Flipsides

The idea of dedicating the month of February to the celebration of Reggae music is a good one conceptually. Since 1982, this month has gained significant prominence in Jamaica with the organisation by the State and the Bob Marley Foundation of various special events around the date of Bob’s birthday, February 6^th. As a happy coincidence, February is also celebrated (in the USA ) as Black History Month.

When the local tradition of celebrating Marley’s birthday began, to most Jamaicans it seemed only natural that Bob was born in February, as if to confirm the authenticity of our claims that Bob Marley was indeed a prophet to Blacks in the Diaspora; the oppressed and dispossessed the world over. During February the life and works of Black Americans like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are usually highlighted and dominate the cultural sphere and media. Now along came our own homegrown hero- acclaimed internationally- to place alongside these great African-American freedom fighters. This made us, as a people, very special and proud.

This idea to name February Reggae month therefore, comes on the twenty-fifth anniversary of our national celebrations of Bob Marley Day and marks fifty years since the birth of Reggae. It speaks to the dynamism of Reggae as a musical genre- it was no flash in the pan. During February, we will not be celebrating ‘sup’m weh ded an’ gawn’, but a musical patrimony that is not only alive and kicking but growing from strength to strength on all continents.

The Reggae Academy Awards which will be hosted by the Recording Industry Association of Jamaica (RIAJAM) is a worthy addition to and an appropriate culmination of the month’s activities and should be fully supported by the fraternity.

We have to guard this patrimony we named Reggae well,and the careers of young Reggae progeny too, if the music is to live on. For example,the efforts at re-branding Sting are laudable, but they will be defeated if reggae singers like Taurus Riley are introduced on stage that late in the proceedings, traditionally reserved for the hardcore Dancehall acts.Thank goodness he read the mood of the patrons well, and delivered only an abbreviated performance, as the situation could have disintegrated.

In this regard and at the risk of being accused of harping, I must raise the issue of unprofessional behaviour by local stars, especially recent incidents between some of the more popular artiste’s, at stage shows and dances over the last two years. More so, the negative impact this is having on the business internationally. While some artistes are cynically exploiting these feuds for the media hype it affords them, as these incidents gain coverage outside of Jamaica, more and more Reggae/Dancehall artistes may encounter difficulties obtaining entry permits to fulfil live performing engagements abroad.It sometimes leads one to wonder if subconsciously some of these artistes have a death wish for their careers,and even more disastrously, for the Reggae Industry.The real challenge facing us in the fraternity is how to voluntarily inculcate self-interest and social responsibility.

The normally astute Julian Jones-Griffiths, Mavado’s manager, in commenting to the Star newspaper on the official ban placed on Mavado’s performances in St. Vincent and the Grenadines , made reference to a similar situation in Grenada restricting him from performing four specified songs. He then unwittingly added “that show went off without incident”. Well I hope I am not quoting him out of context, but if that is how we now measure the success of an overseas engagement, it certainly reveals how terribly far down the slippery slope we have already gone! What a way we have lowered our standards by pandering to the lowest denominator.

At the same time, Jamaica ’s image for dances, live stage shows and festivals is being collaterally eroded and tarnished by this boorish behaviour.

For instance, having attended a few stagings of Bembe earlier last year, I made complimentary comments in more than one of my pieces on the organisation, discipline and order displayed. It is most unfortunate that the recent antics by Vybz Kartel and Mavado has compromised Bembe’s image.