Spotify’s “Release Radar” alerted me to a new song by Benji Hughes, but when I checked the playlist I was confused to find an old song with rad new artwork and an expanded title.
“Jamaica” appeared on the 2014 album XXOXOXX, later retitled Another Extreme when re-released to streaming in 2020.1 I’ve always imagined it as a jingle for Jamaican tourism that took a dark turn into a cautionary tale about traveling abroad. This take inspired a chapter in L Extreme wherein Jessica travels solo to Jamaica via a cruise ship and meets Kenny at a timeshare presentation.2
This 2026 Spotify alert was titled “Come to Jamaica” and featured a painting in the distinctive Benji Hughes style with a Jamaican flag in the corner. Upon listening it sounded like the same song with a few additional keyboard and backing singer flourishes—until I noticed the “dark turn” in the lyrics had course corrected into the promotional travelogue I always imagined as an origin story.
Breaking down the changes:
|
Jamaica (2014) |
Come to Jamaica (2026) |
|
Come come come, come to Jamaica | |
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When you get some time off work | |
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Many wild white people |
Many wild wild people |
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Come come come, come to Jamaica, | |
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…when you’re ready to die |
…when you’re ready to vibe |
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Nobody cares about your flip flops | |
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But keep your money in your pocket |
You can forget about the sunblock |
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When you’re walking down the street | |
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Cause there’s some really bad people |
Cause there’s some really rad people |
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Drugs will turn a man into an animal |
The sun can turn anybody animal |
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Be mindful where you have a good time | |
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You’ll love the ocean breeze | |
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Don’t drink too much rum |
Dancing all night long |
|
Come come come, come to Jamaica | |
WordPress won’t let me do footnotes inside of a table, so the * signifies how much I love the pronunciation here to rhyme meet with queek
It all flows seamlessly as a remake, turning a bit of a diss track into the feel good hit of late summer. I also dig how the new lyrics call back to other songs from the Benji Hughes catalog such as “The Beach” or “Go Dancin’” or “Girls Love Shoes”
Perhaps Sam Beckett3 once again leaped into Benji to set this right, thus making Kenny’s Jamaican trip not so ill-fated.
You can read a standalone version of the “Jamaica” chapter from L Extreme / The Ballad of Heartman & Songstress for free here: Jamaica b/w Kenny. (Weirdly might be the most normal thing I’ve ever written, buried in the middle of my wildest novel.)4
FOOTNOTES
- It was originally included on the Appetizer EP, featuring a mix of songs previewing his 3 simultaneously released 2014 albums ↩︎
- This story is also available in the free novella version of Side B: The Ballad of Heartman & Songstress ↩︎
- Or Ben Song ↩︎
- You can also check out author’s commentary from the Kenny/Jamaica chapter—obviously with some spoilers—over here. ↩︎