Birmingham MC Admiral Jerry, born Jerry Butler, cut “Up and Coming MC” and “Demonstrate” with UB40 in 1985. He is back with “Chant Down Babylon”, out on Windrush Day, 22 June, the date the HMT Empire Windrush docked at Tilbury in 1948.

Butler grew up in Handsworth, a first-generation Black Briton of Jamaican heritage. Grammar school and a private education came next. The racism did not. “Growing up in Handsworth as a first-generation Black Briton, I experienced plenty of racist attitudes at grammar school and throughout my education,” he says. “This song is for oppressed people everywhere who are hoping and striving for a better tomorrow.“

The lyrics name Kunta Kinte, George Floyd and the Windrush Generation. Jerry works the riddim as a toaster, chatting across a roots reggae backing in the old sound system manner. Aldo Dice produced the track at his Farda Dice Studios in Birmingham for The Empire Windrush EP, with Sovereign Tugz and See No Equal on the mix and master.

Jah Mission, the Amsterdam production house, shot the video across Birmingham and London. It settles on the Benjamin Zephaniah mural in Handsworth Park, unveiled in honour of the poet and activist on Windrush Day in 2024, the year after his death.

More music from Jerry arrives in early 2027. Stream “Chant Down Babylon” HERE