Stephen “Di Genius” McGregor can take viral madness, old riddims, half-forgotten hooks, and flip them into something that sounds brand-new while still saluting where it came from. His genius lies in respecting the lineage, then bending it forward.
On Just a Girl in a Money Man’s World, the sophomore EP by Jada Kingdom, he finds a perfect partner in crime: a woman who doesn’t negotiate her truth, doesn’t soften her tone for comfort, and definitely doesn’t do “nice” if it costs her power.
The EP kicks off with Still Searching, a sharp interpolation of Damian Marley’s 2001 classic (with Stephen Marley and Yami Bolo) from the Grammy winning Half Way Tree album. Where Damian was searching for a virtuous woman, Jada flips the whole premise. She isn’t hunting for purity but for provision, intention and alignment. Di Genius says Jada had long wanted to counter the song, yet final product doesn’t feel like spite, it feels like purpose. From track one, the message is clear: this is her world, and she’s not apologizing for what she wants as she rewrites the rules with her chest.
That energy explodes on Maxine, easily one of the EP’s most culturally defiant moments. Built from the bones of Chaka Demus and Pliers’ Murder She Wrote, Jada doesn’t sample for nostalgia — she samples to reclaim. Maxine has spent decades as the Caribbean’s favourite cautionary tale. The woman they blamed when they wanted someone to blame. Jada steps into that skin and lets Maxine speak for herself: Murda murda, kill Dem with the walk/ some nuh like me but anuh my fault.”
Maxine is not ashamed in 2026 and Jada’s rebellion comes across as a historical correction. A classic dancehall character made immortal by Chakka Demus and Pliers finally becoming a real woman with dignity and verbalizing her requests.
Then Money Man’s World gets mischievous. Don’t Talk To Me opens with that showtime countdown with light flirtation. But Jada does what she does best: she weaponizes humour, disarms you, then lands the shot clean. The dancehall/hip-hop fusion is effortless, and Di Genius knows exactly how to pace it — letting space breathe, then pushing momentum at the right moment.
And if anybody thought Jada was here to behave, the project peaks with Ntn BPP (But Put Pum). This is Jada and Di Genius tossing the rulebook in the air and setting fire to pretentiousness, moral speeches and online “table talk” about what women bring to the table. It is dangerously catchy and you find yourself chanting along to this Pop-dancehall brilliance.
Lyricas a melody aside, the EP’s quiet win is how cohesive it sounds. The electric guitar threads through the project like a spine, keeping everything grounded even when Jada is spinning off into pure audacity.
Thing sober up on Soul4Sale. Originally, featuring dancehall newcomer skippa counterweighting Jada’s signature sultriness. A sharp edit, right at the finish line, leaving Soul4Sale to stand as a Jada-only statement.
And honestly? It still works.
The production from Christon “Yo Christon” Forbes is rich and restrained and he follows up with G.A.D (Girls Are Drugs) —the lead single released March 21, 2025. The Pop-punk dancehall twist hits with enough familiarity to stick around for the very last note of the EP. Jada ends how she began: choosing herself, choosing pleasure, choosing autonomy.
Just a Girl in a Money Man’s World is fun, fearless and sharper than it pretends to be. Beneath Jada’s bag-a-mouthing and cheek is a woman laying out her needs, contradictions, softness and standards without dilution. It’s inspired by global sounds without confusion as to whether she is still dancehall.
★★★★☆
Just a Girl in a Money Man’s World is released by Kingdom Mab
