The meaning of “Here Comes Trouble” is that Chronixx takes the word “trouble,” usually an insult, and uses it to describe a Rastafari movement on the march.
The narrator speaks as a general giving a warning. He is gathering young Rastas into an army for Selassie I and asking people from near and far to join, because, as he says in the song, Chronixx cannot do the work alone. The song came out as a single in 2013 and was later included on his 2014 EP Dread & Terrible.
Release and Production
Chronixx recorded the song on the Rootsman Riddim. On Overstand Entertainment’s SoundCloud page, the track is credited as produced by Winta James for Overstand Entertainment.
Sources give different release dates. A YouTube upload titled with a February 2013 date credits the song to the Roots Man Riddim.
Juno Records lists a 7-inch vinyl on Overstand Jamaica with the catalogue number OVERSTAND 001, released 29 August 2013.
Reggaeville reported on 1 October 2013 that the official video had come out that day. The site also said the original upload was disabled after a short time, but copies posted by other channels spread quickly. A World A Reggae post from the same date says Ezra Tafari Tomlinson directed the video.
When Dread & Terrible came out, it featured production work from Phillip ‘Winta’ James; Lloyd ‘John John’ James; Chronixx’s in house production team, ZincFence Records; Overstand JA Records; and France-based Pierre Bost.
The Lyrics Explained
The hook calls the narrator “trouble” and “danger,” but it also says he was sent by the Saviour and welcomes the Rasta youths. A 2015 Jamaica Gleaner profile linked the title to Chronixx himself.
The paper wrote that because he has a quietly rebellious nature, it’s quite fitting that his 2013 hit single was called Here Comes Trouble. The danger in the song is aimed at the system, not at ordinary people.
The first verse describes Jah people who are tired of mediocrity. It talks about trodding to Ethiopia and an operation to occupy the motherland, and presents this as part of Jah’s plan from creation. The verse ends with the admission that Chronixx cannot do it alone, which is why he calls for recruits.
The verse also mentions that Banton said the road is not easy. Most listeners take this as a nod to Buju Banton’s “Not An Easy Road,” Track #6 on ‘Til Shiloh, released in 1995. Chronixx has not explained the reference himself in any source found for this article.
The second verse waves the red, green and gold banner. It says prophecies have been found on stones, trees, scrolls and in the stories Jesus told, and it declares that Rasta youth will inherit the earth.
The narrator says Jah will not let him sit down. Jah has told him to work and to bring fire to purge. The song ends with a marching chant of Jah soldiers moving “left, right.”
Chronixx has not given a line by line explanation of the song in any source found here. He did describe the EP’s title in a 2014 interview: “Dread & Terrible for me is like a state of mind, ideology, whatever is good and pleasant is dread and terrible inna Babylon system.
I’m kinda educating the youths about certain realities. Like a wake-up call,” That idea fits the song. Something positive gets labeled as a threat by the system it opposes.
Commercial Impact
Chronixx played “Here Comes Trouble” on NBC’s The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on July 22, 2014. A 2022 DancehallMag report, citing Billboard, said the song had registered just 1,000 downloads before that appearance.
After the show and a Central Park concert, the numbers swelled to 12,000 downloads, earning a number two position on the Digital Reggae Singles chart. Over the same period, EP sales went from 400 units to 5,000.
The EP was released on 1 April 2014. Sources disagree slightly on the week it first reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Reggae Albums chart.
Wikipedia gives the week of 18 April, while World Music Views (2025) gives the week of April 19. Wikipedia also says that by March 2015, the EP had spent 42 consecutive weeks in the top 10.
World Music Views reports that the EP stayed on the chart a total of 55 weeks, his longest charting project on the chart.
These two numbers measure different things. DancehallMag also reported that the EP debuted at No. 179 on the Billboard 200 charts on August 9, 2014, where it spent one week.
In January 2022, DancehallMag reported that the song had passed 100 million YouTube views and called it the most popular from his acclaimed breakout EP.
In 2025, World Music Views reported that Dread & Terrible had officially surpassed 100 million streams on Spotify.
Why the Song Endures
The song took a word normally used against young Rastas and made it a statement of purpose. It also gave Chronixx his first big moment on American television.
Writing in 2017, Afropop Worldwide named “Here Comes Trouble” as one of the tracks that helped Dread & Terrible top the Billboard reggae chart.
The outlet described Chronixx as on his way to becoming the leader of Jamaica’s newest generation of reggae artists.
