With evidence that on-stage characterisation of gun-related violence is increasingly being used by promoters to popularise the ‘Dancehall’ genre of contemporary entertainment, the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC) has moved to ban music which it deems to be “glorifying or promoting criminal activity, violence, drug use, scamming and weapons,” according to an October 13 Associated Press report.
While the Jamaican government is quoted as supporting the ban on the grounds that the content of such public performances “could give the wrong impression, that criminality is an accepted feature of Jamaican culture and society,” the decision has been criticized by artists on the grounds that it “cuts populations affected by heightened gun violence out of the conversation, and that it will do little to stop crime.”
