Fifteen-year-old emerging dancehall artiste Lyrrii has surpassed a million views on YouTube with his song Respect, marking a huge milestone for the young deejay. The single soared to the top of YouTube’s trending chart days after its release despite garnering criticism for its inappropriate lyrical content and visuals.
Respect has also received over 47,000 likes on YouTube since it was released on February 21, 2025. In the music category of YouTube’s trending chart, Respect holds the top position over songs like Letter by Skippa, 8:00 PM by Armanii and Malie Don, Moliy’s Shake It To The Max Remix featuring Skillibeng and Shenseea, Badman Anthem by Malie Don, Valiant’s Whole Lotta, and Corrupt Pt3 by Chronic Law and Collect Di Bred. All of these songs have been either released within the same time frame as Respect or two weeks ago. The song also garnered more than a million views on TikTok.
While Respect continues to perform well on the chart, the teen artist continues to face backlash from some viewers who expressed that the song and the music video are not age-appropriate. Lyriii attends a St. ANN high school, and most of the music video was shot at the school. His song has been condemned by a local children’s advocacy group.
The group described the song and imagery as “appalling and startling,” according to a Jamaica Observer report. The group is urging the authorities to investigate the matter, expressing that there may be breaches of multiple child protection laws.
Spokesperson for Hear the Children’s Cry, Priscilla Duhaney highlighted that the Child Care and Protection Act, the Sexual Offences Act, and the Child Pornography Prevention Act may have been violated based on the song’s sexual nature. The children’s advocacy group also wants the video removed from several social media platforms.
“It was quite appalling, startling, and definitely disappointing to see this kind of imagery that is being promoted, the song, the lyrics themselves, and just the participants within the video, both adults and children, being well engaged,” Duhaney said.