Remember that old event call 'out and bad' well here is a nice take on it from a different angle critiquing the metrosexual and downlow overtones in dancehall, I couldn't have said it better myself of course this was way back in 2005 so bear with the history but nothing much has changed, has it?
Here in a setting that seems quite unfamiliar to anything else seen in dancehall history - or was it bubbling under the surface? Living in a culture where the flag of homophobia flies higher than the Jamaican flag, yet the culture that sang about it is now 'bouncing' to it. The subtle undertones of this behavior have come 'out and bad'.
Out and bad is fitting for this year's theme as one of the biggest news in the Dancehall era was the mere fact that 2 MALE DANCERS were feuding about who is the better dancer (and no Rex Nettleford was not involved). Please take a moment and rewind to the late 80's early 90's, to the television series called FAME. (For those that are not old enough and were mere babes during Hurricane Gilbert or weren't even thought of yet, please Google it.) Certain of the fact that John Hype and Bogle were as flaming and flamboyant as Leroy the male 'effeminate' dancer on the show.
To pre-empt any questions about Merman watching a show like FAME, 2 words - JANET JACKSON.
Nonetheless, Bogle got his wish ... the lyrics for the song FAME are most fitting:
... I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna learn how to fly (with wings on)
High
... I'm gonna make it to heaven (or hell I guess we'll find out at some point huh)
Light up the sky like a flame (there will be no references to gas station shoot outs here)
Fame
... I'm gonna live forever
Baby remember my name (we honestly can't forget it ... I have tried - I really have)
Fame
Well hopefully long term memory will prevail and realise the stage is only big enough for one Bogle. So... go Paul! go Paul! It's your birthday!
However the death had a nation reflecting on the 'national' hero. We thank you Bogle helping to liberate our country - with your dance moves. Yes, life in Jamaica would be drag if it were not for 'Sesame Street', 'Zipp it Up', 'World Dance' and the very popular 'Bogle'. In your death the tribute dances in your honour have made the intelligent citizens uneasy because we are not sure (ie. the straight ones) about the double meaning of 'out and bad' or the 'willie bounce'. At times it seems like these dancers are exercising their gay-like minds like Richard Simmons. Funny enough the dances really do look like aerobics.
Nonetheless, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and OutRage! should invest in going to a street dance, session or any public event (without the GLAAD or OutRage! t-shirts) and see how similarities between their mannerisms and how most patrons behave. There is more flashing of wrists than a fat woman fanning herself on a hot day in Coronation Market (pronounced Curnation Market by the locals). Leg grabbers which look like they were sponsored by Berger Paints; the men's well tweezed eyebrows as they stay on one side dancing by (or with, one is never too sure) themselves in their tight shirt railing up for the latest Celiene Dione song - or Ghost cover. Being apart of the urban fabric and music of 'Jamaica land we love' the most appropriate word in the english vocabulary is ... queer. What ever happened to wall to wall coupling of the 80's and 90's?
Has anyone seen the humour in Scare Dem Crew saying "badman nuh dress like giiiiirl"? So exactly, what's your excuse!? It seems the more thuggish you are the more feminine you need to look. I couldn't help but laugh and nod in agreement after hearing an up and coming Jamaican rapper's lyrics: "don't watch the 'hype', watch the hype, nuff a dem badman a badman girlfren' at night!"
In the 21st Century I am not sure if the saying 'right ear queer, left ear buccaneer' applies. The crossing gender boundaries are making things hard for the typical human. Too many times double, triple and quadruple takes have to be done just to establish if it is a man or a woman. Many times just walking away resolving that some questions are just left unanswered.
At present, this seems to be where the culture is in pertaining to homosexuality and it's 'acceptance'.
* Dancehall is homophobic or anti-gay ... or both
* GLAAD and OutRage! doesn't like Dancehall for its 'stance' on homosexuality
* Most people do the dances that have gay undertones and overtones
* At parties/street dances/sessions the men are on one side and the women on the other.
* Many artists might have a queer eye for a straight man's sense of dress or just a queer eye - or 2.
Fire and brimstone are rained down on the girlie man at work place because everyone notices how he is 'happy'. Yet we put on the most aggressive demeanor and end up flashing wrists worst than Mr. Girlie-man will ever. So exactly where does the confusion stop?
We cared so much if our Prime Minister is gay, not realising the guy/girl on the bus; in the taxi or the one we linked to just chill or play ball with was 'out and bad' long before Frankie Paul or Kid Ralph. More so I ask the question, as a culture are we condemning it openly and yet sneaking it in through the 'back door'? Raising the issue of this ambiguity creates more shades of gray than a real definition. Is it apart of an evolution of a culture, where one tries to include more people as popularity grows?
Nonetheless confusion reigns in the stance Jamaican Dancehall culture takes.
Regards,
Merman ‘Flabba’ Johnson
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