music: "In My Mind" by Heather Headley
Homophobia in reggae/dancehall music has been an ongoing controversy for nearly fifteen years. Buju Banton can be considered a “pioneer” of sorts with his song “Boom Boom Bye” – the song was released in 1992 and since then has been an anthem for burning, massacring, shooting and killing of lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, gays, or anyone that does not fit in the rigid constructs of male-female gender roles.
Beenie Man, who has taken the torch for being the most hateful anti-gay Jamaican artist alive, is scheduled to perform along with his comrade TOK at a concert sponsored by LIFEBeat, a National AIDS Charity, on July 18th in New York City. In his current promotional tour for his upcoming album Undisputed he has recently said to "live and let live" when it comes to violently homophobic lyrics. This is not a shocker considering gay activist groups in Europe have banned him in several areas, which has deeply affected his concert and record sales. In addition, his 2004 US Tour completely fell apart with more cancellations than concert dates due to protests. One can only imagine what Virgin/EMI has demanded him to change if he wants to be a reggae-pop star ....
Saying "live and let live" is not enough considering Beenie Man has stated several times he will never apologize for his anti-gay lyrics. However, now Beenie Man and his comrade TOK are scheduled to perform at an AIDS benefit concert????
One has to wonder what great classics will Beenie Man perform?
How about the song “Damn” where he spills out, “I’m dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays.”
Or his most famous song, “Bad Man Chi Chi Man,” meaning “bad queer man,” telling his audience to kill gays, “Some bwoy will go a jail fi kill man tun bad man chi chi man!!!./Tell mi, sumfest it should a be a showdown/Yuh seem to run off a stage like a clown (Kill Dem DJ!!!).”
Well, Mr. Beenie would HAVE to perform these songs, wouldn't he? That would be like Janet Jackson having a concert and not performing “Rhythm Nation”! Of course Beenie won't perform these songs and not even acknowledge his incredible haterd toward people who aren't like him (supposedly but that is another butch queen story that twirls around in Amsterdam ... thou who protest too much)
The question is --
Why would Beenie Man want to perform for an organization that is so closely associated with lesbians and gays?
Why would LifeBEAT want Beenie Man and his cookie-crunch girlfriend TOK to perform?
LifeBEAT’s board of directors include Emil Wilbekin, the openly gay former editor-in-chief of VIBE magazine, and Hilary Rosen, the openly gay former head of the Recording Industry Association of America ... well, the answer is money. WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ... imagine you are in Britian!
The argument for many, and Beenie Man, who support homophobia in reggae music is often that this is Jamaican culture. However, simply because this might be Jamaican culture does not mean that it is acceptable – not all things that are a part of "culture" are necessarily positive. For example, in white Southern societies it was their “culture” to degrade and dehumanize black people. Through minstrel shows and the character known as Jim Crow, which later became the name for oppressive laws in the South, music, literature, paintings and every form of expression one could think of was all in the name of art. No one is stopping this type of hate being spewed in Jamaica, but if an artist who wants to express his staunch “gay rage” and travels to the UK, or the United States, obviously the rules change.
One has to question why do many of these artists believe these beliefs are a part of Jamaican culture ? When looking at this issue from a historicized point of view, sodomy (which also apply to heterosexuals), oral sex (another one that apply to heterosexuals), marriage and several other laws are all colonized laws. Most of those oppressive laws came from the British, who have now done away with those laws in Britain – while Jamaican culture selectively holds onto these laws, but conveniently ignore others. Therefore, Jamaicans are not adhering to “Jamaican” culture; they are adhering to colonized culture.
Black Americans protested and revolted against this expression of “white Southern culture” saying this was not culture, but ignorance and hate. By the early 1900s areas of Europe, more specifically France, would not allow “black face” productions. In almost a mirror image, many areas of Europe are not allowing Jamaican artists to perform, which is highly problematic considering reggae/dancehall sells at higher numbers in Europe versus America.
In my interview with Sean Paul for Impact Magazine he stated: “Whether I don’t believe in that lifestyle, or whatever. I just don’t choose to sing about that – I’m more likely to sing about the ladies.” That is not exactly tolerance, but it is not ignorance or violence. Sean Paul makes a good point – if these reggae artists vehemently despise gays then why invest so much time and money singing about them?
Another sad state of homophobia in Jamaican culture, which is evident through much of the music, is the island of Jamaica has a high HIV/AIDS incident rate. In “In Jamaica, Gay Rights Now an Issue Worth Debating,” author Carol J. Williams states: “The most homophobic of the islands, based on Human Rights Watch's assessment of violence against gays, Jamaica suffers one of the highest incidences of HIV and AIDS, with 1.2% of the population infected. Many believe that the consequences of publicly acknowledging that one is gay have hampered government efforts to halt the spread of the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS.” This striking homophobia is not only affecting gays but heterosexuals because HIV/AIDS rates are increasing due to stigma and hatred.
With such graphic lyrics and depictions of murder one has to question the security of artists who hate gays so deeply. Is there something in Jamaican culture that people are ignoring? Any area where “something” is viciously oppressed it must strongly exist for the oppression to be necessary. Reggae music is getting a sad reputation as a music that was once praised for denouncing injustice, and now being known as a music that upholds injustice.
With all of this said I truly recommend that everyone take a stand against Beenie Man and his comrade TOK performing for LifeBEAT – once again a National AIDS Charity concert on July 18th. Respectfully contact LifeBEAT and make a statement that you want anti-gay performers like Beenie Man and TOK pulled from the concert. Pasted below are the details.
CONCERT DETAILS
Reggae Gold Live 2006 Summer Jumpoff
Webster Hall125 East 11th Street between 3rd & 4th AvenuesDoors open at 9pm
BACKGROUND ON LIFEBEAT
LIFEbeat, Inc.630 Ninth Avenue (between 44th and 45th Streets) Suite 1010
New York, NY 10036 http://www.lifebeat.org/
Telephone: 212.459.2590
Toll-free: 800.AIDS.411Fax: 212.459.2892
John Cannelli, Executive Director, x101, jcannelli@lifebeat.org
Sarah Peters Manager, Operations, x119, speters@lifebeat.org
Promotional support provided by BET, Vibe magazine, Music Choice and Power 105.1
Labels: Sexuality
