Pass the Charter of Rights and Freedoms or Jamaican Music will be banned

It seems that “there has been a shift, a quantum shift” as stated by Broadcasting Commissions Executive Director Cordel Green in the article “‘Music and Lyrics’ assesses impact of ‘daggering’ ban”, published Sunday 21^st February 2010, Mel Cooke, The Jamaica Gleaner, apparent in the somber moods and the affirmative tones of support also of the guests on panel discussion appearing on the Broadcasters respective Television stations chaired by Ian Boyne.

The sanguine comments of Ce’cile, Dancehall artists are also rather telling, as Ce’cile further stated that “we [Dancehall Artiste] were seeing how much we could get away with” an indication of the unprofessional that existed among Dancehall Artiste up until last year in 2009.

Which made the comments of Broadcast Commission Chairman Dr. Hopeton Dunn who said that it “seems [the ban] to have been vindicated” and thus “we [Broadcast Commission] hold the view that in Jamaica we need to be right on regulation” seemed spot on and what everyone wanted to hear, including the learned John Public.

But despite the issues raised, such as the persistent problem of payola thus far partially solved by the introduction of playlists, there is a looming crisis in among the Dancehall fraternity which is also affecting the Reggae Music as well and that is the increasingly tough stance that countries are taking against the unprofessional in the music.

As stated in the article “Locked out - Jamaican acts finding it more and more difficult to get into some countries” , published Sunday, December 27, 2009, Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner a lot of these Dancehall Artiste are finding their livelihoods under threat due to their conduct in other foreign countries in which they perform, often:

1. Displaying tardiness in appearing at concerts
2. Working without proper work permits
3. Not paying the requisite fees on their salaries and using suspect monetary conversions to get money back to Jamaica without paying taxes and even worse
4. Performing Dancehall songs with sexually explicit and violent content

Thus disrupting otherwise harmonious societies, most of which have laws against hate music or music that incites violent behavior in its people.

Most of the Governments of these European Countries and even in the United States of America are now beginning to block or deny the entry work permits of Dancehall Artiste, opting to encourage their promoters via economics to favor cheaper local Dancehall and Reggae Artiste who already reside in the respective countries e.g. Gentleman, who is preferred Reggae Artiste of choice in Germany, in some cases resorting to what appears to be an attack on their lifestyles.

This was brought into sharp focus when Mark Myrie, otherwise knows by his nom de guerre as Buju Banton, was held by Federal Agents on charges of dealing in and attempting to smuggle cocaine as stated in the article “No an easy road - Buju Banton held for cocaine possession in the United States”, published Sunday, December 13, 2009, by Livern Barrett, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Dancehall Artiste are now under closer scrutiny from these countries (European countries and even in the United States of America) as the now traditional source of revenue upon many of them are dependent for survival is now under scrutiny.

Especially as the effects of the Recession in the United States of America is projected to worsen, due to overconfidence in the usage of debt to steer the American Economy out of  the economic slump via investment in the Services Sector and not enough production as echoed by Dennis Chung in the article “RISK OF A DOUBLE-DIP RECESSION?” published Friday, September 18, 2009, contributed by Dennis Chung, Business Observer.

The writing was long on the wall as such music luminaries and veteran music personalities such as Clyde McKenzie and Michael Barnett have all given their ten cents worth of criticism and continuous warning to those members of the music fraternity to clean up their act, so ebulliently expressed in the article “Clean up your act! Music personalities urge Corporate Jamaica, Media to help clean up Dancehall content”, published Sunday, December 27, 2009, by Roxroy McLean, Sunday Gleaner, The Jamaica Gleaner.

This despite support of the wayward Dancehall Artiste of the now agreed by consensus, vulgar Dancehall songs with sexually explicit and violent content, from misguided University of the West Indies Academia in the form of lecturers such as Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis.

This Lecturer continues to preach the idea from the pulpit of the lecture theatre that the sexually explicit and violent lyrics of Dancehall music do not have the “propensity to damage the psyche of our children", as she was quoted as saying in the article “On the Dancehall bandwagon - Local academics being blamed for falling standards”, published Sunday, December 27, 2009, Daraine Luton, Senior Staff Reporter and her so-called “research” which she claims as proving that there is “no statistical correlation between youth consumption of Dancehall music and violence”.

Despite her research work having too small a sample size of only three hundred (300) persons to represent her target population, not covering every school in Jamaica, being myopic in her focusing on young people in the 15-24 year-olds in Kingston, St Andrew, St Catherine and Clarendon between June and August this year, a very short period of time for a study and not taking precautionary safeguards to ensure that the participants were in fact telling the truth and not merely viewing the questionnaires as a form of social control being imposed on them by adults.

The majority of well thinking Jamaicans outside of the privileged halls of the University of the West Indies most likely has ignored her research, citing the obvious “Gaza-Gully” conflict which contradicts her findings. In fact, it would seem to be more a form of “self-promotion” as stated by Mikey Barnett, veteran producer, also at the same Gleaner Editors' Forum, by foreign trained academia or “new PhD’s”, who on arriving in Jamaica, in a hurry to get known quickly, “support a cause that the grass-roots people in Jamaica, which are the majority, are associated with, and that was Dancehall music" to quote Mikey Bennett.

But the more recent news now comes straight from Senator Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture Youth and Sports, who read in everyone’s hearing at no more fitting a place than the 2010 International Reggae Conference at the University of the West Indies, Mona, her own report composed from the finding of a music producer fresh from MIDEM, the French equivalent of the Berlinalia Film Festival in Germany which is basically a repeat (as obviously as this article is cribbed from my previous writings!) of what our local music veterans have been saying for the past: unprofessional behavior of Dancehall Artiste is now beginning to not only affect Dancehall Artiste but also Reggae Artiste as well.

The report indicates that they [Dancehall Artiste] are being forced to operate more like business people when working in France and the rest of Europe, even to the point of being required to be members of a professional business organization, such as PSOJ (Private Sector Organization of Jamaica).

This is for the purposes of easier taxation of errant tax dodgers who perform and leave without paying fees and taxes to the Government of France as hinted in the article “Grange passes on bad MIDEM report – Little interest in Jamaican Music”, published Sunday 21^st February 2010, Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner.

France (and can I now finally say the rest of Europe?) and the French, who are known for their xenophobia and being rude, do no like listening to music that is too colloquial and incites violence against members of its society, most of whom are people who hold great sway in the Governments of these European countries due to their Societies being more “enlightened” as it relates to the rights and freedoms of its citizenry of any race, class, colour, creed, gender or sexual orientation.

Laws not yet enacted in the Jamaican Jurisprudence, as our Charter of Right and Freedoms is still being debated and have not yet been passed into law due to the supposedly “Christian” Church representatives, concerned about a law that they claim will “legalize homosexuality through the backdoor” as opposed to the Rights and Freedoms of all Citizens and being our “Brothers Keeper”.

This “raw meat” as Senator Olivia Grange Minister of Culture Youth and Sports refers to Dancehall music is not of the quality that Europeans or North Americans desire as no fire that the Pro-Vice Chancellor and Principal of UWI, Professor Gordon Shirley can bring will change that.

Even now, most Artiste are discovering that they are being banned even from other countries as the increasingly vocal Gay Right Lobby favour the local Reggae and Dancehall Artiste already resident in that country in a bid to try to keep out these rabble-roistering hate spewing people from Jamaica.

A country that does not respect the rights of homosexuals by virtue of its failure to enact the Charter of Right and Freedoms in its current form, a primal indication of the lack of respect that Jamaica shows by having signed Charters with the United Nations with the intent to enact such legislation but failing to follow through.

Perhaps its is time that the Music Industry begins to take a hard look at itself, as well as the Government of Jamaica at the reasons why the level of crime in Jamaica are so high, as in the eyes of foreigners, a country with such a high death rate yet no ongoing wars or conflict and such violent music with a muted middle class and no Charter of Right and Freedoms being bogged down in Parliament due to the narrow-mindedness of a few “Christians” is telling.

Perhaps the Dancehall Artistes and the Dancehall Music Fraternity in general must be glad for the Directives being enacted by the Broadcast Commission, as it has at least a positive action on the part of the Government of Jamaica to curb the performing of Dancehall songs with sexually explicit and violent content (perhaps the French notice this turn of events in our society as signs of coming change?) and in the process cut payola by playlist scrutiny by Radio Broadcast Managers.

An increased revenue windfall for Dancehall Artiste, when their foreign revenue streams are drying up and piracy is still rampant, albeit stiffer fines and strong action by the police, who suspect a link to the criminal underworld as strongly suggested in the article “BE WARNED! If you buy a pirated DVD, CD you can be arrested”, published Wednesday, August 26, 2009 by KARYL WALKER, Crime/Court co-ordinator walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com is beginning to have an effect.

Thus we are on the path of the straight and narrow, as not only will the local Music Industry be made more creative and thus saved.

But, if the recommendation of this report by Senator Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture Youth and Sports are adhered to, the end result will be:

1. Compliance to Taxation Laws in other countries as well as in Jamaica and hence more Tax Revenues for the Government of Jamaica
2. A more professionally run Music Industry that is on par with international standards as it relates to decency and promoting harmony (not to mention lyrics that are in creative English, which everyone understands!)
3. A clampdown and eventual focus on a solution to Digital Audio and Video Piracy in Jamaica via the introduction of a new secure music distribution platform (do I hear Digicel Wimax 4G Mobile IEEE 802.16d and Digicel’s DataCenter?)

But most importantly of all the implementation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in its current form, which will send a strong signal to the International Community that Jamaicans on a whole have respect for the Rights and Freedoms of its own people.

Irregardless of the Jamaican Citizens’ race, class, colour, creed, gender or sexual orientation – and is on the path towards acceptance in the Global Creative Space.