“Who Knows” is Protoje’s collaboration with Chronixx. It is a song about gratitude and trust. The repeated “who knows” in the hook admits that nobody can predict what life will bring, and the singers say that is fine because they choose faith and contentment anyway.
A 2014 LargeUp report described the song as being “about gratitude, even in those situations where all you can really say is…’who knows.'”
Easy Star Records, which licenses the album, calls the track “a worldwide anthem of positivity and spiritual resilience.
Release and Credits
Sources give different release dates for the single. Wikipedia says Chronixx was featured on Protoje’s single “Who Knows” in February 2014.
Protoje’s official website also places the song in 2014 and says that with it, Protoje became a prominent figure of the “reggae revival” movement.
A 2022 DancehallMag report, however, called it their 2015 Who Knows collab. The 2015 date likely refers to the album rather than the single.
The song was the lead single of the album Ancient Future. That album was initially set for release in September 2014, but was put back until March 2015.
The exact album date also varies by source: Protoje’s Bandcamp page says it was originally released March 9, 2015, while his SoundCloud page said it was due March 10, 2015.
Phillip “Winta” James produced the track. A 2025 Reggae Vibes review says the single came out on Phillip “Winta” James’ Overstand Entertainment label through Buyreggae.com.
The lyrics site Lyreka lists the songwriters as Philip James, Jamar Rolando McNaughton, and Oje Ken Ollivierre. McNaughton is Chronixx’s real name, and Ollivierre is Protoje’s.
How the Song Came Together
Protoje has told several versions of how the song was made. In a 2014 Clash interview, he said he chose the beat early: “When I heard this instrumental two years ago, even before my second album came out, I told [the producer] Winta [James] that this is the first single from my third album.”
He also said the pairing was the producer’s idea: Winta came to me and asked, “What do you think of Chronixx doing the hook for this?”
In a 2015 track-by-track interview with United Reggae, he added a detail: “Nobody knows this but I actually sang the chorus first!” He said that after Chronixx heard the song, he went in there and just took it to another level.
The two artists had known each other for years. Protoje told United Reggae in 2014, “I met Chronixx through the internet really.” He explained that Chronixx first reached out as a producer before he had released any music of his own. A Reggae.
Today post about the dub mix quoted Protoje: “Chronixx and myself, from the first day we met, have talked about doing music together when the time was right.”
The Lyrics Explained
Chronixx sings the hook. He describes drifting with the trade winds, sending love to friends and enemies alike, and feeling content in the West Indies, where Jah provides what he needs and nature surrounds him. The message is that peace and gratitude come from faith, not from knowing what comes next.
Protoje’s verses add social commentary. In one passage he points out that people in the city go hungry while fruit falls from trees unused in the countryside, and he challenges anyone who says poverty isn’t real. His closing verse turns to Rastafari ideas of Africa and repatriation.
He argues that people must show balance and unity at home before they can carry it abroad, and that going to Ethiopia takes a real plan for building a nation.
Interviewer Angus Taylor also asked Protoje in 2014 about a line where he says he reads a chapter each day: which chapter did you read today?
The Music Video
Storm Saulter directed the video, which shows off Jamaica’s scenery. In a 2014 Boomshots interview, Protoje said Winta James came up with the basic concept and described it this way: “You start off with everything and as the day goes on you lose stuff, and it’s either you’re gonna turn around and go home or keep pushing forward.”
In the video, the two artists find themselves with a gig at a very festive-looking beach party, but no way to get there after their car breaks down.
The FADER noted in 2014 that much of the song’s appeal comes from its perfect execution of a fat-drummed, heavy ’80s reggae sound.
Reception and Milestones
The song caught on in the UK early. Protoje told Clash in 2014 that it just got A-listed on 1Xtra.
In February 2022, DancehallMag reported that it was awarded Silver by the BPI after it sold over 200,000 copies in the UK, as measured by The Official Charts Company. It was the first UK certification for both artists.
YouTube view counts have grown over time:
- January 2022: DancehallMag reported 164 million views.
- February 2022: DancehallMag reported over 165 million views.
- December 2022: a DancehallMag feature said the video has since amassed over 181 million views.
- 2025: Kaboom Mag put the figure at over 235 million views. The same report said the song also racked up over 100 million streams on Spotify earlier this year.
According to DancehallMag’s 2022 report, the parent album spent 17 weeks on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart, after peaking at No. 1.
Why It Endures
“Who Knows” doesn’t promise answers. Instead, it pairs gratitude for Jamaica’s natural wealth with criticism of inequality and a call for unity grounded in Rastafari.
More than a decade after its release, that message, along with Chronixx’s hook and Winta James’s 1980s-style production, keeps it among the best-known songs of the reggae revival.
