Self-Regulate Or Perish

By: Charles H.E. Campbell

I hear that Red Stripe is unwilling to continue to sponsor Reggae Sumfest unless some Dancehall acts are dropped from the billing. Rumour has it that the promoters of the festival are resisting, because this would stymie their profitability.
While in principle, I support the recent stance taken by sponsors of events to withhold financial commitments until the successful completion of stage shows, in order to protect their good name and ensure compliance by artistes and promoters to a reasonable standard of decency and professionalism, I am however concerned that the focus on expletives and obscenities used during performances is misplaced. In my view, the greater danger lies in a tendency, which has evolved over some years, for artistes to agitate (hype) their audiences to violently and inappropriately react to some perceived professional competitor or injustice meted out by the organiser and/or police.
For example, at the recent Western Consciousness stage show, I was in the audience, standing close to the light and sound mixing stand. As the night ensued, it became apparent that due to an hour late starting time and three encores earned and given to John Holt, the performance time of all proceeding artistes was contracted. This made the show even more exciting, because the acts judiciously used the time to pack in their hit songs. I was very impressed with the younger acts like Marsha Hall, Bushman, I-Wayne and Jah Mason, and could not help thinking to myself that the Reggae patrimony is in good hands.
By 4:55 am, it was Fantan Mojah’s stint. Upon his arrival on stage, his first comments were designed to drive a wedge between the audience on one hand, and the police and management of the show on the other. With very aggressive language and posture, Fantan Mojah told us that the relevant authorities had slotted him for last, because he had had another engagement in St. Elizabeth. He also stated that his allotted stage time had been cut, but that in his view, the people should be his final arbiters (my words). When supposedly his reduced time was up, he showed no intention of leaving the stage even though he was receiving desperate signals from off stage. His microphone volume was turned down, but then he was allowed to sing for a few more minutes. Not satisfied with the response to accommodate him, Mojah digressed into a charade about being given a ‘fight’ and being ‘sabotaged’ and appealed to the audience to show their displeasure. The first bottle to hit the stage came from a tall dreadlocked man, standing near the front of the audience, holding aloft one of two large banners, which had suddenly appeared and dwarfed all others, upon Mojah’s entry to the stage, and which displayed on them a likeness of Mojah’s image.
I had to pinch myself- The sycophantic use of banners and vocal agitation made me feel like I was at a 1970’s political meeting attended by the PNPYO, Revolutionary Marxist League (RML), Communist Party of Jamaica (CPJ), Workers’ Liberation League (WLL) and National Patriotic Movement (NPM).
I also remember in the 80s, Sunsplash’s technical consultant, Tim Edwards, a Chicago resident, would arrive in Montego Bay for Sunsplash in the advance party, to assist with preparations. I would often take him to dances, which featured sound system clashes, in the town. These sometimes resulted in bottle-throwing fiascos. On one particular occasion, prior to his arrival, in a telephone conversation he insisted, “so we’re gonna have time to throw bottles right?”
It felt like déjà vu- Immediately a stampede towards the exits began. I was forced to shield my significant other and her photographer while they bent down and quickly tried to retrieve their professional equipment and personal possessions. Meanwhile, I saw the sound and lighting personnel trying frantically to surround and guard their expensive equipment while they hurriedly disconnected and dismantled same. As we quickly proceeded to the car, I observed people climbing over each other to get through the gates. Were it not for the timely intervention of the police, the result would have been much worse. People could have lost their lives; equipment and other possessions could have been lost, damaged or destroyed. It is not enough for Fantan Mojah to say “no man is perfect”, in defense of using indecent language and his overall behaviour in the wee hours of that morning. He owes everyone present a more fulsome apology.
I was most disappointed the next day, in a telephone conversation with Denise Miller (the public relations representative for King of Kings Promotions, producers of Western Consciousness), to hear her challenging the veracity of the Observer report on the incident. In effect saying that there was no balance in the report, no pandemonium, no stampede; and the report was not in the best interest of Reggae music. We must stop mimicking the ostrich by ‘burying our heads in the sand’. Rather, producers/promoters must rise above the shifting sands like the African Phoenix and use all the tools at their hands to ensure the integrity of their events. If the artistes will not respect reasonable standards of public decency and professionalism, they must turn off the microphone, turn of the stage lights and afterwards apologise to the audience; publicly rebuke the offenders and distance themselves from the offensive behaviour.
I observed a very similar incident at Sting on Boxing Day of last year. Anthony B, just prior to exiting the stage after performing for only five minutes, shouted in a very distasteful manner, but expecting to usual recall, “PJ Patterson a battyman and Reneto Adams mus’ go a prison mek man f..k him batty”. The stage manager rightly objected to his return for an encore. The emcee, Nuffy, was then instructed to introduce the next act, instead of which, he returned to the stage and said “management seh Anthony B must not return, wha de people dem seh bout dat? The answer, stingingly, was a rain of bottles and other objects onto the stage (thankfully short-lived), promoting the temporary mass exodus of patrons. Again, it could have been far worse, in light of previous such incidents.
In my view, these lapses in professionalism by our artistes and emcees are much worse than a few expletives, although I am not for one moment endorsing their use. I abhor however, the instigation of public disorder. The industry must unite and develop appropriate sanctions to penalize perpetrators of this type of behaviour- in their pockets where it most hurts. It is high time that we become proactive and begin some sort of self regulation, accept a modus operandi and enforce standards of the industry, rather than always being forced to resort to reactionary measures- applying band aids and covering up in pretense that nothing has happened or is wrong- whenever external forces like corporate Jamaica or Outrage! apply pressure for the necessary changes.
By the way, it seems that some of my readers have already deemed me irreverent; typical parson’s pickney. However, I hope so far, that the issues I have raised in my articles have not been irrelevant.

© 2005 C.H.E. Campbell.