Home  Editorials A dancehall debate
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Monday, 19 May 2008 |
The debate started as a casual observation. The dreadlocked young lady commented that she was disgusted at the manner in which some members of the dancehall fraternity appeared to have no respect for women. She continued to say that the lyrics to many of their songs were very abusive, violent and quite explicit, as many bragged about their sexual prowess, some even threatening physical damage to various body parts through intercourse.
"What kind of men are these?" She queried, "at least they should have respect for their mothers. What makes it worse is that these songs are played on the radio at any hours of the day." The quiet gentleman who was listening attentively chimed in with a response so basic. "Den if you don't want to hear it, change the station or turn off de radio." She fired back a response, on target as if she knew his was coming. "What about when a mini-bus pulls up with the songs blaring and I have my children in the car? I can't turn that off or change that station.
"Children are exposed to these things and that is what is making our society so bad these days. These DJs should not be allowed to create these songs, nobody should buy them and we would see how they survive. Instead, they are the most popular songs in the dancehall; the children can sing them word for word before they can complete their ABCs." The quiet gentleman chimed in again. "I think it is the responsibility of the parents to see to it that these children know their ABCs. Their parents should not let them get exposed to these songs to the extent that they can sing from memory."
"Parents? What parents? Most of the children today are grown by teenage mothers, who are struggling to make ends meet and therefore have very little time to spend with their children, let alone supervise what they hear, read and watch as entertainment. The absence of a father figure or some other male authority makes the situation even worse." By now her voice had raised a few octaves higher and both were now engaged in a debate that if televised would attract more attention and interest than any of the lame political pretensions seen in the last few months.
"Therein lies the problem," commented the gentleman, still restraining his voice, measuring tone and meter carefully to make his point. "You cannot censor the artist. Most of these artists are only expressing their reality, commenting on what they see taking place in their world. These songs were not created to be played on radio or in public during daytime hours. These songs were made for the dancehall, for the wee hours of the morning in adult only situations. Blame those who are irresponsible enough to take that type of music out of its designated surroundings and place it where it was not intended to be. They are the ones to be blamed, but you cannot censor the artist just because he has a different view from yours."
Ironically, a mini-van pulled up blaring one of Mavado's latest dancehall hit - "Dis is what de gansta life is like…"
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Eddy Edwards is host of Caribbean Riddims aired on WKAT 1360 AM every Saturday 3 to 6 p.m. Visit his website www.caribbeanriddims.com |
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