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Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses
yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse
of your teeming shore.
THOSE words, inscribed at the base of the Statue of Liberty, has provided comfort to millions of immigrants to the United States, including Eric Smith.
But in the past five years, the immigrant has come under intense scrutiny in that country. Smith makes note of the troubling trend in Alien, one of his latest songs.
It is produced by Delroy “Fatta” Pottinger.
Smith, who has lived in Connecticut for 33 years, told the Jamaica Observer that he wrote and recorded the song, “Because I got tired of being called an alien in America since I held a Green Card…or as they refer to it, an Alien Card in America.”
Smith has been a prominent figure on the Connecticut reggae scene for years. Hard-hitting tracks like Wolf from his lone album, Rocky Road, have helped build that profile.
With immigrants being targeted and law enforcement seemingly increasing their aggression toward minorities, he felt the need to tackle those issues in song.
Police Brutality, another of his current songs also produced by Pottinger, addresses the spate of controversial incidents against black people in the US as well as the impoverished in his native Jamaica.
“Racial turmoil and police conflict have been in America since day one. It is rampant though you might not hear about it. It is happening every day. One has to be careful wherever he/she goes,” said Smith.
Raised in the Papine area of St Andrew, Smith was attracted to message music in his youth. Bob Marley and Jacob Miller were his earliest influences, but as he got older he found inspiration in a militant group and its lead singer.
“After the deaths of Bob Marley and Jacob Miller, Black Uhuru inspired me with the sound of Mykal Rose. His way of singing really moved me,” said Smith.
Sly and Robbie, who helped define the Black Uhuru sound, played on Police Brutality.
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