Their first two hit songs earned them back to back V.I. Carnival Road March titles, and now JDPP Jammerz H.P. (High Performance) are taking their music to another level, teaming up with Cutting Edge Entertainment to shoot a video for the boxing inspired single "Push It," which will soon be appearing on YouTube, and – they hope – on Tempo and Black Entertainment Television.
The band took its music on the road last week for three days of shooting all over St. Thomas, spanning from Magens Bay Beach to the gym in Paul M. Pearson Gardens that’s home to V.I. Olympians John and Julius Jackson. The Jackson brothers and their father – world championship boxer Julian Jackson – can also be spotted on camera, showing off some of their trademark moves.
Cutting Edge director Edward LaBorde Jr, fresh from shooting a music video for last year’s Junior Calypso monarch Kamoi "Singer Boi" D’Silva, said he met JDPP organizer Steven Payne on the set of a recent "Face to Face" interview with Addie Ottley.
"They had seen the music video and I approached them and said when are you going to do one of these," LaBorde explained, as his crew and the band got set up for some final shooting in the Fort Christian parking lot. "So we connected, and our schedules were kind of hectic for awhile but we caught up and said OK, it’s time we get this done."
LaBorde hopes to finish producing the video in a month, while the Jammerz set up to do a Caribbean tour organized by V.I. Boxing Federation President Tony Rosario.
"This is something that I thought about in my sleep," said Rosario, who’s also the head of Westline Productions. "In just about every Caribbean island, we have a presence through boxing, and most of the people who are presidents of the different boxing organizations are connected in some way or form with doing promotions and this type of stuff. JDPP has done this new video about boxing, and everyone knows John Jackson, so we thought the tour could tie in. It’s a win-win situation."
The Juvenile Prevention Program (JDPP) has been around since 2002, targeting students from fifth to 12th grade.
"Our marching band has about 100 kids," Payne said during one of the shoots. "We chose music because when you think about it, sports teams only have a limited amount of spots, but something like this, a band, can reach out to so many more students. We saw a lot of kids getting into trouble after school, and we wanted to give them something positive to do."
Singer Shermal Smith entered the program when he was about 13-years-old. Now 19, Smith has helped form an offshoot of JDPP, now called Jammerz H.P., which hit the streets a couple years ago with the "Bunny Train" and followed it up with the even more popular "Bedrock." The band’s newest song, "Push It," is meant to show kids that they can succeed and accomplish their goals with a little hard work and determination.
"Once we started out, the band became popular," Smith said. "We went through different members at first, but the band is a family now and we’re happy, and just trying to go to the next level and show the people what we’re doing with our music, and where we come from."
Payne said he saw the band’s successes coming from the start.
"I saw it, but didn’t think everything happen as quickly as it did," he added. "I kind of thought we would be on the scene for five years or so before we got to this point. But the band pushes positive music with positive lyrics, and people like that."
