Reggae's Gonna Save The World

This summer McNaughton and his band, Zincfence Redemption, will return to Australia behind 2017's debut album, Chronology - having first toured in late 2014. "The audiences are good," McNaughton remembers. "It was like being in a different world, kind of. The atmosphere felt different than anywhere else I've ever been. So it was nice. I enjoyed it." Significantly, he visited the Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy, engaging directly with Indigenous Australians. "It's a sad thing, whenever I am in a country such as Australia, to know that over centuries the administration of the actual country has just failed miserably to really rebalance the climate — to make it better for the Indigenous people."

The Spanish Town native entered the music industry by following his artist father, Chronicle (Jamar McNaughton, Sr). "Little Chronicle" sang and then produced riddims. He developed a fresh Caribbean fusion of dub, dancehall, ragga, soul and hip hop - shaped by his Rastafari philosophy. In 2011, McNaughton dropped his inaugural EP, Hooked On Chronixx. But, three years later, it was The Dread & Terrible Project that put him in the Billboard Reggae Charts. McNaughton also blessed Protoje's hit Who Knows, remixed into a drum'n'bass banger by Shy FX.

The reggae revivalist has attracted influential fans, including Major Lazer, who showcased him on the mixtape Start A Fyah alongside Walshy Fire. McNaughton guested on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon after the program's host encountered him on holiday in Jamaica. In 2016, he opened for The Stone Roses (and Public Enemy) at the first of several arena gigs in Manchester, Ian Brown personally inviting him. And McNaughton performed at a MusiCares benefit in New York to honour another buff: U2 bassist Adam Clayton.

McNaughton, 25, received a Grammy nom for Chronology. Yet even this precocious musician found his debut a learning experience - and McNaughton's creative "process" has changed accordingly. "Making that record taught me a lot of patience with myself," he ponders. "Ever since I released Chronology, I've been less active - as far as going into the studio every day to force myself to make music. I was never a person to force myself, but I did a lot of times. Making this album taught me that it's actually better to co-operate with your own creativity, rather than try to exploit it - be your own field general."

McNaughton is popular in the wider hip hop community. He's turned up on both of Joey Bada$$'s albums (and Little Simz' art grime Stillness In Wonderland). Nonetheless, McNaughton is perturbed by the rampant materialism in hip hop as well as dancehall (he has fronted an Adidas campaign, but a culturally attuned one). McNaughton alludes to a pervasive "ignorance" and "spiritual poverty" - the latter affecting an individual's self-worth. "My only hope for hip hop, and dancehall, is that it can become a vehicle for more positive vibrations," he says. "More music that is more uplifting, because humanity don't need to be pushed down any further in the media - it's too far down to push ourselves down any further!"

Linked to the Rastafari movement, reggae is traditionally about empowering the African diaspora. However, in the dancehall sub-genre, 'deejays' (MCs) would introduce contradictory themes - notably that of violence, leading to the descriptor "murder music". Since Buju Banton's controversial '80s track Boom Bye Bye, dancehall has come under fire from international LGBTQIA+ activists for homophobic lyrics. Last year, Foreign Correspondent's Eric Campbell investigated that prejudice, tracing its origins to Jamaica's legacy of conservative Christianity, patriarchy and colonialism.

While acknowledging the issue of homophobia, McNaughton maintains that larger systemic inequalities must be addressed first. He sees homophobia as a by-product. "I think we have some real problems, in that way, but reggae music is one of the only things that can help humanity with these problems," he reasons. "So we shouldn't become distracted, trying to figure out things that humanity will figure out on its own eventually." And, ultimately, that is McNaughton's message to his fellow artists: to not compound social inequality but focus on positive change. "It's very selfish, as somebody who is blessed with exceptional talent, to use your resources and your time and your money to deal with certain matters that are detrimental to the general progress of all human beings."