| C H Campbell Sunday, January 08, 2006 |
Well. what else could one say? TOK shot themselves in the foot twice on two consecutive days over the recent holiday season. Their behaviour at Smirnoff Experience, headlined by burgeoning sensation Sean Paul, and the Renaissance Christmas Eve Party, held on December 23 and 24 respectively, was obtuse to say the least.
I am not convinced it is uncontrolled homophobia which made them draw for their now-stale Chi-Chi Man charade; in my view it was a vain attempt to revive their listless career. Unfortunately, they seem determined to (drag) down the entire reggae fraternity with them - mired in their own special 'product of the cesspool'.
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| Do we allow TOK to throw principle through the window in defence of their so-called morals? |
Hear dem nuh - "Don't ever make your morals be compromised by cowardice" (Sunday Observer, December 25, 2005); such high-sounding principles used to rationalise their own pending obsolescence. So do we allow them to throw principle through the window in defence of their so-called morals? President of Red Stripe, Mark McKenzie's response is, "I am neither for censorship nor discrimination, but I am for honouring contracts and agreements."
There are two critical factors necessary for the continued success of the Jamaican reggae music industry. Firstly, there is a need for significant corporate sponsorship and secondly, the necessity to market our products and artists in the international arena.
Let us grasp that reality. The Jamaican marketplace is too small for any one artiste to absolutely pin his or her career on. We must therefore respect the laws and cultural nuances of other countries and peoples who love and revere our music and our artistes. The last thing we need right now is another round of boycotts of Jamaican artistes touring or their records/CDs abroad.
Let me be very clear on my position - I am a resolute promoter of free speech and expression. I will defend anyone's right to oppose a lifestyle which is objectionable to his creed or religion.
While I perfectly understand the ingrained influence of the Old Testament/Fundamentalist beliefs which underpin our culture - taught for decades by mostly American-style evangelicals and churches which dot our Jamaican terrain, I also stand for cultural and religious tolerance. In this context, I know that many times the lyrics by our reggae/dancehall artistes are metaphorical; however these are sometimes misunderstood, interpreted literally by the international marketplace and even locals who live outside of the mass social sphere.
Now, the onus is on the artistes to be more creative in expressing their sentiments, so as not to seem discriminatory or offensive, even if it is unintentional. Leachim Semaj offers, rather than 'Fire bun' we could express the same sentiments without agitating peoples sensibilities by singing 'Gi mi water mek wi bless dem'.
The primary principle involved in this issue, however, is that a contract is a voluntary agreement between parties on the assumption that all parties are honourable. Said another way, if you are of the view that you cannot abide by any of its clauses, then you should honourably refrain from entering into the contract. It was most dishonourable therefore, to have indicated acceptance of the terms and conditions of the contract to perform and then proceed to disregard them in practice.
On another matter, it was reported to me that the sound at both Smirnoff Experience and the Third World show (held on December 27) was distorted, yet the system used was supposedly the best system in the country in terms of size and quality equipment. I am very interested in knowing what went wrong on both occasions.
In 2004, Third World's Committed had some no-shows and this was again the case in 2005 with Luciano, Freddie McGregor, Half Pint and Beres Hammond advertised, but not performing. This is not good enough. I hope their averages improves this year.
From all reports, Sting scored a success in attendance and performances this year. Congratulations are certainly in order to the promoters for sticking to a line-up heavily leaning towards conscious reggae/dancehall and it is sure proof that this resurgence has now taken a firm hold of our Jamaican audiences.
.Until East Fest came to its unfortunate end, reports consistently maintained that this year was much better organised and there were some exceptional performances by Elephant Man, Pinchers, Gregory Isaacs, Marcia Griffiths, Baby Cham, John Holt, Freddie McGregor and Natural Black, whose segment really stood out with hits flowing one after another.
I am sure we are all now looking forward to Rebel Salute on January 14, the first big Reggae event of the year, which will be headlined by, Third World, Inner Circle, The Congos and of course still reigning Reggae warrior, Burning Spear.
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