Dancehall Has Melody, Papa Eddie

Groundins

By: Charles H.E. Campbell

“Dancehall music lacks components of classical music, which includes lyrics, melody and rhythms.” So Hon. Edward Seaga told the reporters and editors at the Jamaica Observer’s weekly Monday exchange on October 12, 2009. As Bugle says, “if you blame life, you blame who give it, so don’t blame life, blame the way how you live it”. Bear in mind, that for the first ten years of our independence, Mr. Seaga was minister of development and culture (1962-1972). Less than a decade later as prime minister (1980-1989), he retained that post in his large portfolio. Therefore, he held political responsibility for our cultural development for 19 of the first 29 years of our independence.

During this time, one of the most significant national contributions of Mr. Edward Seaga was the repatriation of Marcus Garvey’s body back to Jamaica for its permanent interment at National Heroes’ Park in 1964. Since then, our political leaders have been verse at adopting progressive symbolisms for official use to neutralise and quell the revolutionary spirit present in the population since our forefathers were forcibly taken from Africa, brought through the Middle Passage, and enslaved here in the British plantation system.

After this laudable act, neither he nor any ruling political party since has implemented any serious, consistent policies and programmes, to educate our children and the population at large, about Garvey and his movement, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” (Garvey) After the formal act of independence, our leaders in almost all spheres of society perpetuated the Eurocentric institutions, mindset, class divisions and inherent prejudices designed and bequeathed to us by our colonial masters.

As time passed, the people at the bottom of the social ladder have been trapped by the twin evils of political tribalism and abject poverty. This is reinforced by the systematic stifling of social mobility due to the dismal failures of our educational system and the social welfare network necessary to keep our young in institutions for their training and socialisation. To quote Ian Boyne, from his article published on September 20, 2009 in the Sunday Gleaner “it is not Dancehall music which caused [the almshouse that] is happening in Dancehall today. The foundation was there before Dancehall- a well-laid foundation built by our politicians and ruling class.”

Mr. Seaga’s background in social anthropology and his senior state positions for so many of our early days of statehood made him a primary witness of the budding musical creativity of our people. Yet, he did not ensure that the teaching of music become mandatory in our school system. Given this perspective, (and in reflection it may have been a blessing in disguise), the international success of our music to date is nothing short of phenomenal; a veritable miracle.

The creativity which birthed and sustained our music, especially Dancehall is driven mainly by artistes digging deep into their African impulses and intuition. Let’s face it, what has developed over time in Jamaica, are two diametrically opposed barometers and standards- a Eurocentric one closely adhered to by the upper crust of society, and a more indigenous Afrocentric one, continuously evolving through the sheer creative genius of our working, unlettered classes. Today, 47 years after independence, the people living in our inner cities and deep rural areas have been alienated from and eventually rejected the European standards almost entirely. They no longer defer, refer or pay homage to them.

When Mr. Seaga refers to classical music, no doubt he means European classical music. As a consequence of our inaction, to address this social malaise as a nation, the majority of our people including most of our artistes, have no inkling as to the structure, appeal, much less appreciation for this music. Ironically, it is in the birth places of much of this European classical music of which he speaks that Dancehall music continues to make significant headway amongst the youth in its international market penetration.

However, let’s examine Seaga’s criticisms on face value to see if they have any merit. Does Dancehall lack lyrics, melody, depending solely on rhythm for its huge popularity? Dancehall music is structured quite differently from the old, European classics. Oftentimes, rather than instruments playing the tune, it is actually the deejays themselves who provide the melody (tune). The following are a sample of lyrics of our recent Dancehall hits which debunk Papa Eddie’s critique. To say that they demonstrate rhythmic structure and poetic flow is irrefutable. In them are contained not just aesthetic value, but a metaphorical window into contemporary cultural practices as well as the mindset of today’s youth. As Boyne said, taking artistic licence with Karl Marx, “Dancehall is both a protest and a sigh of distress.”



We keep striving, Any means necessary, we surviving

A ghetto youth with a brain is too frightening,

And dem nuh waan fi see di garrison dem rising, But we keep striving

(‘Happiest Days’ – Vybz Kartel and Mavado)



This is for my fallen soldiers, we miss you,

Although you’re gone, we still with you,

Gone from the battle field, Life is so real

As a Likkle Yute Used 2 Hang Out Pon Di Corner
Me and Di Whole Ah mi Friend Dem We Ah Bun Some Marijuana
Although Nuff Ah We Never Grow Up Wid No Fahda
Still We Haffi Try We Best Mek It Cross De Border
(‘Fallen Soldiers’ – Demarco)



It’s a nice Sunday evening, a cool afternoon

Nobody goes to work, nor nobody goes to school

Siddung pon the corner, joke around and act a fool

The elders play dominoes, [youth] dem play pool

I love college, but I’m going to the beach,

Money in my pocket, so I know I have to reach

Call a couple girls tell them to link up with my peeps

Tell them roll in the topless Jeep

(‘Holiday’ – Ding Dong)



These are the days
When the gal dem in dem teens have the AIDS
Nuff yute nuh have degrees but dem have the grades
Picture dis an' try fi si it wid yuh ears
These are the times
When yuh sneakers ain't yuh only nines
Some weh call pon Jesus a dem commit the crimes
Nuff illiterate an' still a read between the lines

(‘These Are The Days’ – Busy Signal)



Does Dancehall lack form or musical standards? While not claiming that every song in Dancehall music is uniformly excellent in lyrics and melody, no other genre can credibly make that claim either. My argument is that the best Dancehall tunes stand their own against any other. Most Jamaican artistes are not formally trained in music or otherwise, but many of the producers are adept in the playing of musical instruments. Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor, for example, is a multi-instrumentalist. He along with Don Corleone and Liquid are world famous for consistently producing complex, syncopated rhythm tracks. Over the last 2 to 3 years, they have been responsible for a majority of the hit songs emanating from the Dancehall. They have doggedly, meticulously revolutionalised and raised the musical standard in Dancehall music so that it now favourably compares with any other current international musical idiom or genre.

It is no longer objective to just glibly lump everything in Dancehall as ‘riddim driven’. This does a disservice to the advances in the diversity and synchronised instrumentation, which has epitomised and enhanced the melodic sounds complementing the tunes they produce. These producers tend to add even more melody to rhythm tracks created or remixed for specific artistes like Elephant Man, Vybz Kartel and Mavado.

In my commentary on July 12, 2009, Reggae On Broadway, I urged Dancehall fans to see the University Singers performance of From Mento To Dancehall, a suite of interpretations spanning 30 years of Dancehall, including Ele and Mavado. I now implore Mr. Seaga to do the same. Maybe if Mr. Seaga experiences such orchestrated interpretations, with choir and dramatisations, he will be better able to appreciate the art form, its creativity, complexity and sophistication.

Email: che.campbell@gmail.com

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