Formerly incarcerated Trinidadian artists drop ‘Born a Criminal’
It’s part dancehall, part Afrobeats, with an ominous jazz riff and powerful lyrics that decry the way poverty and inequality produce criminals from citizens, “Born a Criminal” by a Trinidadian collective of formerly incarcerated artists called Critical Mas — in collaboration with renowned jazz musician Etienne Charles — is poised to take airwaves by storm. To be released at The Burg on Saturday, the song —produced by Rheon Elbourne, credited as the inventor of “Trinibad” music, akin to Jamaican dancehall — was originally written by group member Friday as a calypso tune back in 2010, when he was incarcerated in Trinidad’s youth detention center. Friday won the People’s Choice Award with “Born a Criminal”—but never thought it would transform years later to become part of something much bigger than music. Critical Mas is housed under the umbrella of Incarceration Nations Network, a global prison reform organization helmed by well-known writer, professor and activist Dr. Baz Dreisinge...