Dan Marcus told Amandala that his album rightly describes him, an artist who has lived amid the war that pervades many pockets of Belizean society, such as Southside of Belize City, from where he hails.

In the last two years, Dan Marcus exploded on the scene as a headliner for the well-known Heights of Vibe group. He has been in the business for a little over 5 years, he said.

When he composes his songs, his inspiration comes from the very life he lives and what happens around him, and so his messages are real.

?I testify to what is happening around me and sing it in a way that youths can understand,? Dan Marcus expressed. ?My message, overall, is peace and love, but I get into every aspect, even the politics? I educate, but I also try to entertain. It?s like a mixture.?

In describing the struggle that he sees going on around him, he said, ?for most people I know, you war from the time you were born; you grow up in it.?

So in his song, Seh Dem Ah Warrior, which is featured on Royal Rebel, he speaks to ?the youths out here playing bad,? while ?showing them that the war they are fighting is not the real war. They are warring to ?big up? their chest, but the real war is poverty.?

He said that these youths should, instead, ?Try educate yourself and gain better standing for us, Black and poor people.?

On the personal level, Dan Marcus said that he tries to deal with the ?negative vibes? through his spirituality.

As a young entertainer, not only is he targeting his peers, but also those of other age groups, to show ?everybody? the struggle with which they are faced?the struggle even his mother has faced.

Daddy Gone is a song that pays tribute to his mother, said the artist. His father left their home when they were very young, he said. His mom had to struggle with six of them and he is proud of her for staying in the fight.

?I feel right now [the album] is a much needed air for the youths?for the youths to hear the messages from somebody they could see eye-to-eye with,? he expressed.

The album is primarily his own work of art, but incorporates the skills of the rapper Young C, who he names as co-producer.

Other guest artists on the album include ?Fleshless? and D.J. Fiya of West Tribe, both of Los Angeles, California, and Tanya and Linda of Belize.

In all, there are 18 tracks in reggae/dancehall style on Royal Rebel, produced inside the Heights of Vibe studio. Two of the songs, Cahn Hold I Down and Hola Se?orita have already had some airplay.