Don Yute calls for compassion and selflessness on ‘Cry For The World’

Known for party anthems like Loving Excess and You Own di Man, Don Yute says he has never been a one-dimensional artiste. He goes all out to prove that on Cry For The World, his latest song. Produced by Joshua Manning, the up-tempo track was released on August 18. It hears the veteran deejay calling for selflessness no matter how financially successful one gets. In an interview with Observer Online, Don Yute said Cry For The World, “Shows that I’m an artiste with soul and passion without fear of being different.” It is the follow-up to Upstream, his collaboration with roots singer I-Wayne. While often identified with 1990s dancehall, Don Yute said that period or sound does not define his work which has seen him experiment with hip hop and pop. He enjoys genre-bending and speaks of his admiration for artistes like rock singer Jim Morrison of The Doors who took an avant garde approach to making music. Yet, he takes pride in being part of a decade that saw homegrown acts like Shabba Ranks, Mad Cobra and Super Cat being signed to major American labels and making the pop charts. “I think dancehall from the ‘90s is special and timeless because the quality, context and content in the songs were more for the people that loved music, and they could identify who the artiste singing the song by their signature voices,” said Don Yute. “That made the vibe of the music stick with them like a part of their life and not just a trend for the moment.” Born in Kingston, Don Yute (real name Jason Williams) spent some of his formative years in Portland. Raised in the middle-class neighbourhood of Havendale, his childhood friends included Sean Paul, whom he introduced to the dancehall scene. Don Yute got his big break in 1994 with singer Wayne Wonder, with whom he shared the mic on Loving Excess. That song was recorded on the vaunted Peperseed “riddim” and helped announce producer Dave Kelly as a force in dancehall. — Howard Campbell