The Unheard words of new writers...

situation ten: the music

I’m bored of the way the music is…
All I can hear in my ear is 'Chi-chi man…slew dem', 'Battyman…bun dem'.

It’s not for me to dictate the issues that Jamaican bashment artists chose to discuss, but in the West Indies, aren’t there more pressing and urgent matters to confront than homosexuality. I have been there – I know.

Now the hip-hop has started, and I’m hearing,
'I’m young black and famous, with money hanging out of my anus',
and, 'I got a Benz that I aint event drove yet'.
It’s unconstructive, materialistic, fake.

The next tune comes on.
'I’ll rape your mother while she’s asleep'.
The hatred is ceaseless.

The Garage comes on,
'I’ll take your phone like you ain’t nothing'.

The lyricists are talented. The tunes are hype. But I am tired of the content. I'm waiting for a different sound. Something to challenge me, not just play to base instinct. I want something to feel positive about, not something to feel angry about.

I understand why some young black musicians talk about the street life, the girls and the money. I ovastand. And I also ovastand that one successful black musician does not have a responsibility to make music for 'the masses'. But it saddens me that they don’t have the heart, nor the intelligence to analyse and appreciate their contribution to the young people growing up and listening to their tunes.