Dear people of Jamaica,
As a Jamaican I would like to address the state of Jamaica’s music genre of Dancehall and the route it has taken in recent years. For years Jamaica has been admired and respected for her fierceness and her firm unyielding stand against mental and cultural pollution. From the degradation and disrespect of women, to the feminisation of men, to the destruction of the youth. Through reggae/dancehall music, Jamaica has so actively opposed these things in order to keep black people on a path of purity and normalcy. Today, however, through the same genre of Dancehall, and what it has now accepted into its lyrics in recent years, the strong and rebellious Jamaica now bows to the filth it once rejected. With artists like Alkaline and Gage, Dancehall has taken a sharp turn into the path we fought to stay away from.
Reggae music from its entrance was protest music, music born from the voices of the down trodden and oppressed, music that was most often a cry for Africa, repatriation and a protest against inequality, racism, poverty, immorality, police brutality, care and wellbeing for the youths coming up, and more. Artists such as Dennis Brown, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs, among many others and groups, helped garner a great international following for reggae. The world heard our plight and it immediately inspired their admiration of Jamaica. Yet, even through the midst of our plight, Dancehall emerged and the music was now split in two.
The music of Jamaica is Jamaica. It is our voice, our talent, our medicine, our cries, our anger, our happiness, our success, and our way of thinking. Why, then, have we altered our way of thinking? Why are we no longer angry? Why have we now welcomed what was once rejected? There has always been a line for explicitness in Dancehall and as of recent, that line has been crossed and blurred by new Dancehall artists. The very graphic music of artists such as Alkaline and Gage are not only offensive to our women as a whole but to our mothers, sisters, and girl children. It is nothing more than a disrespect masquerading as “entertainment,” as we are allowing the women to believe certain acts are expected of them.
While selectors, sounds, and we, as the public, continue to support these artists who promote the degradation of our women, we are destroying our culture and increasing the mental pollution we once rallied against!
Reggae/Dancehall music was made for the people, not against them. Yet in recent years, it has attempted to “Americanise” its sound in foolish belief that this will gain the artist recognition and worldly fame, not realising that the world turns to Jamaica in admiration of her originality. However, as our music no longer rebels, and as we support artists who promote the destruction of reggae/dancehall, we leave leeway for our admirers to steal what rightfully belongs to Jamaicans.
As a Jamaican, a young Jamaican, I must voice out at the desecration of our legacy, reggae music. Jamaican People, I ask you to come out of your place of comfort, come out of your place of compliance, and reject the corruption of Dancehall! Speak out against it! Our legacy has been and continues to be stolen by others and should we continue to excuse artists like Alkaline and Gage, reggae music will only be left to be destroyed, corrupted, and polluted by the hands of its very own creators.
Signed,
A concerned Jamaican
Batti man Alkaline mek mi stop listen Dancehall fi now
Don’t forget Vybz Kartel tonx much
Sender your article is well written, however I must ask don’t you think dancehall music is separately from reggae? Marley, ,Tosh et al music is separate from Bounty,,Beenie et al. Dancehall I think is a separate genre from reggae. Just like reggae is separate from Ska and Mento Music. Dats why I always believe the Grammys should treat both genres as such. Dancehall music an its lifestyle is a sudculture of the greater culture. It is not for everyone. We can cry and say we want to harken back to a simpler times when the music and the culture was more sanitized. But times change and unfortunately not for the better. We can debate for ages what changed first the music or man? What I mean is does the music reflect the times or are the times reflected in the music? What I am saying is good conscious reggae music is still being made, may not be aa Popular as it’s dancehall countrpart, but it is there. Everything that is popular is wrong said Oscar Wilde, which maybe appropriate in this case. But dancehall is not reggae, the genres are different. Correct me if I am wrong.
I agree..dancehall n’reggae/roots n’ culture are two totally different genres of music…
Dancehall is a sub genre to reggae. Reggae is royalty were the kings and queens reign.
Yes indeed!!..true Royalty n’ *BEST* music ever!!!!
I agree with @itsme and it was also alluded to in the article by the naming of some Reggae artist’s on one hand and mentioning the fact that Reggae music now has a sub component which is Dancehall music. Yes it has been the popular genre of late so what, the Reggae artists need to wake up and stop complaining. Be assured though the Grammyr will not separate the two.
@itsme
Dancehall emerged and the music was now split in two.
I think what you pointed put is what the sender meant in the statement I copied and paste above this comment, that the music split in two with the entrance of dance hall!
A brilliant piece, sender, I applaud your stance on I support your position. I have never listened to Alkaline or Gage, But I love reggae music/ Dancehall music, our music……Vybz Kartel music was for lack of a better word distasteful with its vile lyrical content of x rated acts and the promotion of immoral behaviors
The pen is mightier than the sword, so this is a great way to get your point out and I pray that these persons either get their act together or low dancehall
But the thing is there are a lot of good if not great dancehall tunes out there you cannot let a couple people who are money grabbers, let you stop listening to Reggae music. In a large sense it does reflect our society. Just like the gun tunes before. Until we clean up society, ie. the people educationally, self confidence etc. the music will reflect the sick society.
Same way Jamaica tun batty man paradise. The new americanized curse of gay man, devil worshipper and child molestation. GOD GUH TEK JAMAICA SOON. THE POLITICIANS, GUN MAN, RAPIST, MURDER RATE, DEGRADING MUSIC, BATTYMAN EMPIRE SO CALLED HOMOPHOBIC SOCIETY, REGGAE ARTISTS HAVE TO APOLOGIZED TO GAY COMMUNITY BECAUSE DEM GUH LOSE PUBLICITY STATUS WAT THE F(K SMH,, BATTYMAN AH CUSS STRAIGHT PEOPLE LIKE A TING TO DO AND AND GET BIG UPS LIKE DEM A CELIBRITY, DRUGS, TEEF,, CHILD PORN WUSS YET BADMIND. Nuh lie Jamaica need HEALING. THEM.EATING YHE FORBIDDEN FRUIT THE GATDEN OF EDEN. THE DEVIL RAMPANT PON DAT LITTLE ISLAND DEH. GOD NEED ITS PRESENSE. SICK STOMACH. I AM NOT A JAMAICAN BUT MI SAD FOR UNNU. CLEAN UP UNNU CROSSES NOT A GOOD LOOK. Please tek back unnu beautiful culture back pleaze…its not a good lok. I see self destruction blame unu governent. Fire pon dem.
Yes man! Das why di batteyman dem crawling out..di music a call dem
Stop refer to the country as “Batteyman paradise”. The more you say shit like that is the more this thing grow. You even going as far as calling it an empire. If you ever knew how thoughts and words shape reality you would be very cautious of using those strong words.
Sick of folks like you who constantly talk and focus on these ppl building and growing more and more of them, because the more you focus and talk is the more there becomes to focus and talk about. Dats why some of the videos out there that ppl find amusing I don’t even look on, even videos posted on this site about these ppl. You got ppl complaining about these folks yet they take their own eyes and ears to expose to viewing a video of these ppl in a sexual act, then after they consume that they come back and talk, why even view that shit in the first place if you are so against it? Focus on what you want and that is what you will see more of!
@Anon 10:52, why do you despise Jamaica/Jamaicans so much????..what is the real reasoning behind yuh hate filled comments???
Typo…What you pointed out (not put)…read again, the sender separated it within the article.
Also sender what I got from the article is that you are upset about the pollution of the music, not the change after all nothing stays the same in life so change has to occur, the earth is in constant motion. You were clear to say, filth and pollution of dance hall!
Again I solidly agree about the filth that has taken over dance hall, and it should be addressed!!
Reggae music is still reggae music, and dancehall has always been the more sexully explicit and violent distant cousin of reggae. Ppl have always been signing about sex and violence. Only that in the past it was more cleverly done, a lot of double entendres(sp?) Etc. When Bob Marley said, ” turn yuh lights down low. . 8i wanna give you some good loving. ” What was he talking about? Tru he never said, “tek buddy gal.” We can clutch our pearls and call for change, but sadly, as long as ppl like it, selectors play it etc. It won’t go anywhere. We can only pray dat our artists become morw intelligent and less explicit. Ha ha. We can pray that it is still regulated, where it is censored on our T.v. and airwAves. For now, we just have to avoid it and go for a more wholesome option cuz it’s out there.
Reggae is the mother of Dancehall and like a child that has gone a stray the first thing you do is look to its parents so this is why Reggae and Dancehall can be referred to in a singular term. This is why Sizzla took on the baton to purge dancehall of the raw slackness that has now taken over. The music has always been sexual from Prince Buster days , but it was never raw. Dancehall answers to Reggae and Reggae answers to the people/ streets because one gave birth to the other. Artistes back then had more to work with in terms of creativity , they had a raw environment that they saw and they were not being fed by media so whatever was news in their area was of their opinion and not some media house.Reggae is the voice of the people and dancehall is the beat, where there is voice there is rhythm and they must co-exist even though they can be separated or exist on separate platforms. Where there isn’t a mother there cannot be a child so there is much responsibility on Reggae in regards to dancehall .
The sender says within the article;
“There has always been a line for explicitness in Dancehall and as of recent, that line has been crossed and blurred by new Dancehall artists”
Sender I see that you also made clear that there has always been from the get go in reggae and also dancehall that which you stated above, but with these hurry come up DJ’s they HAVE TAKEN IT TOO FAR! While it may appeal to some people, it does not appeal to the mass, and it also conjures other things into being as Met said in her comment.
Peter Tatchel a one ranger sat in the comfort of him home and began a wicked and successful campaign against our music, in defense according to him of homosexuals, dubbing our music as MURDER MUSIC!
He got the attention of the Human rights committee and Amnesty international, this almost destroyed the career of many of our artists and box food out ah plenty ah dem mout, and it cost record companies a lot.
So why then should we not take a stance for the respect of women who are the one being degraded by the filth contained within these lyrics? It is not a matter of rolling with the times, anuh everything people fi accept!
Reggae birth Dance hall, and if a child is behaving badly outta road, we waan know who ah de parent, whey de bad breed come from so de two ARE very much connected!
The dancehall lyrics need clothes pon dem, di lyrics dem too raw… Instead of saying (P).ussy they can say “salad” or “tomato”. instead of saying (F).uck, they can say pluck… =
“Hey girl let me pluck your tomato”…Just put some clothes pon the argument…
Kartel is the one who made illicit lyrics to become main stream…
Yes it too raw and its corrupting the minds of the young people.
Hi Met, hope ur good. I&I always a log on and read…Big up urself… People/youths dem need a spiritual revival to purge out the island as the demon dem a walk hard and a control the people dem medz…U haffi trang like a Lion right ya know and get fi know Yashua and keep to the rules of Yahweh…
Great seeing u on! The people dem don’t know demself so they can’t hold any order. So much information at their fingertips and dem settle fi misinformation/nastiness and have no sense of moral. How people whey undereducated can control dem meds amaze me and mi nah talk bout book education but undereducated on what real life is. The music is the life of the people and they are not singing about the life of the people…dem a sing bout the life they want the people to have…dem want dem fi be freaks and androgynous human beings and the people are settling for that.
True ting you a seh Met…
I have to agree with the article- the fastest way to spread an ideology is through music. To illustrate, when me a did pikney, music used to bun out oral sex, so the culture upheld that and majority of people believe it was wrong. Then as more artists start to say it’s a good thing, people’s mindset shifted and became more accepting. Objectively, the right or wrongness of oral sex never change (I am i no way saying oral sex is bad, to those who may misinterpret)…but society become more accepting so till now woman inna dance a give beer bottle blowjob. So words have power. And set to a catchy beat they become stronger. I do agree that such slackness must be addressed. Songs like what Alkaline and Gage sing should not be in the mainstream.
good article. dancehall is such a mess, the tolerance of lewd lyrics, both from the song playing and the dj at the mike spinning it. the scantily clad women … i’m wondering if there’s hope.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/I-Wayne-calls-for-music-clean-up_18410019
O Ma Se O …muma weh yuh bin omg :peluk
(Simplicity soon sign in)
Bottom line, ban them, first of all those songs should not be on the airwaves, little basic, primary, and high school children to hear, music has spiritual powers, it infectious, Kartel let loose the demons in the dance hall and you see him gone, but tommy Lee, Gage and alkaslime take over, uno see where dung in a that reach ? At a funeral, a place that was sacred, no respect the dead, this kind of song have woman a tear off man pants like them in a trace fi suck him off, women sucking women in the dance, and they are not intoxicated by the liquor, it’s the songs that hit the spirit. God help us.
agreed Sketel Bam, and @Yep the sender did make the distinction
Simply, mi stawt write back over me suh, mi busy over dere, choo mi write an article daily dats why mi nuh comment but I am here reading all the time, as I am able, How yuh doing mi long tme fren?
I don’t know if I stated what I want to as clearly as I should have. What I am saying is, every generation have always clutched their pearls and say,”Lawd Ghad, not in my time think of the children!” Everyone can agree that the music is too lewd, etc. Quelle Horreur! But no one has a solution, maybe artistes, speaking out about the slackness of the lyrics? We can ban the songs? Or we can just ignore the music, i.e. disc jockey refuse to play it, ppl don’t download or click on the songs, selectors don’t play the music etc. What Kartel was good at, was in the understanding that controversy sells, and we know the phrase, ” what is worse than being talked about? Not being talked about.” My fear is that even if we were to clean up all the lyrics and return the music to it’s roots, things may not even change. Given the advent of the internet and all the cable t.v. we have access to. Gone are the days when there was one t.v. channel, and we watched what was available to us. Now with the internet you are a click away from slackness, let’s say Alkaline don’t sing anymore songs bout oral sex, it takes nothing for our children to go online, and see and hear Beyonce signing about orally servicing her husband in a limo while he,”MOnica Lewinskyed all over [her]dress.” Or to see an oiled up naked KIM K on the cover of a magazine, “breaking the internet.” We have to do something and we can start with the music, then tackle the other thorn in our cultural side, the internet and cable. Then maybe we can bring back we sweet Jamaica, as the song said.
A rather good piece but reggae music is indeed a genre on its own. Just as how rap music is a derivative of r&b.And it should be treated as is.As for homosexuals being the root of everything bad.Nonsensical.
Hey Obara long time hear you, but I know you’re good, so I am not going how been doing.
mi waan fi know if ah me alone si sey de sender sey de music split inna two?..Met please ooo come tell mi if mi wrong, wasn’t there a clear distinction when it set Dance hall emerged and the music split in two?
Not trying to offend, but just making sure dat me si sey the sender said reggae/dancehall clearly differentiating the two, as it seems like the sender quite sensible!
Bammy,mi good as gold mi friend, deh ah Africa ah chill out, lol how you…mi did haffi comment today cawsen sey this nastiness whey dem so called artists yah a promote is very disturbing, even here in Africa where them love we music and culture so much them talking about it!
I am in the cold, and I am not loving it one bit, every day it get more colder, I can’t take it no more, but other wise from that I am good.
You are correct @itsme, but I think the focus here is on the Jamaican culture, and the damage these hurry come up DJ yah doing to it. Children can as you say access the internet and see all kinds of things, but (if you are Jamaican, then I am sure you will agree) we Jamaicans have always held within our culture and what we teach our children high moral values. of course sex is a part of everyday life, but the graphic nature of it as it is today within our culture never was a part of what we know as Jamaica and even a part of our music which is our heritge, reggae or dance hall.
Tongue in cheek references has always been made through song of course, but never the blatant raw and raunchy lyrics being spewed by these set of (insert a bad word or a descriptive name for them here)
Baby Cham did Vitamin S and when Beenie man said sinting aneeda stop at 68, and lyrics like…. gal ah tear off him garment and waan go inna ah him apartment, de gal dem waan length and strength, action without argument! We knew what he spoke of but the lyrics were not offensive nor x rated
Artist like red Rat wid his hit Dwayne and others never went where these other ones have gone! A serious line has been crossed.
Bounty with…wukless bwoy, ole liad, come quick and tell gal sey him tiad…. I could go on
we all knew what they meant, but they never went as far a Vybz Kartel did in his lyrics
Every time him *&^K him whatever get &*^K!! And Alkaline with his perverted fantasies of a tongued being used as toilet paper!
and over yah here turrable Bammy, mi cyaan tek de heat! Africa heat nuh nawmal!
and over yah here wid heat turrable Bammy, mi cyaan tek de heat! Africa heat nuh nawmal!
Good article. But lets be unbiassed and acknowledge that there is a market for wat they singing. Could it be that dancehall is now ready to give birth to its own genre. I wouldnt call wat they singing dancehall, but it is still creativity.
Just like ska birth reggae and reggae begat dancehall. Dancehall is probably in labour. Dancehall has we knew it in 80’s and 90’s has ran its course. Doesnt mean its dead. But just not gelling with this generation as it did with past generation. I will safely bet that we had this said debate wen reggae was birthing dancehall. The hardcore nature probably scared alot of ppl. We accepted it however and now it is celebrated as class compared to this new sound. I am a lover of music and believe it or not, im not a supporter of dung inna throat and batty wash. But clearly there are ppl who are. We the listeners decide if a song or artiste can continue our show of support. So…
This new sound is ours. Lets own as jamaicans.
All we need to do is censor it so it doesnt reach to those who have no desire to hear it.
Music can be produced too easily today as the tools to create music are cheaper and easily accessible. As such, the quality of music we uses to hear before (building of riddims, composition of lyrics) have no substance. Now we have too much quantity (of artists and recordings) and not enough quality (well composed songs). This problem is not only affecting dance hall, but all genres of music.
We get that nothing ever stays the same and change is inevitable, but myself as an avid music listener would like more quality choices for new music. Since this is lacking I only listen to older productions of dancehall, R&B and Hip Hop music.
I might be getting old, which may make my views and opinions a bit jaded but I would like to hear more quality dancehall music produced. And maybe then people will start to buy this art form a bit more.
Sender, a well written article …. You expressed the sentiments of so many…I am ashamed of some of the music that these artist are spewing….we all have a role to play…we need to boycott these lewd music…they really cross the line…
Sender, I am also proud that you took a stance for positivity in the dancehall….it takes one person to start a movement and I pray that your voice echoes to the ears of these artistes…