Is Dancehall music dying?
The recent reports about artistes and the state of the dancehall music is not good.
Recently it was reported that four deejays and one selector had their visas, both visiting and working, to the United States of America cancelled.
This follows after reports also surfaced that a deejay popularly known to be flossing was held after allegedly illegally trying to enter the United States in a boat.
There was also more bad news earlier of popular dj, Buju Banton being locked up in the US and now awaiting trial for possession and alleged trafficking of cocaine.
Recently yet another door was shut in the face of the music when Vbyz Kartel and Mavado were banned from going to Barbados because the authorities there said the artistes promoted violence.
Promoters overseas are worried and say the potential to market dancehall music overseas has fallen significantly with the travel of some key artistes now curtailed. Those who lost their visas now join a number of artistes who already could not travel to the US such as Busy Signal and Kartel.
It is sad what has been happening and it seems all these things are nails now being drilled into the coffin of dancehall.
Dancehall music is clearly going through some serious times. But are these challenges or just retribution for a controversial expression, which has been blamed for violence and over exposing the society, particularly the youth to sex?
Has the lack of standards and guidelines helped to cause these problems, which now threaten to end dancehall music as we know it?
Is dancehall dying? what are your thoughts?
By Queen
Tags: Alliance, Beenie Man, big ship, Bounty Killer, broadcasting commission, Dancehall, Entertainment, lyrical war, Portmore Empire, vbyz kartel, Vybz Kartel
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196 Responses to “Is Dancehall music dying?”
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Good,it was never music anyways; not in the form of true reggae where you can hear a chord change, and it never challenged the musicans to create.Good riddance.
I was never a supporter of dance hall music…Reggae was always my thing. The lyrics that are projected has always been immoral and stupid..I was never impressed by these characters..some of whom could hardly read properly…
In my book,no dance artist COULD EVER COMPARE themselves with the greats such as DENNIS BROWN, BOB MARLEY, JOHN HOLT, MARCIA GRIFFITHS, JUDY MOWATT,GREGORY ISSAC, THIRD WORLD, BUNNY WAILER,ALTON ELLIS,and the list goes on. THese REGGAE SINGERS represented and still do music of high moral standard…music that the entire can relate to..
Wake up Jamaica to good reggae music, wake up before other countries take this BEAT and run with it with GOOD AND MORAL LYRICS.
ONE LOVE REGGAE..
I repeat. People who should have been able to nip this scourge from it’s birth must have been compensated for allowing this ” BORN IN JA” nastiness to reach such a level. Only when ALL JAMAICANS are being judged by such as OUR CULTURE are we running like chickens without heads wondering what is happening. Where is/was the foresight? Or that does not matter, as long as money a go ina packet. Reap what you sow.
THANK GOD FOR SMALL MERCIES.
DOES ANYONE REALLY CARE??
Dancehall is not really music. This is just the expression of semi-lirterate, violent, woman-hating, foul mouthed, warmongering, narcissistic individuals who have hijacked reggae music and are hell bent on destroying it.
Jamaican musicians must take back the music from these thugs who are corrupting our youth and destroying the good name of Jamaica.
The music contribute to a lewd type of behaviour by a certain creed in the society that creed is the masses. the music influence the way people dress, the way how we talk, generally the way how we behave. the stupid dj’s like bounty. whose behaviour could be likened to a caveman. and his counterpart movado the so called gangsta and others. they would come on ET and say ohh its just lyrics. they use the ghetto as excuse to spit out the filth.they are just stupid for playing stupid to the fact that they don’t know that people were living what they were preaching. The daggering crap was the stupidest thing i ever see come out of dancehall. I was so ashamed to go to a popular night club in connecticut and see them have a mattress. with people running up from yards away and jumping onto half naked women. in on instance one woman almost had her neck broken when one of the idiots run and jump on her neck. they both were stupid and probably deserve punishment for their stupidity. i was feeling ashamed of the stupidity we were exporting. We go from Sean Paul and Shaggy’s appealing video on BET to rubbish, trash. they were bigging up the music while the dunce cavemen were tearing it down. even the foreigners start to wonder what this crap was. I saw this coming. it was no surprise for me.
I am an American but have a natural affinity to Jamaica, its people and culture. I visit at least once a year and consider it my second home although most of my time is spent in Montego Bay, Negril and Ochi(tourist areas.) I respect all of your opinions wanting dancehall to go away due to the belief it promotes violence and exposes youth to drugs and sex. We have a style of music in the states called rap, specifically gangster rap, which also promotes guns, violence and sex. The US government requires labeling of the music but has not banned it. I have mixed feelings regarding the US government revoking the visas of some prominent dancehall artists. They seem to be quick to interject their opinion regarding foreign artists but have done nothing to curb the lyrics of homegrown artists. I can honestly say that a large majority of Americans do not understand the lyrics of Jamaican dancehall artists due to it being sung in patois. I also feel that artists such as Sean Paul promote dancehall in a respectable way. Although I am not a huge fan of dancehall, I believe countries banning its presence should look within as well.
This is bad press for Jamaica. We should never have allowed it to reach this stage. I hope those concerned and others on the same track will pat attention to this wake-up call.
Dance hall music should be not only be considered as a form of entertainment for Jamaicans these so call musicians should focus on a much more wider demographic people who appreciate good music. whats right, so much as it relates to common decency. yeh yeh i know music is a expression of the artist creativity,but you can either agree or disagree some of the dancehall dejay or out of there ….ing mind and before the music reaches this point of pure madness people in this industry should be looking in the future before we reaches this point of ridicule
I hope this will be a lesson to those aspiring to become dancehall artistes – this slackness and promotion of violence is a dead end! For too long they have been behaving as if they are larger than life – anything and everything goes. Full time something happen to cut them down to size.
I do hope so, Jamaicans allow this type of so called entertainment to hijack our beloved reggae music and linked it to gangs and vulgarity. Lets drive a stake through its heart and let it never return.
Our culture is too rich and beloved to be linked to such slackness.It should be outlawed
alos the wearing of pants below their waist.
I pridicted that it would not be long before we head into the path of self distruction, when I migrated to the US in the early 70s we only had two radio station that would never be caught playing reggae songs on Sundays, on my second visit while driving trough the hills of St Ann from the airport on a Sunday I was shock to hear the lerics coming from the songs being played, I was totally shock, just totally left speeach less, I decided then that the country has gone mad and that we are in a rat race, gone to the dogs with very little chance of turning back,so if it takes banning them or locking them away until they learn to come clean like FATHER MARLEY then so shall it be!
Dance hall music should be dead a long time ago. This type of music and the image it protrays has damaged Jamaicas image internationally. The blame lies mostly with the Jamaican institutions that support this type of music through the media (print/broadcast)all in the name of free speech. One can only reap fruits of the seeds he sowed
Is dance hall music dying? i hope not overall but i sincerely hope it coming to a close the dark chapter since about 1989 until now is defiantly coming to an end. Theres no doubt in my mind the lyrical content of most of those dance artist have contribute to the level of crime we now experiencing in Jamaica over the last 15 yrs to now the disrespect of the feminine sex and a whole lot of things wrong. social commentary doesn’t have to be about inciting violence against people in the music weather they be gays or so called informers.
Dancehall music today as we know it is not reggae and I am extremely insulted when it is categorized as reggae. I absolutely resent the watering down of our music, of our culture and of you values. If dancehall is representative of true ghetto culture in Jamaica we should continually be afraid and run as far away from JA as we possibly can. The dancehall artists are one of the primary reason for our current situation both economically and morally. It is also the evil literature and bible for violence and lack of respect for human life and dignity.Whether we like it or not people in the publice eyes such as entertainers and politicians are role models by default, therfore they have a moral responsibility to our citizens. Just because some of us have fancy cellphones, brick houses and luxury cars such as BMW it does not mean that we are better off and have moved forward.Rather we have taken 1 step foward and 10 steps backwards. let me put this in simple perspective: MOST OF OUR CHILDREN TODAY CAN TEXT SO MUCH WORDS PER MINUTE ON A CELLPHONE; DESCRIBE EVERTHING ABOUT VARIOUS MODELS OF ASSAULT WEAPONS AND STRIP AN AK47 DOWN IN SECONDS…BUT!!!! IF YOU WERE TO GIVE THESE SAME KIDS SOME VEGETABLE SEEDS AND ASK THEM TO PLANT IT TO SAVE THEIR LIVES THEY JUST HAVE NO CLUE!!
Come on JA, wake up and let’s get back to being Jamaicans proudly displaying and celebrating our culture. In Africa they say it takes a village to raise a child so lets’s act like we are real Jamaican villagers regardless of where you are. Let’s be a part of the solution not the problem. RIP dancehall and nuh come back, because you do not represent me! because you have continually degraded mi country,my culture and through your violent teachings and examples you have been killing us.During the late 70s and early 80s you started out clean but then it was downhill.
Dancehall will never die. What will die is the rubbish that the dj’s and producers feeding the fans with.What is happening now will only make dancehall get stronger.
If its going to continue make Jamaica look bad,and corrupt our young people minds.I AM READY TO GO TO THE FUNERAL!.All them sing is nonsense.These djs can clean out them mouth and not just sing rubbish to get money.I hope them see that the rest of the world is locking them out.
I hope this garbage they call music is dead, buried, rotten and forgotten,
Big Ups to the authorities in Barbados for keeping these two lunatics out of their country with.
All these so called promoters of who import such nonsense should wind up in the poor house too. those radio stations that have been dooped into playing that waste should be sanctioned to the max as well.
I would say rest in peace dance hall garbage, but that would be too kind,
Rather I would say, “ROT IN SUM GUTTER” Dancehall and those low lives Buffoons rot anongside it as well, Thanks Uncle Sam, I owe you BIG TIME!!!!!!!!!!!
WEll! All the comments above are interestingand true. Well said.
JA music over the decades has changed from becoming familiar and conscious lyrics that you could relate to, to becoming one of disdain and repulsion. Instead of hi-lighting social issues and encouraging change dancehall now embraces and promotes the very things in society that destroys and breaks down communities and families. Dancehall has been given a bad name worldwide and is now associated with live pornography,drugs,guns and immoral acts by young men and women out in the open in public spaces, these young people are are future and this is what dancehall has exposed them to…our future/current parents…can you see where our next generation are heading??! Its become the norm for 2/3 year olds to be dancing on the floor with their legs wide open and flipping over to cock their bums up and whine, with onlookeres clapping and applauding them like they have achieved something worth applauding. It disgusts me personnally because dancehall has become NARRRSTY!! I feel embarrassed when I see what it now promotes, but its seems like its the accepted thing, standards have dropped to the pits and children and adults will behave in a way that shows what they have been exposed to.
Dancehall has died with a bad name….the curent music should not be called by the same name it does not deserve it!
congrats babylon, yes after hiphop in the US they succeeded in JA also and now worlwide black people are being reflected as a society in which it is normal to have guns, gangs, kill people, rape woman, show woman as prostitutes and now they are wondering whats happening. Well Kartel, bounty, Beenie, movado and all of you fashion rastas please go back to school and listen to the Spear, Bunny, the Itals etc. NO instead in JA you rather booo these real roots people nowadays. Anyways, Marcus Garvey works shall come to pass and yes dancehall and clash dead since the nineties
firstly ,i congragulate the u.s on revoking these so called artist visas , it has been long overdue. attending reggae events nowadays
has become a joke . too much hype , too much hype , too much hype.has anyone thought maybe this has something to do with mr golding recently saying that anyone who signs dudus extraditian papers should sign their own resignation papers at the same time.the U.S.A will continue to lock down on ALL jamaicans until dudus is extradited .I HOPE THEY TAKE 99 PECENT OF MUSICIANS VISAS AWAY, BECAUSE IT IS ONLY PEOPLE LIKE FREDDY,BERES AND MORGAN HERITAGE WORTH LISTENING TO.
BLESSINGS
It’s really amazing how jamaicans are quick to judge each other and while doing it they resort to using the dictionary to sound inteligent …first the canceling of the visas is related to Jamaican govt. Not extraditing one of there criminals wanted in the us. Second if you belive the US is disgusted with dancehall you’ll be making a sad mistake as soon as some European finds a way to exploite it they will promote it..…just like traditional reagge . I can’t belive that people are now in defense of reggae music …the same way your critiquing dancehall it’s same way your parents would bash reggae . You can’t stop the youth movement and don’t forget how hard it was for you to get your music accepted
I whole-heartedly support the death of a very dehumanising form of dissonance! Some of us have been warning these dancehall acts to stop spewing filth but as usual, they will only hear when it hits them in their pockets. Why can’t we make good uplifting music.
“For example, this paper published that Bounty Killer had several charges against him in the Jamaican “justice” system. YET, he was out and about doing whatever he wanted. Somehow I feel that if he was arrested here in the U.S. his fans would be insisting that he was innocent (and that he was “set-up”).”
The law (even in the US) says he is innocent until proven guilty. He was out on bail..
Would you like me to give you a short list of American stars who were arrested for various and serious crimes over the last few years, some of whom were “out and about doing whatever they wanted” before their day in court. I bet most of the people here who are denigrating a major part of our culture still listen to and/or buy Whitney Houston’s records, even though she is a crack-head who is married to an ex-con crack-head… Don’t even get me started on Michael Jackson, James Brown, Ray Charles, Puff Daddy, Snoop, and a host of others who were/is involved in serious criminal activity and who have also spent time in prison.
When I see people describing Dancehall as “this scourge” etc it becomes clear that their rhetoric is based on their dislike of the music itself and the criminal activity of a few idiots, have only provided a bandwagon for them to jump on.
This leads me to wonder; how many of us would speak about Bob Marley with such pride if Americans and Europeans didn’t love him and his music so much, remember now, he smoked ganja, had dreads and even sang a song about burning churches…
So because the artistes dem cyaan travel guh US, etc Danceheall is dying or to some dead?
I see just like typical Jamaicans the writer of this article and respondents are as stupid and possess the americanized mind.
Dancehall was made here, is here the artistes them live, nobody embraces Dancehall like we here in Jamaica, notice I said Dancehall and not REGGAE.
Plus with the popularity and emergence of e-commerce, there’s still room for sales for these artistes. AND THE USA is not the WORLD!
The only issue with Dancehall is the indecency of its content for under-aged. If artistes wanna vent about popular interest mek dem vent. Kartel’s sings songs for his niche market, come on every business has a niche market, if u dislike the services of that business simple don’t buy it, hence, stop listen Kartel’s tune. Same for Buju, not all young ppl like REGGAE, they think there’s this old time feeling to it, Buju is somewhat hailed by youths because he sings contemporary Dancehall too.
Movado is for gangsters not simple men and women, and those who are oppressed within the ghetto. If you’re not, his music is not for u!
Beenie is an all rounder, every generation respects most if not all music of his.
As for these gays who go against Dancehall artistes, they need to acknowledge that they’re living a totally ungodly life, although any sin is a sin, but come on, they shouldn’t expect ppl every where to rate or respect them. And by now, them fi know seh Dancehall music is not for them, Go enjoy the american gay artiste and female tunes.
The Dancehall artistes on the other hand, if they want to perform worldwide, well they need fi sing universal or generally accepted songs/lyrics. Simple!
The music will not completely die, it has migrated.Most of Jamaican Dancehall artist lacks formal education so they really don,t know how to act outside Jamaica. I think the ones that are making money should give back by providing a music training school that teaches music business and acceptable behavior.
I am overjoyed that this era is coming to a speedy end. Dance-Hall music was a sore point in Jamaica’s consciousness. I thought it could not go away.
Dance-Hall encompassed everything that was evil. It had no moral standing. It was composed of greed, explicit sex and violence.
I am over joyed that this filth is being flushed out of our society.
I am absolutely convinced that when Dance-Hall is finally gone Jamaica will continue to the envy of the World. It’s a rebirth folks
I’m sorry to know that their visas were revoked, but hoping that this will send a clear message to artists to let thme know that it is time they stop singing or talking about guns and gals…..one DJ the one with the name like a watch, talks about 13 guns and 15 cars and nuff gal…some floss while throwing money in the crowd, what’s up with that….they are sending a sad message to the young followers in our society…..stop singing about violence!!! what about peace and love and justice, like Peter Tosh called for back in the days of great music!!!
Sorry to spoil the party…BUT…DANCEHALL is not dead and will never be DEAD! Especially in Jamaica. I believe some of the comments left on this blog are mis-informed statements…..because while dancehall has its negatives…there are a world of positives which derive from Danchall music. I agree! the art form needs some cleaning up, and some of the artist need to change their behaviour. However, the positives are too much for us to throw it out the window. Dancehall music is one of Jamaica’s biggest foreign exchange earner…the sad news is not alot of people know this. The powers that be need to take a serious look at dancehall…it should be a portfolio in one of the ministries. A proper structure needs to be developed so the country can earn significantly from the proceeds of dancehall. For example…these djs make millions per year, but the only tax they pay is GCT when they go to the supermarket..how come? The selectors and sound system operators are playing the same game….making alot of money locally & overseas but pay no taxes. This is because there is no framework in place to register a sound system and tracking its earnings. A sound system can charge anywhere between 20,000 – 150,000 for an event. Imagine the earning potential for the country? Instead of coming up with a ridiculous noise abatement act giving the police authority to lock off parties….the government should increase the price of police permits. As it is right now….u pay about $2000 for a permit that last until 2am… But what is happening is that when the police come the promoter have to give him a thing…sometimes like ten or fifteen thousand dollars to get a bly for the party to go on until morning… Now what if the government just said a police permit will cost 20,000 when your keeping an event..can you even imagine the earnings? In Kingston on any given night, you can find upwards of 15 parties going on so do the math. Dancehall also provides employment and drives the business sector. Hairdressers, nail techs, barbers, liquor stores, clothes stores, video man and camera man, chicken vendor, soup vendor, taxi man etc. I would love to hear what companies like REDSTRIPE, WRAY n NEPHEW, WISYNCO, LASCELLES have to say about danchall dying, cause I’m sure a major part of their earnings comes directly from dancehall. So if we are saying that we want dancehall to die or dancehall is dead and that we are happy….Then we are not looking at the broader picture…. It just needs a proper structure and needs to be packaged properly so we can all benefit positively it. It could be a key Industry to Jamaica if we just have the will to make it happen.
Its not dead, but its def on life support. I have seen the emergence of dancehall in the early 90′s and watching it morph into a lawless form of irresponsible self expression so I am both happy and sad at dancehall’s apparent “demise”. It should not be at the behest of foreign ports and authorities to quash it but rather us as a nation to engage our youth so that they are enriched with ancestral cultural knowledge to be able to identify ignorance when they hear or see it.
We are a culturally rich and influential nation, yet our so called “artistes” mimic US fashion trends, sexual habits of hip hop culture and the general moral decadence of others.
Alternatively we could say dancehall holds up a mirror to society to reflect the social and financial inequalities that exist in Jamaica, and warns where we are headed if we do not rectify injustice. Songs like Bounty Killer’s “Poor ppl fed up”, “Sufferer” and “Anytime” demonstrate the politicised roots which can be found in dancehall.
The government has much to answer for in terms of dancehall and our direction as a nation, and until we as individuals demand transparency from the Jamaican govt, moral codes depicted in dancehall will worsen. Briefly look at our tourist industry and its subtle exploitation of local people.
“Music a nuh even di half ah di issue”…
no no no , dancehall music ( not reggae) is bigger than ever, thanks to gull and gaza, let us play hypocrites, have u ever been to montego bay recently… every other car is blazing dancehall music……. we dont care what the us says about visas.. dancehall music still alive and doing very well
I consider myself open-minded and all and i’ll give any form of music a chance, as i’ve done with dance hall music and right now i must say enough is enough.
Dem likkle people ya a try spoil up yoots. The thing that makes reggae a sample music -apart from the beat of course- is the message. Even back inna de 60′s when ska and rock steady ruled the artists showed great respect man, woman and child. One could listen to the music along with a youngster or an elder. Can you and your little daughter or your grand mother sit in and listen to a Kartel album? And he is supposed to be one of the best dance hall has to offer?
And what a gwaan females? Hate to point you all out, but a lot of the muck from these ‘artists’ are directed at you and you all have a lot of influence over what is acceptable inna de ting. Bottom line is the violence and lewdness inna de music don’t make it so great talents like kolonji and company need fe strighten up oonu likkle self or go extinct.
More love my peops.
“EVER”
This is one of the best piece of writing I have read in a long time nuff respect.
Those of us who ascribe to the rule of law, and good values so that our children may grow up in a Country free from Crime and amoralistic vices are somewhat seen as out of touch as these Moran’s that are given carte-blanche to our airwaves to spew their satanic vile and despicable dribble, most of which makes no sense,, just words put together, if asked to explain their lyrics they stumble into an incoherent painful and tortuous prattle that is only ended thankfully by removing the microphone.
The real issue is those that parade as journalists that are fans of the ghastly cult called dance hall, so their reporting even when the Police steps in to have the music turned down so that law abiding people can sleep is slanted to make the police bad and the purveyors of anarchy victims.
What kind of Country is this? Jamaica has been reduced to a cesspool of amoralistic pagan pleasures, the wanton slaughter of it’s own people while the murders take home the blood money so that their women can gouge in curry goat and rice,guinness stout and their is endless supply of ganja to be pressed to dust in the palms, followed by animistic daggering , that produces more illegitimate shottas , and the cycle continues.
What percentage of our population is educated ? i dont know but will say about thirty percent.Most of them cannot use internet to react to a column like this.however i have being there with them and dancehall music is an art form and a way of expression also. i will afto agree that the lyrics are definately not acceptable and a lot more that accompany dancehall are not acceptable.but i do know through experience that people who have all these negative comments are educated people that keep themselves away from dancehall and its people and it is unfair for you all to bash dancehall without personally knowing dancell and its people. education transform a person into a more what you will call civilize being. the majority of our people are still ignorant. i will bet you all that the day when jamaican are eighty percent literate. that you will see a total diffrent behaviour from all of them.
Dancehall is not dead and it will not be and all those looking for this and involving god will never see this happen. our country is sick and lets help to find the cure instead of throwing blows and making things worst.
i am personally disappointed in most of our educated people.
Well EVER said it all!!!. I will just add that the PRAYERS of the righteous has been answered. Dancehall is going DOWN. I wont preach or judge but Jamaica has become Sodom and Gomorrah. The most high will show those who continue who deliver there “filth” yu will not prosper. Please read Ever blog. Continue to pray for Jamaica & the Dancehall Artists
Lyrical content is the only thing that is wrong with “Dance Hall” The good old days of Ska, and Rock Steady, and reggae, has good gramma sentence structure, and arrangements, but most of the production was messed up with wrong chords, and off singers. Also the scratching sound which was always present. The computer is the strength of “Dance Hall” it carries a 97% quality sound production, and the rest of the equipment or other attachment to produce a record needs the proffessional musican, and electronic technician, which all ends up as a pleasing sound to the ears. The law of the land should have been doing their job along side the broadcastong groups, and “Dance Hall” would have live as long as ever. Reasons are as one reader states: “Dance Hall Artists lives large, they have millions to spend, while the old days one them live poor. WE did have a new art form, but our basic culture which is the original gene in “Dance Hall” is the killing stone of the art form. However all is not lost, because Shaggy, Scean Paul, Deville, Tony Reble, Richard Steven, Beres Hammond, Taurus Riley, and manny more are concious “Dance Hall” singers. All is needed is a NFFAP law for some of the releases under the DH umbrella.
I agree with most of what is said here.
I agree with what Ever said for the most part but I think the overall problem as well is society itself and the entertainment industry as well. The main reason why these artists gwaan wit dem fuckery is because they are glorified and lauded for the stuff they say and do and are rewarded for their acts of decadence. Plus the tv and radio stations willingly give these artists airplay along with the newspapers and magazines, whereas artists who have more of a positive message are ignored, overlooked and fought down in favor of these aformentioned artists who are ruining the art form.
I am willing to bet that if Bounty, Kartel, Mavado, etc were to talk about world peace, harmony, love, education and to clean up their act, that they would be pushed to the side in favor of other artists who are just as nasty and unsavory as they are. If we really wanted to have prevented the bad direction dancehall went, we would have stopped this when Ninja Man, Shabba Ranks and Supercat were going on with them slackness but we chose not to do anything when we had the chance.
If we really want to give dancehall a better image, we should put the focus on the artists who are making a positive contribution such as Taurus Riley, Beres Hammond, Coco Tea, Warrior King, Richie Spice, Gyptian, Junior Kelly, Alaine, Etana, Queen Ifrica, Bugle, Shaggy, Demarco, the Marleys, etc, instead of the Kartels, Mavados and Bountys. Unfortunately, due to Jamaican society’s hypocrisy and ignorance I doubt we will see the light on this subject.
dancehall music is not dieing its just on a stand still 4 now we just need the badmind to come out of dancehall and u will see our music work wonders. dancehall was made from WAR just like rap music so y rap music is not dieing look to all jamaican they just dnt like us because we r so talenten and we r waisting it.now the USA is playing us ofter thay use us but know this we will rise again whit help from canada and the uk. dancehall will b on top again
Coincidentally, those who call dancehall evil and whatever are the same people who willingly accept negative european influences and try to force them on ordinary Jamaicans..dancehall will always get a fight from the establishment as it’s usually voiced by the poor from the bottom of our economic ladder. Contrary to a previous comment, dancehall is also reggae, though a variation. The writer is likely referring to roots reggae, done by Dennis Brown , Bob and others. By contrast dancehall is a rap in a sense, about life on a whole in society, usually a more graphic account than what you see with a traditional reggae song. Some people it seems are repulsed by the accounts given by dancehall artistes, which are usually accurate depictions of the society around and thus would like to see the music kept in the shadows, preferring a more sanitized version of events-speaking in proper english and what not. One can go all the way back to a young Bob, Alton, Toots and the other pioneers and you’ll find the gun talkers, ‘slackers’, rudeboys and those who sang ‘culture’ tunes all the way through, yellowman, peter metro, admiral tibbet, shabba, ninjaman, buju, beenie and bounty killer, garnet silk and what there has always is balance. What we have now is basically in imbalance with the commercialised music taking precedent. Dancehall being a harbinger of the ills of society is reflecting the current infiltration of negative foreign influences on Jamaican youth. Tell me this, if vybez kartel is such a bad influence why is he by far the most popular entertainer among Jamaican youth, despite the constant crap coming from his mouth ? I would think the youth find common ground with him which explains the attraction..like moth to a flame, a rather troubling thought, isn’t it ?
So true, Vinnie !! Nuff respect!!
As far as i am concerned,the so-called “dancehall” music has been dead for quite some time now.In fact it should have a still-birth,because it serves absolutely no purpose what-so-ever.Call the undertaker immediately.
The revoking of visas is an eye opener for a lot of artiste who feel that they were indispensable and were all so important to the music industry for it to flourish. This is a rude awakening for the artiste and they will definately learn from these occurrances. I wish them well but I do hope they are also learning and wishing themselves the best. We all know gaymanship is against the will of God almighty, don’t waste your time trying to dissuade them to adhere to God’s will. Let them die the way they want to die, they will never see paradise! you can count me right on that. They want to come to Jamaica and infest the place with their irty attitude. They need to get a hold of themselves. The artiste who are following them up must gather sense and look more for their wellbeing and leave these evil people alone. What they need to do is to get the violence our of the music and the profanity and the casual sex dipictions. Get the young people more involved in uplifting lyrics which will give the society hope for the future. We can’t continue to make gully and gutter music for children. We must have consciences and make edifying music for all to descern.
Mr. White, You keep saying this should have nipped from its birth so lets go back. The very conservative side would say that Ska and reggae should have ben nipped and do you remember when Bob Marley was revered more by foreigners than his own country but wait Bob still isnt a national hero is he? So stop whing and go wine up yourself like all the half naked hypocrites.
Slackness was here before dancehall Mr. Reid and Mr. White. Where is your outrage at the number of children who go hungry everyday in Jamaica, where is your outrage at the amount of young ladies who feel they have to sell themselves in order to buy food to eat. If Vybes Kartel wants to talk about his rampin shop then let him, you dont have to listen.
And Mr White i fail to see where you are coming from. Let me name a few Richard Pryor, Dolemite, Eddie Murphy, Redd Foxx, who received their riches from vulgar performances so are all comedians to be held accountable for their slackness. And remember these are some of the greatest comedians ever. Stop focusing on the effect and go back to the cause. What created an atmosphere of depravity? If you ask me its all the half naked people jumping around in the street dancing to soca music that happens to be the real cause of the children being mislead about sex. See how ridiculous that sounds. The parents are at fault of their own childrens problems, not music or Tv. Stop making excuses. Excuses are like bum holes everyone has them and they all stink!
over the years many of these jamaican artist get away with so much foolishness and mostjamaican pin head suports them take forinstant buju banton song years ago gay should die or shuold be shot many see it as open speech in fact many was on the boat yet today how many jamaica might have been killed because of that very song i know hitelr killed jews not because they was bad homophobia mind people killed gay not because they are bad yet you nation of chrstian killed them then pary is that wise??
dance hall music should be banned these guys are ignorant and stupid and most people do not understand a single word that comes out of there mouth no wonder countries are banning them that will teach them to clean up their acts.no body sings anymore all that comes from their mouth is garbage. miss Bob Marley, Peter, Dennis and all those good artist
Time enough! Because of our dancehall music Jamaicans are being stereotyped as “rough” and violent people. Of course, the crime rate does not help to change the world’s opinion. The news about our violent, intolerant music has also reached here in Europe. I wander what came first, the immoral dancehall music or the increase in violence?
Ever, my girl, you have demonstrated through your well penned piece, your in-depth knowledge and understanding of the argued topic. Your brim-filled reservoir as it relates to dance-hall fabrics, has presented more than adequate evidence for you to be envied and despised by anyone who may be foolish enough to debate you on said topic.
From time to time, I browse through some of these postings, perhaps to get a good laugh from some of our more ludicrous posters and also to keep the yard thing leveled and balanced. However, on this occasion, you have caught my attention and I kind of figure that I would 2nd Estaban Reid in telling you that “yuh ting sellhaf.” It’s a pity you had not paragraphed you work for a much smoother flow on the conveyor belt. Nuff respect girl friend!
It about time!!
Vincent you are right, Dance Hall music is the result of decent people allowing themselves to be lead by fools, alleged criminals, social deviants and men who have no regard for women and the very children they sire. When decency threatens to rear her head the masses say “unna a box food outta man mouth.”
At least I can take solace in the fact that I have NOT assisted in the advancement of this “music” and the resulting denigration of Jamaican music. I have never purchased one CD where women are being degraded, violence is being preached, or where profanity is used.
In fact, I have NEVER purchased a dance hall CD in my life.