Reggae artiste Panic is pleased with the online response to his album, ‘Panic 8.29 – I Release’, which was launched on August 29th.
He is ecstatic that the streaming numbers for his song have surpassed 400,000 on Spotify, but he is more concerned about the health crisis created by the coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m very grateful for the support and I want to relay to the public we have to, as one, come together and change the direction of the world. If we don’t start working together, we will never have a concert again, we will never ever have a party again, can’t have anywhere we can come together and do the things we used to do. If we keep going like this, I don’t see the correction,” Panic, whose real name is Tom Jones, said.
“The numbers are getting worse, we have to come together, remember the mask wearing, social distancing, taking care of hygiene, make it a collective effort to get back to normal life, because if we don’t, I just don’t know what the world will be like in the future,” he said.
The coronavirus pandemic has infected over 35 million people worldwide claiming over a million lives.
The album marks a comeback for Panic, who was introduced to the market as a rock-reggae-roots artiste as part of the Canadian band, Panic and the Rebel Emergency, over 14 years ago.
“Right now, I love being back in Jamaica, reconnecting with my family and friends, I have a lot of songs in me, a lot of things to say, so I want to the world to look out what Panic has to say,” he said.
The 13 track album features singles such as ‘Nah Go Change’, ‘Oh Girl, ‘Am Up Early’ , ‘Save a Life’ and ‘ Purest Heart’ featuring Mykal Rose. There is aslo a bonus track.
Panic will be amping up the album’s promotion with the release of a video for the popular ‘Oh Girl’ single next week.
Panic grew up in Jamaica where he attended Shortwood Infant and Primary schools before completing his secondary education at Calabar High school, where he gained a reputation for his deejaying skills. Once he left school, he linked up with Nemesis sound system, where he would do mixes with his friends in a room in Norbrook, upper St Andrew.
He left Jamaica in 1999 and he became the resident engineer at the fledgling John Shop Records in Bronx, New York, where he got to work with a virtual who’s who of talent. Buju Banton, Sean Paul, Vybz Kartel, Wayne Wonder and others have been on his roster. He was incarcerated for 13 years on a drug charge and is now back in Jamaica. He immediately hit the studios to record one of the hundreds of songs he had buzzing around in his head.
“Music lives within me so I had to get it out,” he said.
