I am in total agreement with the Broadcasting Commission's move. Hopefully, this will help to solve some of the problems we have with these very explicit dancehall lyrics. There is one question I would like to ask, however: What took them so long to act?
It seems so easy yet so hard that the organisation mandated with this responsibility had to respond to a column in The Gleaner to take such an important action. I hope that the commission realises that it needs to be more proactive. Sometimes actions long after the fact do little to help.
Michelle Harris
Institute for Sustainable Development
University of the West Indies, Mona
I believe that decent Jamaicans applaud the courageous stand that TVJ general manager, Kaye Osbourne, has taken against indecency. She said on Entertainment Report (Friday, February 6) that TVJ would not play the indecency named Rampin' Shop in any shape or form.
This is what any right-minded leader in the media is supposed to do to protect citizens from what spews forth from the minds of those who know not what they do. It's a great pity the manager of RJR Fame FM radio station, François St Juste, should have said on the same show that he would continue to play an edited version of the lewd song on FAME FM at times for more mature audiences.
Even though they are very late in doing what they were supposed to have done a long time ago, I commend the Broadcasting Commission for finally coming to the rescue of decent Jamaicans who want the airwaves cleaned up.
The Government must now clean up the inside of buses that school children have to take every day, as all kinds of other indecent daggerin' songs are blared from them all day long.
Barry Edwards
123barrye@gmail.com
I must say that I reluctantly agree with the Broadcasting Commission on the banning from the airwaves lyrics, which are considered explicitly sexual and violent. I do not like any type of censoring by the media. However, with the violence situation in Jamaica today, especially among young people, the entertainers are pushing things to the limit.
With these gun lyrics, 'daggerin' and sexually explicit utterances in their songs, our entertainers cannot claim that it is the parents' responsibility to monitor what their children are listening to.
As civilised members of society we all have a responsibility to protect our young people from every type of deficiency and destructiveness. We do hope that all censorship is implemented in a broad and non-selective way so that no one can cry foul, corruption or favouritism.
Alvin Buchanan
alvinb@htn.net
Sebring
Florida
You cannot legislate good taste. Censorship eliminates ardent debate, which makes for a better, more well-rounded society. This music is popular for a reason; simply hiding it away serves to make it stronger.
The best disinfectant is always sunlight. Who decides what is offensive? A select few? It does not look like the whole community was involved. This is what in part has led to factions in Jamaica feeling separated and thus embarking on their own path.
The politicos needs to stop professing the high road and start building relationships with the communities they want to transform.
Ian Bailey-Harris
I wholeheartedly support the action taken by the Broadcasting Commission to ban the 'daggerin' lyrics that have been permeating the airwaves and corrupting our children for the longest time.
I read Esther Tyson's article in The Gleaner and I had not listened to the song Rampin' Shop before and so I decided to listen to it. I felt so disgusted to know that a woman, who was also the mother of a very young child, could have sat down and recorded a song like that. It was despicable, to say the least.
To the Broadcasting Commission I say thumbs up; and to Mrs Tyson I say thank you ma'am for speaking up. Our youths are in a terrible crisis and we all need to see how we can try to save them rather than how to corrupt and poison their young impressionable minds.
Amelia Campbell
Ocho Rios, St Ann
While I believe in and support freedom of speech and expression, this action by the Broadcasting Commission was long overdue. I am fully supportive of the ban, but there are some fundamental questions: Why did it take public outcry for the commission to act? Is it that the members of the commission do not understand their role in protecting the public airwaves from being defiled by filth? Or, are members of the commission truly independent of the industry they are required to regulate?
Do the members of the commission not understand that children constitute a large segment of radio-station listeners? Do members of the commission not understand the importance of promoting wholesome values and attitudes in building a society conducive to raising children who will grow up to become assets rather than burdens to our society?
I would be interested in hearing from the members of the commission on these issues. But, I also question the lack of responsibility of so many parents in allowing their children access to this mind-decaying mess.
Curtis A. Ward
attycward@msn.com
I personally have an appreciation for the song Rampin; Shop as I believe that it expresses sexuality in a creative and humorous way. However, I respect the position of the Broadcasting Commission as it has an obligation to uphold a minimum standard of decency in the public space. The lyrics of Rampin' Shop are clearly X-rated and adult.
However, what I would like to see is the same views expressed about live coverage of carnival. I think that it is one thing to defend the public space for decency as against adult entertainment. The same standard should be placed on visually explicit sexuality from the uptown crowd where carnival is a prime example. The society cannot tell people that adult entertainment is unacceptable for one group yet sanction carnival and even 'kiddies carnival'. The media and wider society have a responsibility to be consistent and not to be schizophrenic or have double standards.
Fidel Reid
Jamaica
The members of the Broadcasting Commission seem finally to have awakened from their slumber. Or is it that they gave those involved in the production and broadcasting of increasingly lewd music enough rope to hang themselves? This ban is a move I welcome. It is answered prayer to the Lord Jesus Christ, and I think it has been a long time coming.
While we must protect the right of freedom of speech and expression, we must be careful that such freedom is not abused, creating a condition where others become enslaved. Though it would not be fair to suggest that the music in question is entirely to be blamed for the decay of our society, it certainly aids in fanning the flames.
The quickest way to spread ideas, philosophies, values, whether they be wrong or right, the most powerful way to indoctrinate young impressionable minds is through the media. We must, therefore, ensure that what we are injecting into the psyche of the audiences of our nation will produce the balance we would like to see in the moral values of the general society - a form of social engineering.
Well done, Broadcasting Commission!
Jason E. A. Bynoe
jason_bynoe@hotmail.com
I agree 100 per cent with the banning of those songs. I would go even further in that I would monitor public transportation.
I can tell you it's very annoying when you board a bus and you are subjected to this nastiness. When you see children as young as five years old singing these songs, I wonder what those so-called artistes feel.
Rohan Richards
brother_godman@hotmail.com
It is with immense delight that I read your lead story Saturday morning. This move, late as it is, is extremely welcome.
The bleeping had got so commonplace that for some songs of a three-minute length one would have thought that the title of the song was Bleep, since in many instances, more bleeps were being heard than words.
Pastor Teddy A. Jones
ghettopriest@gmail.com
Words are very powerful, even more than we think, and what we listen to influences our every actions and thoughts, some more adversely so, because some people are more impressionable than others.
I am a soldier and I hate to salute, but I salute the Broadcasting Commission willingly. You need to be praised for taking control of the airwaves.
Big up!
Marlon Brown
Richie.pooh@yahoo.com
There is no talent or any moral or intellectual value in that profound distasteful garbage that those guys put forward. From the departure of prominent singers who made Jamaica proud, such as Bob Marley and others, Jamaica and reggae music have gone down the drain.
Reggae was revered, but of late, it is considered pure garbage. Even the Spanish have taken over reggae and made it better than what the Jamaicans can produce. Imagine, the country that produces the best reggae music over the past two years are New Zealand and some African countries. Jamaica has been left behind because of the filth it produces which is called 'reggae music'.
I challenge the Jamaican music industry to revert to the basics and come again with beautiful reggae music. Eliminate the junk and expose the positive. The organisation has made a giant step forward. Let's hope the Government will enforce the pressure!
Hylton Kelly
kcdstt@yahoo.com
I don't listen to these songs and was so surprised the other day when it was playing next door to hear my three-year-old grandson calling out to me telling me that the man in the song just cursed a bad word. It was this same Rampin' Shop song.
The generation of the '80s is sick. They are the ones who are jumping to these songs. Something has to be done about these artistes to stop them from doing these songs.
Paula Cunningham
From: Paula Hinds [maad4u64@yahoo.com]
I've been greatly disappointed with what FAME FM, among others, has become.
The content of the music they've been airing is nothing short of what I call verbal porn! I find myself having to either listen to TBC (not that I mind) or Music 99 FM, since, if you try to listen to any of the other radio stations, you are forced to hear words that should not even be said in public.
It's a constant reminder of what our society has become: lawless, no respect for our elders or children, and way too sexually liberated.
I'm hoping the TV stations will follow suit as some of their advertisements and music videos are way too suggestive.
NJ
njbless26@yahoo.com
Red Hills
Kingston
I am a lover of dancehall music as I believe it is a part of who we are. However, we do have a responsibility to our children, the future of this country.
Children learn from music. From as early as two years old we teach our children to 'sing' their ABCs, which is far more catching than if they were to recite it. The entertainers in our country have a responsibility to our children as well.
Contradictory
It is very contradictory when we tell our children to wait until they are older to have sex when some of the songs that are being played on our radios for public consumption are virtually telling them otherwise.
As an adult, I sometimes cringe when I hear certain songs on the radio. Children are not stupid; they know. The picture has been painted with colourful statements before the bleeps.
Some people will argue that it's not just dancehall music that adds to the moral decay within our society, it comes from the movies, cables and so on. I do agree with such arguments, but our dancehall music with lewd or gun lyrics is a contributing factor.
Gloria Smith
sunnygee16@yahoo.com
Our sense of cultural identity has been overwhelmed by what in my view is a 'daggerin' culture. This subculture has found popular support, especially among many of our students of both sexes.
Our dancehall deejays over the years have become fixated on violence and crude, sexually suggestive songs, which, for the most part, are demeaning to women. Ironically, women are the main supporters of such songs.
Enough is enough
While Rampin Shop' is not the worst of these songs, I do believe enough is enough. It is about time as a society we say no to public lewdness and 'daggerin'. While placing a ban on such songs might not diminish their popularity, especially among teenagers, at least we are sending the message to producers, managers and artistes that we will no longer play such filth in the public sphere.
There is a time and place for everything. The Bible reminds us that there is a time and season for everything. Now is the season to pull from our public airwaves all those songs which are not of good repute.
Wayne Campbell
waykam@yahoo.com