Undoubtedly, the victory of the Reggae Grammy by the white band SOJA, based in Virginia, has put the language at home in Jamaica and among the nationals of the diaspora and the discussions have not only been limited to the music community. It seems that from the street corners to the recording studios, from the highest seats of the academy, even at Jamaica House, everyone now has an opinion on the direction and future of Jamaican Reggae and Dancehall music. As a person who has taken on the responsibility of chronicling the history of Jamaican popular music, I must certainly contribute an additional “two cents.” To do this, I must refer to an old story about the “ten talents” in which a traveling businessman distributed and entrusted part of his wealth to a select number of his employees. I compare this story to Jamaica, a small island endowed with an overabundance of talent. The gift to Jamaicans for creating music is demonstrated in the eight or more musical genres that we, in turn, have given to the world over the past 70 years. The question arises as to how well we have provided the management of this gift of music? Another question would be to what extent Jamaica has recognized the value of these gifts and to what extent have we fertilized and nurtured them as contributors to the economic development of our island? From the very beginning, music in Jamaica had always been the supply of the “little man” made by young people “streggae” or “leggo-beast”. In the affluent classes of Jamaica, the view was that no one who cared about their position would have wanted to hear the garbage that those young people in the ghetto were singing. The answer was the creation of artificial barriers that prevented that music production from being broadcast on local radio stations. Opposition intensified in the late 1960s and 1970s when Rastafarians became more involved in creating local music. The net effect was the empowerment of sound systems, supported by invitations to creators to tour the markets of the developing diaspora. As demand grew abroad, the message spread. Genres changed and music began to reflect the struggles of everyday Jamaicans at home, whose message became more related to the common man from other distant lands. By 1978, Jamaican reggae music had been accepted by people around the world. It was the music of the poor and destitute, its messengers Bob Marley and The Wailers, The Burning Spear, Culture, Jimmy Cliff and Toots and the Maytals among others, which played thousands of people in concerts everywhere. However, house music had not yet caught the attention of policymakers, and 40 years later, not yet. As a nation, we are very much like the servant of the parable who buried his share of the talents. We have given our opportunities to others because we have never taken the time to exploit their value. The same goes for the music community in general. Jamaican artists have moved away from the roots of music and instead have taken care of the splendor and hype that opens up on the margins. The result is that today, the biggest beneficiaries of Jamaican classical Reggae and Dancehall music are foreigners. It is in this context that the current issue of Reggae Grammy should be aired. SOJA did not win the Grammy Reggae because they were a mostly white band. They won because they offered an album that was authentic reggae. It was not an album consisting of a mix of songs with a few reggae numbers, but an album that (for them) had been running for 25 years. His was a record faithful to the Reggae genre and celebratory of it. If you are unsure of my rating, please see the views expressed by Chronixx, Avi Morgan even Freddie McGregor that he himself has been harshly critical of Reggae Grammy decisions in the past. Chronixx posted on Instagram that “Soy has been one of the best bands in America for years and has been one of the best reggae bands in the world for years, so you shouldn’t be a fan to show respect. and sharing their platforms with us for years … constantly.Look at the road before we have open opportunities for any of Jamaica’s native music legends.What’s wrong with some men ? “
According to the Jamaican songwriter / record producer, Mikey Bennett speaking The first Sunday of Yaawd Media program a few weeks ago, Jamaica has not taken advantage of the shame of riches it has in terms of music. According to Mikey, we should feed the world with reggae musicians, as every day there are reggae concerts somewhere in the world, but there are no reggae artists on the list of most of these lineups. Jamaica should export reggae-trained musicians, artists, writers and dancers to countries around the world as part of owning and expanding the legacy and influence of music. Instead, we have relegated ourselves to being spectators while others reap the economic benefits of our creation. According to Claudine Baugh [writing in a DancehallMag article dated 04/09/22] Buju Banton for his part, he stated that the Jamaican industry has been turning a blind eye as animators continue to produce poor music. Speaking to IRIE FM’s Courtney Mac, Banton said: “We’re making junk music. “There’s a lot of work to be done to make Jamaican music fantastic again.” Buju also called radio DJs with conflicts of interest. “We have a job to do, it’s called culling, we have to make this music great again,” Buju said. “What this music has been suffering from for years, musicians play a minor role, but now you have DJs who become producers and want to dictate who is supposed to be heard on the radio and they themselves have a stake in what it is. “It’s played on the radio because it’s monetary, the music has turned left. That’s why we have what we have now,” he said.
I declare that all the arguments presented have merit. I am convinced that if we do not agree with the fact that we have only managed to waste the talents they have given us as a people, we will continue to find ourselves waiting for the crumbs to fall from the tables of those who delight in what we have created. .
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