Judging by the Jamaica Observer report on Saturday night last March 26th where one of the first major public infractions by a dancehall artist promoting murder music occurred , as the weekend was also one of the busiest gay party entertainment happenings of the calendar year so far with all of four fully promoted events coinciding and three were well attended one was closed off early by the cops in Kingston.
The instigator this time was Elephant Man known for his sometimes desperate way of operating he will draw for anything to get a "forward" as we call it in the business or a strong response from the crowd referring to an encore in other words. Violent references are usually used to please an eager crowd made up mostly of men who demand sometimes gun totting lyrics and react with great joy sometimes firing shots or literally lit and blazing aerosol spray cannisters live (photo above) in the audience as a way to "burn out" whatever is the subject of the song being performed at the time.
THE March of Three Kings concert headlined by Mavado, Elephant Man and Wyane Marshall was marred by gunfire which caused a stampede from Margaritaville in Ocho Rios on Saturday night .
"A music and love wi seh," shouted Mavado in the parking lot at around 4.35 am to the shaken departing crowd.
Three minutes earlier three gunshots rang from just outside the venue. It resulted in scores of patrons taking cover behind trees, cars and bodies. This was preceded by shouts of "fight, fight, gun!". In total the crowd sought cover three times in an attempt to exit the parking lot. It wasn't immediately clear who fired the shots .
Prior to the stampede, the crowd's initial focus was on a bleeding man, possibly intoxicated, of unsound mind, or both, lying in the parking lot. "Him get hit by a car," stated one patron.
Unresponsive calls to him resulted in the thickening of the crowd and honking horns. Then came the shots.
During the concert, the sound selectors, Elephant Man and Mavado all voiced expressions of violence as a means to rev-up the thick crowd. The favourite target of the selectors and Elephant Man were gays whilst Mavado lyrically attacked his nameless enemies. Wayne Marshall kept his set clean. "We nah kill no fish. We just saying we nah switch non at all," he stated in reference to gays.
Despite the gunshots and the abundance of lyrical violence, the show contained colourful performances including comedic skits by Elephant Man. He invited a fat woman on stage, whom he described as a female elephant, and did his usual antics -- throwing her in the air stopping in mid-air to 'bus a wine'.
In performance Mavado rarely sang the choruses of his songs. He relied on the introduction many times only to elicit crowd whistles and verbal gun salutes. "Dash weh that," he constantly told the selector indicating his need for the next track.
It took him 12 songs before he would sing a full song.
A maximum of three lines was given to each preceding song and many subsequent songs. It indicated his heavy reliance on allusion as a performance style. It's not surprising that Real Killer speaks to this very issue of defeating a rival with "no chorus".
His 30-minute set included five themes of songs about guns, girls, gully, God and ganja.
The 25-song list included Weh Dem A Do, Real Killer, Hope and Pray, Real McKoy, Dem a Gangsta, Amazing Grace, Gully Side, Don't Worry, No Fraid a Dem, Gal over Gun, When You Feel Lonely (Tek off You Panty), Gyal A Mad Ova (Nova Scotia), Stulla (Long Distance), Tump her Up, I Know You Want Me, Give Her Everything, 9 Lives (God of Peace), The Messiah, Jah Is Coming Soon, Star Bwoy, Give you My Everything, This Life and All Dem a Talk.
The fact that Sizzla can, with impunity, engage in such clear incitement to murder demonstrates that his brand of irrational hate is still very much accepted in Jamaica. The crowd certainly lapped up his act and bayed for more. And yet, one wonders how many of these homophobic patrons stopped to consider the real possibility that perhaps there are members of the Jamaican gay community who support, like Sizzla, the de-criminalization of marijuana?
So, instead of advocating for death of fellow Jamaicans who possibly share his views, wouldn’t it have been more useful to lobby Parliament (as others like the Lawyers Christian Fellowship have so effectively done) on the merits of his claim? The sad reality however is that hate mongering murder musicians of Sizzla’s ilk usually lack the capacity to think rationally. And what is scary is the powerful influence they hold over the Jamaican public. A 2010 J-FLAG survey showed that 89% of Jamaicans remained staunchly homophobic with the vast majority listening almost exclusively to dancehall music."
Here is the Story from the Observer:
"A music and love wi seh," shouted Mavado in the parking lot at around 4.35 am to the shaken departing crowd.
Three minutes earlier three gunshots rang from just outside the venue. It resulted in scores of patrons taking cover behind trees, cars and bodies. This was preceded by shouts of "fight, fight, gun!". In total the crowd sought cover three times in an attempt to exit the parking lot. It wasn't immediately clear who fired the shots .
Prior to the stampede, the crowd's initial focus was on a bleeding man, possibly intoxicated, of unsound mind, or both, lying in the parking lot. "Him get hit by a car," stated one patron.
Unresponsive calls to him resulted in the thickening of the crowd and honking horns. Then came the shots.
Despite the gunshots and the abundance of lyrical violence, the show contained colourful performances including comedic skits by Elephant Man. He invited a fat woman on stage, whom he described as a female elephant, and did his usual antics -- throwing her in the air stopping in mid-air to 'bus a wine'.
In performance Mavado rarely sang the choruses of his songs. He relied on the introduction many times only to elicit crowd whistles and verbal gun salutes. "Dash weh that," he constantly told the selector indicating his need for the next track.
It took him 12 songs before he would sing a full song.
A maximum of three lines was given to each preceding song and many subsequent songs. It indicated his heavy reliance on allusion as a performance style. It's not surprising that Real Killer speaks to this very issue of defeating a rival with "no chorus".
His 30-minute set included five themes of songs about guns, girls, gully, God and ganja.
The 25-song list included Weh Dem A Do, Real Killer, Hope and Pray, Real McKoy, Dem a Gangsta, Amazing Grace, Gully Side, Don't Worry, No Fraid a Dem, Gal over Gun, When You Feel Lonely (Tek off You Panty), Gyal A Mad Ova (Nova Scotia), Stulla (Long Distance), Tump her Up, I Know You Want Me, Give Her Everything, 9 Lives (God of Peace), The Messiah, Jah Is Coming Soon, Star Bwoy, Give you My Everything, This Life and All Dem a Talk.
UPDATE May 3, 2011
A second infraction has occurred since on April 24th at a Coke Zero event in Montego Bay letter writing advocate and AIDSFREEWORLD Consultant Maurice Tomlinson reported om his Facebook page that "Looking much like a Jamaican Bin Laden, dancehall performer Sizzla came to Montego Bay over the Easter weekend and advocated his own brand of genocide, this time of Jamaican homosexuals. At the Pier One ‘Coke Zero Live On The Waterfront’ event held on April 24 Sizzla expressed his disgust that while both ganja and buggery remain illegal in Jamaica, only partakers of the former are usually arrested. To correct this ‘injustice,’ he therefore called for the execution of gays and launched into a vulgar and riotous rendition of the not fit for airplay Buju Banton hate anthem ‘Bum Bye Bye.’ Sizzla also snubbed his nose at any possible negative consequences for his heinous performance, daring the promoters, police, or anyone else for that matter to sanction him. And from all indications he got away with it.The fact that Sizzla can, with impunity, engage in such clear incitement to murder demonstrates that his brand of irrational hate is still very much accepted in Jamaica. The crowd certainly lapped up his act and bayed for more. And yet, one wonders how many of these homophobic patrons stopped to consider the real possibility that perhaps there are members of the Jamaican gay community who support, like Sizzla, the de-criminalization of marijuana?So, instead of advocating for death of fellow Jamaicans who possibly share his views, wouldn’t it have been more useful to lobby Parliament (as others like the Lawyers Christian Fellowship have so effectively done) on the merits of his claim? The sad reality however is that hate mongering murder musicians of Sizzla’s ilk usually lack the capacity to think rationally. And what is scary is the powerful influence they hold over the Jamaican public. A 2010 J-FLAG survey showed that 89% of Jamaicans remained staunchly homophobic with the vast majority listening almost exclusively to dancehall music."
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