KINGSTON, JAMAICA – Tuesday, January 25, 2011 will be a memorable day for DubRock Reggae artiste, Protoje. After seven years of patience and devotion to his development as a singer and songwriter, his debut album, The Seven Year Itch will finally be available for purchase via major distribution channels such as iTunes and Amazon.
The 13-track album, produced by Don Corleon Records, begins with the title track that chronicles Protoje’s personal and musical journey, representing an informative re-introduction to his fans. It then proceeds into popular hits like ‘Dread,’ ‘Arguments,’ ‘Rasta Love’ (featuring Ky-Mani Marley) and ‘Roll.’

Following the album’s sole interlude, ‘In the Streets,’ a noticeable change takes place. The Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica native switches to a more serious tone with ‘JA,’ the last of the previously released singles. Immediately following that is underground crowd favourite, ‘Wrong Side Of The Law,’ which administers a high dose of dub instrumental and a captivating true story about encountering the Jamaican police. The album closes with two profound and introspective tracks; one features German sensation, Gentleman, and the other features rising songstress, Janine ‘Jah9? Cunningham.

From start to finish, The Seven Year Itch lays out the life, thus far, of a young man committed to his craft and his spiritual growth. The album cover, designed by Taj Francis, complements the music with a whirlpool of calendar dates bearing significance to Protoje’s career. One such date is December 4, 2009, representing the night he staged The Seven Year Wish to showcase some of his album material more than a year before its release.

The Seven Year Itch

Empress look what I brought for you
Marijuana a glisten in the morning dew

She put her lips to my blunt and kiss it
No excuse when she roll she spliff
For she don’t even care if it smudge no lipstick
Naa refuse that a how she rep
She make sure I have some greens with it when I sip it
Then she roll off and roll up ma ting
And make me know that anyhow I put it in ma lyrics then
Only some girls goin’ comprehend

No she nuh agree wid dem policy so she bun her trees
No apologies never needed
Pon her property no it never cease so she get her peace
And her release when she weeded
Like it when it cure but she have a pree, prefer when it green
Have more THC when she steaming
When me go country and me come back in
She nuh ask a ting ‘cause she know wah me bring

Ohh she love my herb etiquette
How I roll it up so delicate
How I naa take a draw before she get a hit
How me drive in from far and me alone pon the road jussa move with
My light and my music with
The thought of you just waiting make me reach home safely
Navigate me baby, I know it’s on you brain
When you hear these statements and this message placement
No need to explain what I saying

So now she say she grown up
And she growing her own from the ground up
From the seed to the stalk ‘til the pound drop
And now a me make demands when I show up
Then I set sail as I inhale
The surplus is not for sale
Its purpose it much more real
So courteous with how she deal it
But it increase her feeling when a me build it

She wet it and seal it

Protoje - No Lipstick

This is for my music
Blessings for my music
It’s love for the music
Journey on my music

I’ve been doing this for seven years
I never make a dollar, never make a change I say
Naa go give up, naa go ever slow
You know say me a hold it down for seven more
I’ve been doing this for seven years
I never make a dollar, never make a change I say
Naa go give up, naa go ever slow
You know say me a hold it down for Evaflow

This is my seven year itch and then I’m coming home
My seven year itch and then I’m coming home
My seven year itch and then I’m coming home
My seven year itch, and now I’m coming home

Me mother send me go school for seventeen year
Me come out and turn DJ, it no seem fair
What you seeing here, this is a product
Of two college, one diploma, no degree
No know the meaning, out in this world and
Everything you learn inna the past 5 years, it naa go help you fi earn
nut’n
What’s the word cousin? You help your cousin
So every word that them heard me with worth sup’n
Every burden them hurl at me hurdle so flawless, dem naa listen
Mi a miss out pon lift up mi team
A watch Gong and Stephen Marley a live out the dream you know
But ‘Welcome to Jamrock’ did lift my feeling up
I listen it still, I listen it keen you know
Me decide say the music can meaningful
Take a look at my life and I clean it up
My herb customers calling me
But now my music demanding me
This is my Seven Year Itch

“Proto” to most, “Oje” to some
Call him “Diggy,” the only son, the sister young
Mommy legendary, ask around, ask fi a pound
And dem will tell you who did carry Macka a town
Ask Marshall, ask him, and if u get a glimpse a Sean Paul
Beg uunu ask him how it feel fi go three times plat
Then ask shaggy ‘cause him did move three times that
Me, no haffi feel like that
Just want retire to a seaside lot
Lef’ all the war and bring the peace right back
Never been in love until now, just just lost it wondering how
Mi woulda get through it, like customs with herb
And no mi no accustom to hurt but I got accustomed to her
And her, she accustom to me
Addicted to the thing weh addicted to she
Empress far and she calling me, but now my music demanding me
This is my Seven Year Itch

Got me, got me bad, mashing up my meds

No lie, I say the moment is right
I hoping you let me know tonight so that I
Can put in the overtime
I found someone for I, Fari, no lie
I say the moment is right
I hoping you let me know tonight so that I
Can put in the overtime, can put in the overtime

‘Cause she no impressed by the vanity
And all that it brings
Diamond clusters and all o’ the bling
Let us get away, I’ll give you all o’ the things
You’re my precious like in ‘Lord of the Rings’
And I’ll put the necessary ring pon you finger
To the right of you pinky deh
Pon you left hand
You know the wedding band, get a bridesmaid
Get a perfect wedding dress in your size made

Eyes on eyes, I eyes the prize beside me
Side by side in the ride we ride
Chick weh ride or die a play from the iPod I
LOX tune, me girl grow locks too
She on track with me tracks too, take me out of bad mood
Crush it up and roll Backwood
Intelligence she got too
Spirituality intact too, so you know I had to

And now she pretty in pink with a witty instinct
As I roll through the city of Kingston
A talk me a talk the truth, car tint so them can’t see who
And she wink as the stink hit the lids of her eyes while she staring
At me steering, hit clutch, shift gear in
No I lying, no clutch, tiptronic as the whip
Skip thru every room in the traffic

Overtime

Protoje - In the Streets (Interlude)

Written by: O. Ollivierre &amp; D. Bookman

Caught up on the wrong side of the law
Got caught, got caught, got caught
Caught up on the wrong side of the law


I got caught on the wrong side of the law
Say they charging me for marijuana
Like I don’t need to reach home ‘til tomorrow’s
Sun goes up
Actually they the wrong side of the law
Can’t be charging me for marijuana
Like I don’t need to reach home till tomorrow’s
Sun goes up



Sometimes the dragon and the beast
Manifests itself inna the form of the police
Spot check deh pon the streets, “out the car,”
A so dem greet me
“Pass the Rasta colour bag deh make we see it deh.”
Me make them know say the ragga ragga hair match the Macka wah
appear
In the back of wah me steering
No, a no even no weight, a hundred dollar worth
But the chalice in the bag did make the matter worse
Them say “book him... felony possession.”
What kind o’ law this?
Hold on, no Yard this?
Dem gimme court date just fi frustrate me
That amuse me, mi say “make sure is a Tuesday...”



“...’Cause I’m busy on Wednesday morning. Thursday morning too.”
Plus a Good Friday, that mean if dem hold I fi the weekend
All ‘til Monday night me a sleep in deh
Then Dutty pree to me it come in like a resurrection
So me switch the rhetoric in another direction
Me never know the officer name, #11747 a the number wah them give
him
Tell me fi sign and go pon me way
Inspector walk in like him have sup’n fi say
Him say “you want back you weed?”
Then I say no but truthfully I think my chalice is due to me



Him kiss him teeth and run me out o’ the station
Mi walk out a feel a different elation, no
Jubilation is the word that I mean
Because him think him achieve
Think say that grieve me
Go back in the car, you know what greet me
The one pound under the seat beneath me, believe me
Him think him catch me off guard the whole night
Him never know Diggy en garde! Sword fight
‘Cause I will give up a hundred dollar bag and a chalice any day
Fi a pound wah mi save
Dutty say him have a story fi tell
Me have a story fi sell, fi sell, fi sell
Dub style, dub style, dub style!!!



Protoje - Wrong Side Of The Law

I say the movement moving
That’s why I’m moving moving through
Like I do

Why you crying girl, I not lying girl
I said I’m on the road making dough
When you start it touch my heart but yeah I’m just doin’ wah me
haffi do
What’s it worth to you, know it hurt you
But you know I love to hear my baby go
When I’m leaving that’s the reason, this a just sup’n wah you haffi
know

I’m trying to make my money baby
So I can have my baby money so baby momma don’t blame me
And since I been my mummy’s baby
I been writing knowing that one day this thing go pay me
So in class I was lazy, always a wish fi get so busy
Pon the rhymes said it was crazy
Initially then I just wanted to know this lady
‘Til I grow to love her and she grow to hate me
I say the marriage ship sank
Fi me walk the aisle come in like pirate a walk plank
I couldn’t jump in the deep end even though these feelings did deepen
I couldn’t cease with the...

Never know she coulda meet up with a another brother
That she woulda rather kick it all night with
Have a feeling she understand the reasoning say the music a me healing
And she alright with it
Spend her time, tell her thoughts pon my mind, my concerns of this kind
She responds like this
Preliminary she a tell me say she very contrary to the one dem wah
She see me yesterday with
And I find it hard to find a broad abroad like wah me find a Yard
Body deh foreign, the mind deh yah
Money short and dem time deh hard so lyrics tight every time record

Protoje - On The Road

And you can listen to nature at peace you know
You can’t hear it?
Free you know
Like how it used to be

And I give thanks in every day 
Be thankful in every way 

I have found a reason to be thankful everyday since I said I would
What is shown, it’s not necessarily the things them that mean you no good
So be sure, when you trodding on you way 
‘Member say you not alone inna the ting
Watch you focus, life so glorious when you know its just part of growing up


Physical life is secondary
Inner peace is mandatory
So which category do you fall in
This morning, I got warning ensure my comprehension
Understand my calling
Help me understand this calming force that my lioness posses when them Swarming to us
In my palms the truest forms of herbs from farmers who is spiritual healers 
In these times upon us


Many times I’ve promised, many times I’ve broken
Too many times I’ve spoken
Quiet is thinking, him eyes naa blink catch the riot within him
The word from the mental to self
No take part inna things wah detrimental to health
Because the journey for spiritual wealth 
May differ from the want that’s sentimentally felt 


After every dark night there is a new day
And with every new day I pre a new way
That mean a one more gone 
That mean a one less left
So one more chance fi make it one well spent
Man hell bent pon satisfy them own greed
A spend the money them don’t have pon what them don’t need
And ‘cause them don’t read that mean it don’t reason
A time for which there is just no season


Protoje - Growing Up ft. Gentleman

Don’t wait until I’m gone away

After I’m gone (when I’m gone)
Will be too late to show you care
You’ve got to love me while I’m here
And still with you (with you)
‘Cause after I’m gone (when I’m gone)
All of the tears will be in vain (in vain)
Only the memories will remain

What remain for me? / Do you feel the same?
…

Can’t rest in peace if you live in war
Don’t make the conflict reach too far
Here one day and you gone tomorrow
Next week funeral wreaths and flowers
Forget the hours of the time spent up-
keeping the malice and it don’t make sense now
So you intend fi treat me when it dread
Nuh come the dead yard fi nyam no fish and bread

And me say peace, that’s the way I’m trodding
Step pon you shoes then I beggin’ you pardon
You nuh waa hear that so you hold hard end
Man a road living like prisoner and warden
So a who at fault then and who get hurt
When you use you brother fi fabricate you worth
Well everybody was naked at birth
Whether buried or burnt, we return to the Earth

The line between your friend and your enemy
Easy fi blur when you overpree
It all depends on the energy
You choose to invest in the chemistry
Which you require to make it
If your desire is to take it to a height
Cause I life is sacred, I purpose is to intensify the light
That will shine

Protoje - After I'm Gone ft. Jah9

It’s gonna be
What is it gonna be?
I said it’s gonna be
I’m telling you it’s gonna be

My mommy said, from the first day that she hold my head
That I was gonna be dread, so now I’m gonna be dread
My mommy said, from the first day that she hold my head
I was gonna be dread, so now I’m gonna be dread

Hockey jersey inna heat, Patrick Ewing pon the feet, Buju Banton pon the
beat, uunu ‘member that?
‘92 December that, Paco Jeans and Travel Fox boots from vendor that
Me jussa learn say rubbers a no pencil top, I pencil that, write it out now
Bet you say them fight it out now
When a no now man a fight with po-po, police leave me colleagues please
Soldier lef’ the green inna can like Folgers
Like say a coffee, that haffi pack
Conceal the smell, collect it and unseal it then unleash it
‘Til the first mil reaching in
No sleep, we bleaching fi make money like Lee-Chin
Or at least him brother dem
So mi can try get a super buss until the money surplus like Superplus,
It’s a must!

I used to get a bounce pon me cheque, but now me get a cheque
everytime me track a bounce pon u deck
Plus me get a nod and a bounce from u neck, and a “ooow” she
pronounce when she bounce pon me
A thousand fi the ounce of the brown pon a stick or a stalk or a stem but
the pound do the trick for me
Full o’ so much ganja talk, just come in from me ganja walk
Oh yes it is pon me!
The lyrics make dem conversate it, police want fi confiscate it
When dem see it pon me
But squaddie say him love me music and that must be why me use it
So him leave it pon me
So mi leave promptly and go back a the yard, go back and record
Diggy lean pon me
With no sleep we hunting fi make money like Bunting fi achieve this one
thing

‘Cause…

It’s gonna be, who gonna be
We gonna be, it’s gotta be
I gotta be dread dread
From the first time I show my head, I gotta be dread, dread
From the first time I show my head, I gotta be dread, dread, dread.

Dread

They never gonna love you
They never gonna love you
They never coulda love you
Protoje ay ay ay
Protoje ay ay ay

They never gonna love you JA like I love you JA ay ay
They never gonna need you like I need you that’s why I’ll be stay
ay ay aying
And no me naa go lef’ you for another land, that’s not my plan
Not my plan

Even though the times get hard and the mindset hardm no mi
can’t lef’ Yard (me a TRY!)
Even though the body dem a pile and the gun dem a oil, can’t lef’
off a me soil (just TRY!)
Even though the times get rough now and life get snuff out, dem
things we a tough out (TRY!)
Tell them say no matter what a talk and no matter what a spark,
yow a yah so a me heart

I never been a shotta but I seen a shotta
Meet a meaner shotta and get shot up by a senior shotta
Seen a mother seen her son, dead a ground, glock around
Nuh know say that a come
She need a shot a rum
No need no doctor come pronounce him gone
Him done seem calm, the shotta shift him ounce and gone
And if him touch the route again
The dead yute him have a group o’ friends
Weh buss it like a JUTA man
And them a (TRY!)

I never been a fedi but I seen a fedi
Take a piece o’ evidence and plant it pon the scene already
Me see them kill seven youth out deh
A never shoot out deh
Execution, a so them do it out deh
A that me hear a echo round the ghetto
I hear it from a distant hill, response still
I get an instant chill when infants die
When them drive by in an instance I
And things start fly and them a (TRY!)

Protoje - JA

Say them all have an argument
So I’m calm, I not harming them

And this girl is crying over me, dying over me, she wants me to know
This girl is holding on and she's bold enough to say she naa let me go
Next girl pree the scene and try intervene, what does she want me to do
Ex-girl keep sweating me, she naa set me free, she naa let me be

Me say me have a problem
Kinda no want fi have them
Yet mi kinda no want fi solve them
Woman I want fi have them in numbers, that’s plural
Whether uptown to rural
And not to say I can't settle down
Just trying to make u know I can’t settle now
I jussa make u know that I tried the monogamy
But I couldn’t take all a the naggin’ in ma noggin’ and

She say she kick sneakers off again
Her speakers on again
My CD is on again, gwaan again
Blunt no deh a yard again
You know she a order dem
No smoke with no other man other than
She say she better than all o’ dem
So me fi leff all o’ dem
and if me leff all o’ dem calling and
Coming over ma yard again and as it reach morning then
You know say dem gone again, argument

All have an argument
So I’m calm, I not harming them
Yet they all have an argument

Arguments

Let me check it from the top
If I attract you, you react to me
Everytime I ask her that, she answer that she naa look back
No way

You wanna roll with a pro today then roll with Protoje
And roll this ‘dro for me
Dunno what more to say
It’s Over-Diggy-D-O-S-E

‘Cause you already know wah mi deh pon girl
Keep u Posh like Beckam’s girl, take a second swirl
‘Cause if you check the case, have a sexy face
Run-her-up inna me room like second place
Me skip first and second base but no mi nuh deh pon haste
And her next man deh pon di case so make me have a second please
Make him know weapon deh pon waist me say

So make me know if you deh pon that
‘Cause me focus and deh pon track
And me like when you deh pon top but me love when you deh pon knees
When it gone too real you can deh pon please
God damn! The flow deh pon ease
You know like the mind get more time it deh pon trees
Have some big big dreams, never step on these
Things will get cross like second t’s so please

I don’t want my wife making my bed, I want her
Making my blunt while she laying in bed
While I’m taking a med
Thinking ahead, thinking bout the future
If she can bring these youths you know
When mi speak mi tell the truth nuh
Naa go fabricate it baby girl just fi suit you
Mek me know if it’s cool to you
If it’s new to you
Follow Diggy pon the route you know

Roll

LYRICS:

And She didn’t know how to tell him
She was In love with a Rasta Man
Fire was burning and Burning
To let out what she was holding In

I know her story before she say it
Daddy just want her Co-operate
Find somebody that’s corporate 
Suit and Tie more appropriate
Him say him naa make him daughter stray
But reggae music she start fi play it
Ital food when she sort her plate
Militant yute wah she want fi date
And that is what she need
Marcus Garvey she start fi read
Hair stop comb and it start look neat
SO him want keep her off the street from who she with
And that be me
More than a natty head is what she see
NO lovers leap is not for me
And she nuh waa keep it a secret but she cant tell him who she sleep with


And she wants to be free 
From all this captivity 
So she’ll be who she will be
They cant tell her who she need
They cant tell her who she want  who she can’t
She talk her owner chant chart her owner path 
And follow her owner heart
Call me over her own apartment
Now as I answer the phone that’s the tone she start with
She know say she don’t fi part with 
One Like I even though so much impart it
So she haffi do her owner thing
Cause she can never live life for them
Knowing that she would look back when
To the time weh she couldn’t explain to him cause then