought home in the chorus where she cries out, “Hard fi wi dream caz wi nuh si nuh happy end/ the heavy machine fi closer tu you than yuh friend/ hunger mek yuh lay down/ cyah wait fi di light come/ jungle, this no kingdom!”
Throughout the music video, Jada Kingdom is seen running away from the violence with a child in hand while trying her best to protect the boy. The visuals showcase the stories of various families and how violence and police brutality affect the people of the city.
Some take to the church, and some get swallowed by the streets, and some never make it past this. Nearing the end of the video, a young father from the church steals a snack from a convenience store for his child and runs off. The scene cuts to him running away from a police vehicle, and the video closes out with a thief’s mother accidentally shot by the police in a frantic chase while the thief tried to flee to his home.
Kingdom has been teasing the song since the 1st week of October with promo clips and pictures of the music video. Just a day before the song’s release, she leaked another part of the song in a video of her and her team in the studio enjoying the single. The caption stated, “‘JUNGLE’ was created on march 1 8th 2021 Written by Myself,@versesimmonds @iamworldwidefresh Produced by: @sakpase365 @djkhalil @nascentbeats Engineered by: @stu_in.the.studio Recorded & Produced at: chalice recording studios – JUNGLE OUT TOMORROW! +10.22.21.”
The song is a tribute to all families that live these harsh realities of the streets that are ignored by the upper echelons of society. Check out this thought piece in her video, “Jungle.”
Verse Simmonds also reacted to Jada Kingdom’s new song noting it’s her first major label single.
“Today is the release of @jadakingdom new single “Jungle”!” Simmonds wrote while sharing a teaser of the visual. “It is her 1st release on a major label (Money Well Spent / Republic). I am so proud of this moment because ppl dont know what we went thru to get to this point! I am so proud of u Jada! You went from the trenches of Jamaica and u are now on the way to being a GLOBAL SUPERSTAR. Ur passion and talent for your art is unmatched! U are one of them ones! Your pen game is top tier and im happy u allowed us to be a part of ur journey! This is just the beginning! Wait till they hear the rest of ur music! ?? what they not gonna do is expect whats to come! Its up and we aint comin down no time soon!”
Jada Kingdom signed a record deal with Republic Records in June this year and hired a new management team following a falling out with previous manager.
