Dear Editor,
It has been roughly two months since I penned a letter in relation to Jamaican Dancehall Artiste “Alkaline” being stopped from performing in Guyana. Some persons said my request was too late while others said it just didn’t make sense, I however was making a plea based on the rapid decline in morals of our present generation of youth, of which I believe “Music” is one of the major influences.
I’m forced to pen this letter because I was made aware by concerned parents and youth as well that “Gage”, another Jamaican artiste who plies his trade in lyrical pornography and vulgarity through dancehall music is scheduled to perform in Guyana sometime in November. This is very troublesome for me and again I allude to the fact that this level of perversion should not be public, the music should not be played on the radios even if the actual vulgar words/slang are blanked out and such an artiste should not be allowed to perform in this country. If the Government and Opposition do care for our youth and their development I’d encourage them to look at some of these dancehall music videos and analyse the lyrics of those songs and ascertain what message it is sending our youth and make a decision based on their findings.
Just to help speed up the process I’d like to share some info from research conducted by the North American Journal of Medical Sciences, the research/study titled “The effects of dancehall genre on adolescent sexual and violent behaviour in Jamaica: A public health concern.” It stated that dancehall music is the major influencer of teenage pregnancy and youth related violence in Jamaica. The results of this research/study states that 74% of the girls interviewed said that they act upon lyrical content while 46% of males said they act according to lyrical content. The conclusion of the study states “There is a correlation between ‘hard-core’ dancehall genre and the sexual and violent behaviour of adolescents. Based on the responses obtained from the respondents, the findings reveal that females more than males are more likely to respond psychologically to the lyrical contents of dancehall genre” I’m sure the conclusion of that study brought something to the fore of our memory or at least I hope it did. I brought attention to that study because as evident on their facebook pages a lot of high school girls and boys frequent these shows. How do they get in? Well that’s simple, We do not in this country have strict policies on the minimum age one has to be to enter certain bars, nightclubs and certain shows so these promoters/entertainers pay no attention to age and allow just about every patron with a ticket in hand to enter their event. It is very sad to see that as a nation we are being “facilitators” of the decline in moral values among our youth and yet still we try to condemn them for their worthless doings.
I take this opportunity again to call upon the government to ban artistes who thrive in sending damaging messages through lyrical pornography and vulgarity and also to ban radio stations from playing their music and this is not just about dancehall music. Many will not agree that music is a major influence, basing their argument on the notions that “everyone has a mind of the own”, “everyone knows right from wrong” etc. Let me attempt to clear things up. Music is a good thing, it entertains, energises, soothes, comforts and even teaches. All in all it’s a powerful weapon and when misused causes damage.
Many countries have recognized how influential music is and thus have chosen to ban artistes from performing for various reasons such as the content of the music, the dress style and even beliefs of said artistes. It’s about time we rise up as One People, One Nation with One Destiny and hold these artistes accountable for their lyrical content and actions or else sex on the street will be accepted as a norm in time to come.
Yours faithfully,
Clayon Halley
