Bounty Killer in a warlike mood at Magnum Cash Een Again promotion, held at Shockwaves nightclub in Mandeville. - Dwight Nelson photo

As Jamaica continues to grapple with the massive crime problem, more fingers are pointing at DJs' 'gangsta' lyrics as one of the causes of the violence.

With lyrics which boast of evil intent and murderous lifestyle, the DJs, who are heroes to many young men, move violence to an acceptable level and a mark of manhood.

They argue that their music reflects their reality while others say they are creating a climate where brutality and savagery seem normal.

Internationally, there is raging debate on whether the exposure to violent lyrics induces criminal behaviour in young people.

The arguments include a study by Iowa State University researcher, Craig A. Anderson, and others, which found that "violent songs could increase aggressive thoughts and feelings and have implications for real-world violence".

Longitudinal studies

However, the authors note that there are no published longitudinal studies on the effect of violent lyrics and argue that "such studies are clearly needed before a definitive conclusion about the long-term effect of violent lyrics can be reached".

Locally, the argument has been less sustained, but concerns have been raised about the lyrics penned by some of the island's popular entertainers.

A DJ, in a recently released song aimed at a rival entertainer, screams:

A nu little bit a people me send go a hell

Dem never kill nobody yet a lie dem a tell

Gunshot in a yuh brain cell

Police pick up the AK shell

Another, in an expletive-laden tune, boasts about his willingness to exterminate his rivals:

A we mek Madden build morgue

Fi store body like number pon sim card

From me small me kill cat and skin dog

These and many others are a staple in the dancehalls around the island at a time when the country's murder total is heading towards record levels.

While that jury is still out on the influence, if any, which these DJs have on the island's criminals, musicologist Clyde McKenzie argues that there is no data to support the claim that societies are more violent because of violent lyrics.

"The DJs are soft targets so they are picked out for criticisms.

"In fact, crime plummeted during the '90s in the United States at a time when hip hop (with its violent lyrics) was on the rise," McKenzie said.

However, McKenzie said he believed that there was a link between the violence in the lyrics and the violence in society.

"It is a fact that many people in the inner cities are grappling with the violence, and sometimes the expression of violence in the music is a way of dealing with the problems they are having," he told The Gleaner.

"Violent images, music or otherwise, can normalise certain kinds of behaviour so singing about violence can, perhaps, do the same thing," McKenzie added.

That is a message that has long been preached by veteran journalist Ian Boyne, who has repeatedly argued that the violent lyrics glorify the worst of Jamaican society.

Lauding violence

"These lyrics ridicule youth who don't have big guns; youth who have not killed a lot of people. The dancehall is the place where the shotta, who has no education, no middle-class connections, no colour credentials, no good looks and no uptown address, can come and feel honoured and celebrated for the sheer power of his gun and his savagery," Boyne wrote many years ago.

But that has not stopped DJs from their brand of revolutionary music, which they say is no worse than the music produced by reggae icons Peter Tosh and Bob Marley who sang: "I feel like bombing a church now that I know the preacher is lying."

Kill dem all a dun

Kill dem all a dun

Boy life a dun

Body dey pon the ground, mother

bawl out

When me a war memba say no weh

no dey far

Glock in a me JanSport me dress up like

me still go a ...

With lyrics like this, the question remains, cause or effect?

Vybz Kartel