Strive Time Productions Urges Positive Vibes Among At-Risk Youths With ‘Who Gonna Do It?’

When long-time family and close friends Hopeton Bailey, Deal ‘Blacks’ Miller and Oneil Foreman merged forces to start Strive Time Productions over a year ago, little did they know that their entity would become a catalyst to inspire at-risk youths in the Sandy Bay community of Clarendon.

“Years ago, our community was very peaceful, interesting and fun. Unfortunately, things have changed. We strongly believe that we can create a shift in paradigm, which will see the youth in the community thinking and acting in a more positive and uplifting way,” Hopeton Bailey, an England-based motivational speaker, author and community growth and development leader, told DancehallMag.

The label is geared towards promoting positivity, peace, community spirit and camaraderie, and hopefully will create employment for youths with musical talent.

“We started out with Bobo Wiseman (Oneil Foreman) as one of our main artistes, and since the studio opened up officially in January 2021, we have been working on a medley project called ‘Who Gonna Do It?’ with ten artistes on it,” Bailey explained.

The single, released on the Strive Time Productions and Howsa Payne imprints, was released last month on all digital platforms.  The engineer of the project was Payne Mendez. The artistes featured on the song are Emanuel Stain, Payne Mendez, and Alva Black, who are all from Sandy Bay, as well as Loyal Flames, Dervin, Hamma 1, Garison Youth, Volkano, Stratus and the aforementioned Bobo Wiseman.

“It is an inspirational song that urges young people to strive and just do it. We have been getting a great reaction from disc jockeys on radio stations like IRIE FM, Hot 103 and Suncity Radio,” Deal ‘Blacks’ Miller, one of the founders of Strive Time Production, said.

“The official music video is out and is now on CVM top ten chart. This video has done and is still doing a lot to promote the project which is the first of many to create a path to success for young talents from the community.”

The label’s  aim is “to sign at least one hundred artists by the end of 2022”.

“We are confident in our project that we have the skills and expertise in Sandy Bay to create a massive, indelible positive impact on the music industry. As such our long-term goal for Strive time Production is to be the first label to signed 1000 artists,” Bailey opined.

Bailey believes that once they create a path for at least one artiste, the rest will follow and that will breed opportunities for generations upon generations. Let us build the musical army.

“We know people live what they learn. We also know that every youth from our community, if given the opportunities to express their God-given talents, gifts and abilities, will do so to a great level when they are inspired and motivated. Consequently, we will use music to create some positive role models in our community,” he opined.

Bailey, who migrated to England in 2006 as a teacher, now holds a master’s degree in education and is founder and CEO of the Aspirers Society UK, which works with and uplifts disadvantaged youth and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.

“We’re in this for the long haul, we choose to light a candle instead of cursing the darkness, we want to inspire people and change lives,” Bailey concluded.