Synopsis
Shot in downtown Kingston, Jamaica, the video presents Rootz Underground in a direct, street-level setting that matches the song's roots-reggae urgency. The band's performance is placed against the city's everyday urban environment, while the track delivers a call for awareness and resistance. Its focus is not escapism, but the social pressures, historical exploitation, and ideological control that can turn ordinary people, especially young Jamaicans, into "victims of the system."
Factoids & Trivia
- The video was Rootz Underground's first creative effort in the music-video format.
- It was shot in downtown Kingston, Jamaica, giving the clip a distinctly local setting rather than a studio-built backdrop.
- The official video appeared online in December 2006, ahead of the band's debut album, "Movement," which was released in 2008.
- The song was also featured on the 2007 release "Lightning Theory," issued by Riverstone Records. That release included an "Orange Hill Dub" version of the track.
- The lyrics draw on Rastafari ideas and historical figures, including Marcus Garvey and Haile Selassie. The song's criticism of oppression and mental conditioning places it firmly in the tradition of conscious Jamaican roots reggae.
- By 2007, the video was receiving exposure on Tempo, MTV's Caribbean music channel, helping introduce the Jamaican band to audiences outside the island.