D is for Dancehall

Hello again Raquel's blog. How's things? Here with a late D for you...

Now I can understand at least some of what people say in Guyanese Creolese, I can eavesdrop on conversations on public transport. Always a good pastime, and in guyana there is an extra advantage that it takes my mind off the terrible driving and various road hazards. 

[great photo - internet is too slow for it]

Today's eavesdropped conversation covered kids of today, parents of today, how back in the day they couldn't even afford a bus fair to school and would get thrashed if they weren't back 5 minutes before school ended, despite having to walk for miles barefoot, and the terrible music these days that is poisoning the minds of our children. It was basically a Guyanese version of the Four Yorkshiremen sketch. One of the Guyanese Yorkshiremen proposed an answer to all the problems with the youth of today - the government should outlaw all 'this music', and throw anyone caught with it into jail for six months without trial.

'This music' that is poisoning the mind of Caribbean children is Dancehall.

Dancehall is basically Reggae's younger brother, who moved to the city, got in with a bad crowd and fell into a life of crime, drugs and sex with anything in a tiny pair of batty riders.  Musically, Dancehall can be incredible - Gwen Stefani, Major Lazer and others have collaborated with dancehall artists to good effect, and the pure stuff can be even more striking.  As with Reggae and Soca music, producers compete to make rhythms that are then used as the basis for any number of tracks by different artists.  Lyrically however, the concerns are justifiable - explicitly sexual or violent lyrics are commonplace, and often heard here blasted out in minibuses half full of school children.

Another big concern in Guyana and elsewhere is that a spat between two dancehall artists, and their respective neighborhoods in Kinston, Jamaica, is sowing the seeds for a developing gang culture across the Caribbean. This has reached Guyana, evidenced by graffiti springing up in schools and on the streets and increasing rumours of various kinds of criminality gang activities, often involving school children. News of the so called 'Gaza/Gully' feud has even reached the Guardian newspaper in the UK.

I'm not sure the answer to any of this is to throw dancehall fans in prison for months,  although many Caribbean islands are refusing some of the artists involved permission for concerts, and dancehall artists have been refused permission to perform in the UK and US in the past for violently homophobic lyrics.  There are also artists with much more positive messages, and I've even heard full on christian gospel dancehall, but the most popular songs are often the most controversial.  The economic and social conditions in Guyana seem ripe for a gang culture to continue to grow, so this is a real area of concern for the future.

On the plus side however, some of the music is ace.

Dan