Regulating Dancehall Airplay

BAN THEM!!! A desperate cry for a more stringent application of the regulations in the Children’s Code for Programming as outlined by the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica.

Jamaican youth fighting against the sexualization of our children, the objectification and commodification of our women, and the trivialization of violence embodied in the themes of modern Dancehall lyrics

For far too long we have indiscriminately allowed crude, deleterious lyrics to clog our airwaves and infiltrate the minds of our children. The popularity of Dancehall today speaks volumes to the influence it now wields in Jamaican society, and though it is by no means the cause of any of Jamaica’s problems, it cannot escape all blame. UWI academics and many diehard dancehall fans continue to exoticize the music as a means of cultural expression and a metaphor for life. Furthermore, they assert the lack of empirical evidence to support the claim that Dancehall promotes sexism, belligerence, homophobia and other retrograde persuasions. However, we do not need empirical evidence to know that if you hear something often enough, in the absence of critical thought, it eventually becomes verity. How often do you hear people chanting dancehall mantras in justifying their actions or reproaching other’s? “Man a gyalis” (I am a player), “Man a bad man” (I am a gangster), “Man fi main uman” (Men must financially support their women), or even “Bwai fi get gon shat” (He needs to be shot). We need take our future into our own hands. There is no longer any ‘them’ and ‘us’. We are all witnessing the unraveling of a social fabric that was built through centuries of oppression and struggle. It will take a very long time to rebuild it, but if each of us grabs some thread and a needle now, we may be able to stitch together the pieces. Dancehall is a potent socializing force, which desensitizes our children to the use of violence, sexualizes our young girls and makes them targets for predators, and on the whole glorifies the objectification of our women. Once our greatest pride and showpiece to the world, our music and the influence it has had on the psyche of Jamaicans is now a cancer threatening to envelop Jamaica’s prospects of being a prosperous nation.

The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica has the following policy outlined in its Children’s Code for Programming:
Programming that contains any of the specified content elements that would qualify it for a NFT (Not for Transmission) rating may be edited to either eliminate or obscure the specific references, terms, or depictions before transmission. If the decision is taken by the media house to use an obscuring mechanism e.g. beeping of lyrics or blurring, after editing the elements must not be recognizable to the normal viewer or listener.

Now this approach works well for songs in English, but is completely inadequate for tackling songs sung primarily in Jamaican Creole. Besides the established ‘bad words’ that color our language, which these regulations would omit, all other mature themes go untouched. Whether this arises out of a general disregard for the first language of most Jamaicans, or an inability to censor lyrical expression is unknown to me, but something needs to change. The mere obscuration of a few objectionable terms does little to dilute the excessive sexual and violent references and the crude language. Further, the programming code is inappropriate for songs in Jamaican Creole, because regulators are far more tolerant of the views expressed in the language for the reason that “a jos so Jamiekan piipl stie” (That is just the way Jamaicans are). This is the only reason I can come up with for justifying why more songs are not banned don Jamaican radio. Is this a good enough reason? Hardly.

Besides objectifying women, many Dancehall songs glorify sexual aggression towards and the abuse of women. Many argue that people are able to distinguish literal from metaphorical, and do not actually act on the teachings of Dancehall artistes. Yet, Jamaica has in recent months been plagued by the manifestations of this demeaning tolerance. The current spate of abductions, rapes and murders, terms now synonymous, cannot be separated from the tolerant attitudes towards sexual aggression that our music embodies. music. Jamaican women, heads of many households, the stalwarts of the informal economy, and the nurturers of the values that define us as Jamaicans are no longer accorded much respect. We preach equality of the sexes; yet speak of our women as if they are commodities- objects of men’s debauched sexual fantasies. Many will tell you that Dancehall music reveres women, ‘kaaz a bie uman wi sing bout,’ but let us consider the song ‘Squeeze Breast’ by Mavado- an established ‘lyrical genius’ in Dancehall, and make that decision for ourselves:

Original Version
Kuoros
Shi se shi waahn mi skwiiz ar bres dem laik di triga af ma gon,
Ton ar bak wie ahn fok ar aad ahn mek shi kom,
Outa di bedruum shi ron, mi no nuo a we shi ton,
Di pusi kech a faiya an di pusi staat bon

Vors 1
Dem gyal ya waahn stif kak,
So mi fok ar out aad wen shi pozishan fram bak
Worse di gyal skin kliin, yes an di pum pum fat
…
Mi fok ar tu di maks

Vors 2
Its a fokin afier…
Gyal sidong pon mi kaki laik chier,
Gyal no yuu did a se dat de no fier,
Nou yu a baal se di pusi jaa tier,
Waahn mek a ron bot mi grab ina di ier,
Fling ar pan i grong ahn put I fut ina di ier
Kaki ina beli plos I buuts don pripier
pier naiz a mek aal di nieba a ier
Gyangsta no kier.

English Translation
Chorus
She said she wanted me to, squeeze her breasts like the trigger of my gun,
Turn her backwards and f*ck her hard until she cums,
Out of the bedroom she runs, I do not know where she turned,
The vagina caught on fire and started to burn.

Verse 1
These girls want stiff cocks,
So I f*cked her our hard, when she positioned from that back,
Even better her skin is smooth, and her vagina is fat
…
I fucked her to the max

Verse 2
This is a f*cking affair,
Chick, sit down on my cock as though it is a chair,
Chick, aren’t you the one who claimed that it wasn’t fair,
Now you are crying that your pussy wall tore,
Wanted to make a run, but I grabbed her in the hair
Violently threw her on the floor and tossed her feet in the air,
C*ck in her belly, and the condom is in place,
She’s making lots of noise, even the neighbors can hear,
Gagsters don’t care.


Lyrical masterpiece or literary non-fiction? I think the latter, because the song graphically describes a horrific scene in which a girl is raped at the hands of a most callous man. We have a society where women are abducted, raped, and murdered like nowhere else. We cry, we try to understand why, but the answer is never forthcoming... we never realize that it is through our own negligence, that such abuses are allowed to happen in the first place. Jamaicans are too passive when it comes to rejecting influences- we should stop pretending as if we didn't have all this crime /barbarism / disregard for our women and children coming- A manifestation of the blind eye we turned to the media to which we exposed our children

Adults have- or should have, the intelligence to separate ‘metaphor’ from reality, but children cannot. For this reason, our tolerance of dancehall is helping to create a new generation of heartless, ignoramuses who will only perpetuate the negative themes in Dancehall. The glorification of violence in Dancehall music now goes unnoticed, because the retaliative stance taken against ‘offenders’ is now entrenched in our value systems. We are so desensitized to savagery that shooting, stabbing and the like are considered just action by many Jamaicans- so long as the situation warrants such action. We show descent by actively through violence, because reaching a common understanding and working through one’s problems is not a valid course to take anymore. How often we hear about delinquent students, with aggression problems wreaking havoc in our schools. Surely many socio-economic factors contribute to this kind of deviant behavior; but the fact that such attitudes are tolerated and even glorified in popular culture cannot help.

Your company/organization has vowed to protect the interests of our children, and the Broadcasting Commission has created the Children’s Code for Programming to regulate material for television and radio productions. It is very disheartening however, that you have taken a seemingly lax approach to censoring objectionable lyrics. Criteria that qualify songs for NFT (Not for Transmission) as defined in the Programming Code, are omnipresent in Jamaican Dancehall music. Here is a reminder of some of them:

Excessive Violence – V4

B) There may be express or implied encouragement of violent activity against persons according to demographic characteristics e.g. gender, or race. D) Violence is portrayed as the primary means of resolving all problems. It is also portrayed or described as a heroic, glamorous activity, and the real, negative consequences of resort to violence are not included.

Excessive sexual content S3

A) Sexual portrayals or discussion are highly pervasive and an integral part of the programming.

B) There is explicit sexual content including characters simulating sexual activity frontal nudity, and description or portrayal of male and /or female genitals.

C) The programming includes frank sexual dialogue or discussion.

D) The portrayals, discussion, or descriptions are not meant for scientific, educational or journalistic purposes but meant to titillate the viewer or listener.

Excessive language L3

A) Obscene, sexually explicit or profane language is pervasive throughout the programming.

B) Obscene gestures are depicted, described or discussed.

C) Graphic verbal expletives in either English or Jamaican Creole are included e.g. “fuck”, “battyhole”.

D) Language is used to abuse and denigrate.

Dancehall artistes now belch out the very same mature themes that the regulations in the Children’s Code for Programming were meant to protect our children from. When are we going to take a stand? The inhumanity of our lyrical declarations is an embarrassment to the foundations of the reggae movement in Jamaica. This is not what our music used to be, and it does not have to remain this way. How much longer will we sit by and create a society of immoral savages who perpetuate such a degrading worldview? These songs preach that the sexual exploitation of our women is okay. I cannot be convinced that these songs do not fuel the sadistic intentions of rapists! The rapists must surely be empowered by the fact that they live in a society it is entrenched that men are superior to women and have the authority to do as they please, by whatever means. Our feeble attempts at regulating the content of the music on our airwaves must improve. Albeit a small change in the grand scheme of things, and only one of many wrongs in Jamaica that need to be corrected, we can do something now to effect change in Jamaica- ahn wi kyaahn tari no langga.

If Vybz Kartel or any of the popular artistes was to sing, 'mek mi baks ar, a we shi tek dis fa,’ it would not be out of context, because our women are treated much worse in vile illustrations of the sex act they often describe. Singing about sexual intercourse is fine, but describing intercourse in the manner that is typical (as in Vybz Kartel and Spice’s new song Rampin Shap), is illegal or it should be. Unfortunately, objectifying and commodifying our women is allowable, as is inciting violence against others whether homosexuals or rival gang members ‘pan di goli said’. There is no self-respecting woman who would gyrate to these lyrics. The fact that so many enjoy these lecherous excuses for music speaks volumes to the tolerance of sexism in our society. Worst of all, our young females hear these songs and soon accept this debased view of them in society. They are not equals, they are inanimate, and without feeling, ready to be exploited by perverted neighbors, fathers, and strangers. As Mavado reminds us in his song, “shi se shi wahn mi skwiiz ar bres dem laik di triga af ma gon.” Dancehall’s portrayal of the woman is fully embraced, so now the women ask to be treated like objects. What has our country come to?

I am not naïve enough to think that banning these songs in their entirety will lessen the demand for such crude lyrics, or adversely affect the careers of the DJ’s- surely not in the short term. Regardless though, those who know better need to do better. If you were to unanimously refuse to play the music of artistes notorious for promoting these depraved behaviours, you could put enormous pressure on them and their producers to clean up their act. We need to send a very strong message that Jamaican ears and brains are being eaten out by maggots which fester in the lyrics they spew, and that we will no longer support it. These men and women are lyrical geniuses; they can do better. This positive feedback loop wherein popular demand for such degrading lyrics increases the production of it, which then increases our love and demand for the music needs to be intercepted. I lack the benefit of proof that this system is as destructive as I claim it to be, but my concern should warrant a full psycho-sociological evaluation of Dancehall culture’s contribution to the moral degradation of Jamaican society and its effect on our children. Regulations that are more inflexible need to be put in place; or the Broadcasting commission must be given increased authority to patrol our airwaves and ban certain songs permanently. I love Dancehall music. The beats are intoxicating, and they stir within me a desire to express myself through movement. I hope for the music to evolve and regain its crown as one of Jamaica’s signature cultural forms. As is now though, whose best interests is the music serving- the consumers? The beats can remain, but the lyrics must go!

I am an avid supporter of our native language, Jamaican Creole, and have taken it upon myself to translate into English our literature, and our music, so that I can share them with the greater world. Shock and disgust are the two reactions I get most frequently, after sharing the interpretation of today’s popular dancehall songs. Many cannot believe that the main themes explored in Dancehall music could ever be played over loud speakers in one’s home, much less on national radio. Our immune response to detest filth has apparently been suppressed as we have become desensitized to issues that others easily identify as pressing in other nations. I am a concerned Jamaica looking out for the interest of our children. Your company/ organization has mandated to do the same, and it is time you step fully to the plate. The acquiescence with which we approach the unraveling elements of Jamaican’s moribund social fabric must be done away with. Let us act now to reclaim the Jamaica we love and miss- if only for future generations.

Sincerely,

The Woeful State of Our Nation

Evridie mi riid di niuuz-piepa dem mi aat bliid. Iat mi fi nuo se mi priti priti kontri an mi piipl dem a sofa aanda presha frahn di kriminal dem ahn pavati. A taim fi di yong piipl dem step op, ahn staat werk fi a beta Jumieka. Bot wi niid fi staat somwe, so mek wi taak ahn si we wi kiahn kom op wid.

Jumiekans niid sinting fi bring dem tugeda, fi mek dem rialaiz se di uola wi a wan set a piipl wid di siem uops ahn driimz. Mi fiil se wi langwij kyaahn bi de gluu de, we jraa piiple frahn aal bakgrong tigeda...no brait spaax gens no donsibat, no puo man gens no tapanaaris. Nobadi fi luk dong ar op pahn nobadi- bot evribadi az wan. An tu, mi kanvins se di edikieshan sistim uda beta ef pikni dida lerni Patwa langsaid Inglish. Chuu dis, mi gwaihn rait evrting ina Patwa ahn den chranslieti ina Inglish. Di vokiabileri mait shaata, bot ino miin se yo kyaahn se we yo waahn fi se. Til nou mi aalwiez wanda ou kom wen yo aax pikni kwestian, dem kyaahn aalwie gi yo ansa, ef a iivn 'nuo', alduo fi dem vokiabileri so shaat. Wan a di riizn dem mek wi fiil se di vokiabilieri tuu shaat a kaaz wi get so yuuz to hexpresin wi komplex aidiia dem ina Inglish...a taim fi go bak tu wi ruuts. Mi no si wa mek Jumiekan piipl kyaahn laan tuu langwij wan taim- fi di muos paat, no dat wi du nou?

I gwaihn tek nof enaji ahn main fi achiiv we di wola wi waahn Jumieka fi bi- wahn praaspros konchri we evribadi liv wid dehn wananeda widout waar. Mek wi staat di kanvasieshan no.

~~~

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

My heart bleeds each day when I read the newspapers. It hurts to see my beautiful country and fellow citizens suffer at the hands of criminals and poverty. Now is the time for Jamaica’s youth to join the fight for a better Jamaica. We need to start somewhere, so let us begin the discussions, and see what we can come up with.

Jamaicans need something to bring us together, to make us realize that we are unitedthrough our nationality, having the same hopes and dreams. I am convinced that our language can be the glue which brings people from diverse backgrounds together...no intelligence versus ignorance dispute, no lower class versus high class squabbles. Where there will be no one to look down upon or up at another- but a Jamaica where everyone considers themself as part of a single unit. I am confident that our educations system would be more successful if Patwa was taught alongside English. In line with this, everything will be written in Patwa and then translated into English. Our Patwa vocabulary might be shorter, but that does not necessarly limit us in expressing ourselves. Till now, I always wonder how it is that children will always elicit a response to any question asked of them- if even just 'no'- though their vocabulary is so limited. One of the reasons we assume Patwa's vocabulary to be too short is the fact that we have grown so accustomed to expressing our complex ideas in English...but it is time for us go back to our roots. I see no reason why Jamaicans cannot leanr two langaugs at once- isn't that what we do now anyway?

It will take a lot of dedication and brain-power to achieve the Jamaica we all want to see: a prosperous island nation, in which people live in harmony and peace. Let’s start this conversation.

My Love For Jamaican Patwa

I have read with interest the conflicting views regarding ‘wi langgwij, Jumiekan.’ I once refused to speak it, as mastery of Standard English was an expectation of the highest achievers. In 2006 I left Jamaica to study in Canada, and now believe in giving official status to ‘Jumiekan’ alongside English. It is no longer a matter of English or ‘Jumiekan;’ I want to be literate in both.

In Canada I looked forward to speaking with my family, as only they could fully understand the seriousness of my concerns. ‘Momi mi tap iit enuh, so mi a get maaga. Mi kiaahn bada wid dem kaina fuud ya agen!’ The English translation reads: ‘Mother, I no longer eat and so am losing weight; I am tired of eating this kind of food.’ Are there actually people who speak like this in Jamaica? (I tease) My sentiments are accurately expressed with potency when I speak Jamaican; there is no ambiguity.

Jamaican is a colourful and dynamic language that is as dear to me as ‘mi Sonde dina.’ It is preposterous for one to discount another’s academic abilities based on their propensity for speaking Jamaican. ‘Uu kuda brait tel mi se mi a yuuz ‘inappropriate language’ wen mi chuuz fi beta hexpres miself iina Jumiekan? Mi av mi wan ina “CSEC English” ahn nobadi kiaahn tek dat frahn mi!’

While it is true that many who do not speak Standard English simply are not able to, I am revolted that some continue to relegate ‘Jumiekan Patwa’ to the status of a low language. ‘Wi biga dan dat man!’ The ‘Bad English’ we loathe will only disappear when we teach our people the difference between the two languages. Over the last week, I have spent countless hours perusing the website ‘www.jumieka.com,’ gaining literacy in ‘Jumiekan’ using the pre-eminent Cassidy- Le Page orthography. It is easier to learn than I ever imagined and I have fallen in love ‘wid wi langwij’ all over again. Seeing it in written form reinvigorated my waning patriotism and spoke volumes to the possibility of a fully bilingual society.

Classist Reports in Jamaican Print Media

One day, while leisurely reading through the Jamaica Observer online, I was shocked to come across this article, which seemed to me a subjective evaluation of "ghetto people", as opposed to the impartial news report it should have been.

Residents protest against detention of 53 people

Saturday, November 01, 2008- The Jamaica Observer

RESIDENTS of several communities along Spanish Town Road in Kingston yesterday staged a noisy demonstration to protest against last Friday's fatal shooting of a gang leader and Thursday's detention of 53 people.

The noisy protesters, who congregated at the entrance to the volatile (not poverty stricken or impoverished) Crescent and St Joseph roads (along Spanish Town Road, lambasted (criticize harshly) the police of unfairly targeting their communities and accused them of killing their community leader in cold blood last Friday.

The gang leader, identified as Dave Sterling, alias 'Machine Man', was shot dead when he allegedly pointed a firearm at the police along Collie Smith Drive in Trench Town. Among the 53 detained in the early morning raids by the police on Thursday was a man who the police said was earlier this week 'installed' as head of the Rat Bat gang, less than a week after the death of Machine Man.

Police did not release the name of the reputed gang leader but said he was behind a series of criminal activities in Kingston, including murder, rape and extortion.

The detainees, which include two women, were still being processed late yesterday afternoon. Yesterday, the placard-bearing demonstrators accused the police of targeting their communities, even as (what, they were brazen in their accusations? Mistaken in their approach?) a group of officers kept watch from the opposite side of the road.

"Them a terrorise we and we not warring with anybody," a lanky youngster said. "Machine Man take care of we; is him send whole heap of people pickney go school and them kill him, for what?" a bleached-out face woman asked.

"Them come lock up the people them from yesterday (Thursday) and is them same people keeping the peace in the place," said another woman, clad in a skimpy outfit as she stood at the entrance to Delacree Park.

Sections of Spanish Town Road, Crescent and St Joseph Roads and Coral Lane, where the raids were carried out on Thursday morning, have been tense since Machine Man's death last Friday. According to the police, the Rat Bat gang and men from other sections of the community located between Spanish Town and Waltham Park roads have been involved in an ongoing fight for turf. More than a dozen people have been murdered in the bloody rivalry since the start of the year, the police said.

***

In grade 8 at St. Mary High School, I was taught that unlike tabloids and magazines, which sensationalize headlines in reaching a target group of individuals, the Observer and the Gleaner were more objective. I trusted that view, until I was able to discern subjective blabber from that which truly serves to enhance the intelligence of Jamaicans, in lifting the illiterate and unaware from the abyss of ignorance.

An article printed in the Observer on November 1 entitled “Residents protest against detention of 53 people” is one example of the ‘subjective blabber’ I detest reading in these reputed sources of news and information. Though I am aware that it is difficult to be completely unbiased in reporting anything, it was startling to see the writer blatantly convey a bias towards one impoverished, and marginalized community in Spanish Town.

It is well known that criminal masterminds shrewdly take advantage of the destitute in their communities, by offering them money and ‘security’, which inadvertently buys their allegiance. It is therefore not surprising that community members passionately turn to the streets to protest the death of their ‘community leaders’, whatever the cause of death.

In the article, the writer labels the community members as ‘noisy protesters’ and further invalidates their claims by using descriptors such as ‘lanky youngster’, ‘bleached-out face woman’ and ‘woman, clad in a skimpy outfit’. These terms undermine both the value of their opinions, and the authority of the Observer, which has failed in its responsibility to accurately report the views of Jamaicans from all socioeconomic backgrounds. With this article, a great disservice was done to those in Jamaica who are mired in an exploitative relationship they are oblivious to and helpless to changing.

Jamaicans everywhere are under attack from societal ills we seem powerless to solving. We must fight together as a nation, against the realities that lead to the exploitation of people in our marginalized communities. How brazen of the writer to articulate such despicable prejudice in a news report. The media has the capacity to shape perceptions, and must be careful that it does not promote divisiveness. Objectivity is but an ideal, but greater effort needs to be made towards achieving it.