Artistes Afraid To Tackle Issues says the Gleaner .... including murder music

WHILE THERE was no direct connection, the proximity of Buju Banton being sentenced to 10 years in prison on cocaine charges and New York becoming the sixth United States state to legalise same-sex marriages, a day apart, could not be overlooked.

The conspiracy theorists would maintain that the Gargamel had been 'set up' because of his song, Boom Bye Bye, of more than 20 years ago. And there are those who would argue that lyrical advocacy of death to homosexuals apart, homosexuality is one of the huge issues facing the world.

The prospect of losing work was enough to prompt deejay Lutan Fyah to contact The STAR when he felt that his onstage comments were being misinterpreted. In a story published on May 5, 2011, he said:

"Yuh always have some people inna the media weh seh me a bun out homosexuality, but a nuh suh it guh. Mi a bun out the Catholic priests dem weh a moles' the yout dem when dem guh a church," Lutan Fyah said.

He explained, "Mi sing it di other day at Western Consciousness, and mi see where the paper tek it an seh mi a bun out gays. Is not even something weh mi go studio an' record. Is just a lyric weh mi jus guh di stage show dem an sing."

He went on to say that hedoes not have an issue with homosexuals because he does not care what one does.

"Really an truly, mi nuh business if a man wah have 'im boyfriend, but mi do lyrics off a the situation weh mi see wid the Catholic priests dem. But di way how dem write it a like seh mi guh pon stage an' bun out the people for no reason," he said.

Due to the misunderstanding, Lutan Fyah said he has missed out on a show and he doesn't want the matter to get out of hand.

"Mi even lost a show because of the mix-up. The promoter read what dem write and was worrying that corporate sponsors would pull out and cancel di ting. A nuh like seh yuh si nuh bag a gay a run mi dung fi ban mi or nothing, but mi want it fi stop before it even reach dem stage deh," he said.

The Gleaner asked Clyde McKenzie if homosexuality is the really huge issue of our time and he said "maybe it is the real issue of our time. Gay liberation - that is the thing that is on the agenda of a lot of countries".

McKenzie points out the irony of reggae's internationalisation through the same elements abroad which now reject anti-homosexual lyrics.

"One of the things you find was the progressive movements across the world that embraced our music. In recent times, it is the progressive movement - another generation - which is espousing gay rights and all these rights that run counter to things espoused in our music," McKenzie said.

"Some of the things they espouse, we don't. And that is causing a major problem. It is these people pushing against our music and calling it murder music. That is where the challenge is for our music."

Very cautious

Generally, too, he reiterates that "people can't speak with the certainty of days gone by. There is so much uncertainty in the air. It is like now people can justify almost any behaviour or any thing".

Plus, he points out, "It is easier to bring someone down, with all the social media. They take you down in a flash. I think a lot of people are very, very, very cautious, very wary about what they say".

So in Thursday's STAR deejay Vybz Kartel's denial of a rumour that he has AIDS was the main entertainment story. It read in part:

"The rumours began circulating late last week via a broadcast message sent out on BlackBerry Messenger. According to a broadcast message making the rounds last week, a female who allegedly has HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is said to have had unprotected sex with the deejay. The message implies that the deejay may now too have contracted the life-threatening disease. This week, the rumours also surfaced on the Internet."

Sponsorship, as Lutan Fyah spoke to in his specific incident, is also an issue. In 2005, the Coalition of Corporate Sponsors - including Red Stripe, Digicel, Cable and Wireless, Courts Ja Ltd, the Jamaica Tourist Board, Supreme Ventures and J. Wray and Nephew - banned deejays Bounty Killer and Beenie Man from events which they supported. This was after the two were deemed to have used foul language in a free-to-air televised performance at Jamaica Carnival, Last Hurrah, held at the National Stadium.

The bans were eventually dropped with apology or compromise from the deejays and many of the entities are now heavily involved in dancehall.

Withholding sponsorship

The Gleaner asked McKenzie if he believes that sponsorship plays a role in the lack of overtly rebellious content. He said "Yes, because the thing has become so commercialised ... . If you see certain issues, you might not want to offend certain brands".

Plus, with artistes heavily reliant on live performances for revenue in an era where music is freely available on the Internet, getting concert dates is critical. "With that, sponsors have a big talk about who comes on the show and who doesn't come on the show, and why they come on the show," McKenzie said.

An April 2009 STAR story showed local gay-rights group J-FlAG's perception of sponsors' stance:

"Despite the occasionally homophobic rant by rogue deejays, we have seen a general decline in the level of homophobia coming from new Jamaican artistes and in new music from Jamaica. We have also seen corporate sponsors withdrawing their support from music that promotes violence or discrimination against any group."