Rickey Teetz advocates helping mentally ill, homeless
Published:Monday | December 30, 2024 | 12:07 AM
As the year 2024 draws to a close, dancehall artiste Rickey Teetz is making an appeal for the public to be more charitable in their thoughts and actions towards the less- fortunate, especially the mentally ill.
“Life is hard, but we can’t lose that sense of human charity, we have to make interventions of caring and giving to help the less-fortunate to create the kind of society we all want to live in,” Rickey Teetz said.
“You don’t have to inconvenience yourself and it doesn’t have to be anything major. But we as Jamaicans have to get back to helping each other.”
Rickey Teetz, owing to his own personal experiences with his mother who battled mental illness and had a nervous breakdown, has a soft spot for family members and friends who are mentally challenged.
“My mother passed away after suffering a nervous breakdown from raising seven kids by herself and going through terrible poverty ... the stress was too much for her. Mental illness is a sickness that needs understanding and care and we can’t ignore the mentally ill and homeless, they are humans too,” he said.
Rickey Teetz was recently featured in a viral video on TikTok where he offered clothes, and toiletries to a random stranger, a mentally challenged man in Montego Bay.
The Montego Bay-based singer noted that callousness appeared to be spreading throughout society in recent years.
“The past decade has seen a trend of people becoming more materialistic and self-focused, even the respect that once led for our elders is increasingly going away. We have to get back to a small island culture of caring for our fellow Jamaicans. Just start with a small act of kindness with even a stranger in need,” he said.
The Montego Bay-based artiste has been steadily solidifying a formidable underground presence with his music which is a mix of motivational anthems, get-money hustler tracks and grimy street songs.
He is best known for songs such as 1000 Block, Lighters Up and Dolla.
Rickey Teetz, whose real name is Ricardo McLean was born in 1983 in the Montego Bay community of Rose Heights. He hopes to inspire others with his music.
The entertainer is slated to perform and host events such as Celebrity Link Up on December 30, New Level Unlocked on January 14, 2025 and Mikey’s Birthday Bash on January 18.