BIG BIG News! Fans of dancehall and reggae have often discussed the elements of homophobia, racism, sexism, and other nasties in Jamaican music. The music industry goes through cycles of acceptance and rejection of these messages in music. For various reasons, from the economic to the politic, Jamaican artists have made quite a name for themselves, not to mention $money$, with the international success of battymanthems and lyrics that objectify women. This is not unique to Jamaican music, but it has been a prevalent part of some of Jamaica’s more successful artists in the last 20 years. Sizzla and Beenie Man have made their share of homophobic music, condoning violence towards individuals who are openly gay, while Elephant Man, Bounty Killer, and Vybz Kartel continue to voice songs of intolerance. There have been instances of gay rights activists putting an economic squeeze on musicians by interfering with their performance and distribution in the US. In the last 10 years, some artists, like Buju Banton have had shows in the US canceled, sometimes whole tours canceled, due to pressure from gay rights organizations who did not want his message spread to US youths. This has begun to impact the success (and wallets) of major players in the music scene, causing them, and others in the music industry to rethink the lyrical content.
From Sound Muderation To Human Suffering
As a devout fan of dancehall music and an author of what makes this style so wonderful, the topic of lyrical content enters my discussions quite often. It is no easier to condone or justify in dancehall than it is in american rap with misogynistic lyrics. While I love the music, sometimes the words make me want to vomit. Of course, there are more righteous and conscious-raising songs in dancehall than there are downpressing and violent ones. And no, I don’t include sound murdering lyrics in the category of violence since that is another whole category, and does not encourage violence towards humans - sounds, records, success, yes, but not people. (And this enters into a whole other subject of property destruction vs. violence towards living creatures…)
Well this is the year that is going to change all that, in my opinion. One man in particular has come up with a clear and concise statement that encourages tolerance for all people, and welcomes all to listen and participate in dancehall culture and music without fear of violence. Gay-rights activist Peter Tatchell created the Stop Murder Music campaign, and has drawn up a specific declaration of tolerance called the Reggae Compassionate Act. The opening lines of the act summarize the overall tone of the lengthy document:
We, the artists of the Reggae community, hereby present this letter as a symbol of our dedication to the guiding principles of Reggae’s enduring foundation ONE LOVE. Throughout time, Reggae has been recognized as a healing remedy and an agent of positive social change.
We will continue this proud and righteous tradition.
The entire Act can be viewed on Rastaman’s blog. The act goes on to state the original positive message that reggae music is known for and how, despite extreme human suffering, reggae music continues to bring positive vibrations as an attempt to heal humanity and spread love. While remaining committed to Free Speech, and leaving room for each different person to have their different opinions about life, the Act finishes with a solid affirmation that the signed artists will no longer perform or record any music that incites or encourages murder towards individuals of the community. Ah, legal speak, so tricky and so treacherous. So far, Beenie Man, Sizzla, and Capleton have led the way by being the first Jamaican artists to sign it. This should prove very interesting. Like the time dad had to put a quarter in the jar every time he cussed out loud. What happens if one of these singers - all of them notorious for flip-flopping their stance on this subject - changes their mind? I guess that’s what second and third identities are for (Sizzla has what 4 different names to record under?)
Slack Sells
I don’t want to downplay the importance of this movement. I think it is a great idea, and I hope many more singers will jump on the signature list. But, what to do in an era when violence and slackness sells, and sells well. Especially for an artist living in an economically and politically troubled country, an artist that gets paid ridiculous amounts of money for those slack songs… We shall see.
On the flip side of this story is the artists, specifically being targeted as “murder music” singers, who haven’t signed the Act yet: Elephant Man, TOK, Bounty Killa, Vybz Kartel and Buju Banton. There is still an active campaign to get these artists to sign and make the commitment.
However, I don’t think this document speaks as loud as what these artists are releasing. Whether or not Buju Banton signs the document, he has still made a huge impact on the music scene in Jamaica. The message in his song “Murderer” calls for people to put down their guns and stop the violence. When the song first hit the airwaves, its message rang out so loud and clear that it inspired local clubs and radio stations to steer clear of music that encouraged more violence in the streets. Either way, the Reggae Compassionate Act is a monumental move for dancehall as a whole. It will be very interesting to see what other artists’ responses are to this.
LINKS
News from yahoo news.
More about Peter Tatchell on his own website.
The entire Act on Rastaman’s blog
Molli Fire Writes About Reggae Music
Some of this info and its ideas stem from research I conducted about the dancehall culture and music scene since 1985. I recently turned that research into a few chapters that I contributed to a reggae scrapbook that will be published this Fall. The book was written and compiled by the legendary Roger Steffens with beautiful photos by Peter Simon! So if you are interested in more stories like this one, watch out for news of that book. I will of course release more details when they are available.
And of course, keep watching this channel! HearingTest brings you MO FIRE!
What Do You Think? ↓
1 rastaman416 // Jul 12, 2007 at 10:27
i cant believe these artists actually signed something like that!!!!the gay lobby has hijacked reggae music?wow
2 Big Chippa // Jul 12, 2007 at 18:05
Any artist has the right to say what they want and how they want to say it in thier work, because we as an adience should relize it is up to us to listen or not to listen and to have the sense to understand that words and actions are two different things.
3 Molli Fire // Jul 12, 2007 at 20:31
Fantastic comments. Thanks so much for reading this. I feel very similar to both of you, unfortunately, someone is always trying to use music as a scapegoat for society’s problems.
4 Austin Reggae Festival: April 19-20, 2008 // Jul 23, 2007 at 17:16
[...] whose 1992 song “Boom Bye Bye” advocated shooting gay men, has agreed to comply with Reggae Compassion Act. According to some reports, his decision to agree to stop slurring gays may have have less to do [...]
5 Molli Fire // Jul 26, 2007 at 13:22
Well, there’s been some new developments. It looks like the Compassion act has gotten some new signatures. I will be researching reliable sources over the weekend and will report an update.