It’s never easy losing someone to gun violence. Having to witness such a gruesome act and being blamed for it is indescribable and that’s how Trinidad dancehall artiste Kalonji feels.
Having witnessed the death of his 25-year-old girlfriend Bridget James the artiste has written a touching song about the heart-wrenching experience.
Bridget was gunned down in the car park of The Brix Autograph Collection on September 2, one day after her birthday.
The artiste who is best known for his gun-slinging hits received backlash from thousands of social media users for what they described as a lack of empathy and self-promotion following the murder of his girlfriend.
At the time of the incident, Bridget an accomplished auditor was sitting in the front seat of a car driven by Kalonji. The artiste was believed to be the intended target. Although he escaped with non-life-threatening injuries, he was shot multiple times and underwent surgery. In addition, he was unable to attend her funeral.
In viral posts on Facebook and Instagram, Kalonji sought to thank God for his life and mental state and offered condolences and apologies to the family of his late partner. For his fans liking, this was seen as insensitive and received a tongue lashing over the post.
In addition, there was an article in the Trinidad and Tobago Express which quoted Bridget’s dad Patrick James who said, “Had I known, I would have put a stop to it”. He was speaking about her relationship, acknowledging that his daughter kept it secret.
Nonetheless, Kalonji has released the song Blame to his YouTube account in which he vented about this immense loss, taking his fans through all the emotions he’s experienced.
Since its release, the song has garnered over 214,000 views on YouTube, showing unseen footage of Bridget in the accompanying music video. The Trinidad artiste in the song expresses his emotions, the pain that he’s been going through, the anger, and the heartbreak as he sings about Bridget, describing her as the light of his life.
The artiste further stated in the song his plan to get revenge on the two persons who committed the crime.
There have been mixed reviews about the song. Some users are commending the artiste about the touching song as an ode to his late girlfriend. While others are still in disbelief that the artiste would still sing about crime after what just happened.
“Love or dislike him, this was a honorable way to praise her untimely passing. Well done video/lyric.” Another user replied to this comment stating, “How is singing about the crime rate honorable? Why can’t this generation see that when gang wars continue more innocent people will lose their lives? Where is the logic & basic moral principles? Peace is the honorable solution buddy; not bloodshed. Honor the young lady’s short life by ending this culture of violence.”
