it does not matter if you sing about them or not, as long as you do reggae or dancehall,u will have to meet with them, we're now being mocked. I don't give a hell about these people I do not sing them, their shit is their shit, long as they stay in their lane mi nuh business with them. so it is provoking when you trying to get people involve who has stayed far from this shit.
These heartfelt words come from dancehall singjay Mr. Vegas (one of my favourite 'artistes'), who is touring Germany right now. Apparently the anti-oral sex crusader ('Heads High') is feeling the effects of the international gay rights 'murder music' campaign. Mr. Vegas uttered these sentiments on Twitter this morning (Dec. 9) in a series of tweets (which i've amalgamated here), each ending with the abbreviation 'cont.' to indicate continuation, a clever way of getting around the 140 character limit of the medium. Full marks to Mr. V for adept use of the technology. I tell you--if only our journalists would take a leaf out of his book. This, dear PAJ members, is how news is communicated these days; if you want to keep abreast of what's going on, you need to tweet.
Because Tweety Bird gets the worm, coz Tweety Bird is the early bird! Will Mr. Vegas go to see the German Police Commissioner? Will his show be canceled (He is scheduled to perform in Berlin tonight)? We watch and wait...
5 pm
And a few hours later another series of tweets from Mr. Vegas apparently after he did the needful:
Read.You are not allowed to do public: Appeals,or statements for, discrimination,violation,hatred,or even murder,offensive or insult. no such statements,no such lyrics,no such gestures,against anyone or community,due to race, color,religion,ideology,political views, opinions,ethic,or social origins or lineage,sexual orientation,gender,disability,genetic,features,age or any other personal community, bound characteristics.to German law and German foundation any people living here are equal.any violation of these principles would be a criminal offense and may lead to an arrest and expulsion and will cause criminal proceedings by official [public] prosecutor. in addition a complete suspension for entering the countries of the European Union may be signed on you.[We will give a report to the authorities of other German cities,it might be the base for the decision of taking measures due to your concerts over the .signed vegas.
so I just took the mark of the beast, I sold out God for vanity and Gold.
Meanwhile here is a video of Mr. Vegas's hit "I am Blessed". Some wonderful footage. Hopefully the blessings extend to Germany...
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9 comments:
... I'm not tweeting ... yet ... an' not dissin' it either ... just don't need to ... y'see, I've added Active Voice to my scope of attention ... now I'm in the know ... nice work ...
Bless
Hey Ackeelover,
thanks for your comment!
Well, we kinda like being outlaws, so Vegas gets some new juice from this Berlin story. In this new globally connected world where everybody inna everybody else bizness, not surprising that Germany jumped on the bandwagon and cast the net widely. It was easier to get away with stuff when info didn't flow nearly as freely as a tweet. I want to say "I told you so" to these DJ's who have convinced themselves that the badness of one has nothing to do with the others. Never been true, and certainly not in the eyes of the "beast".
agree with you Long, the interconnectedness is not a bad thing. and people being pressured to clean up their acts is not bad either. But its a little like all Jamaicans being stigmatized because of the 'yardie' phenom or all Haitians because of the Tonton Macoute...
but in general i think it's good for interests here to realize that they're under scrutiny and cannot continue to act as if Jamaica is exceptional and global rules don't apply. i mean that more broadly than the music. eg. when our politicians realize that they can't say things like No Gays in my Cabinet...
Yes, indeed. On one hand, the "collective punishment" stance is based in stuff that's not related to the music, but to how successfully(?)the outlaw/dissident has been marketed as jamaican cultural production. We have helped to nurture and give content the stereotypes that are now being applied to us (the whole "DH/DJs reflect reality ting), and now we are being reminded that there are limits to how much our farrin consumers - remembering that Germans always getting big-ups for their consumption & love of all things Jacn - will let us go. I agree, they need to know that Bad man stylee - from BG all the way down to Bolt - will only take them so far until dem buck dem toe.
Did you see that piece in the October (?) Economist about Ja economy and anti-gay politics?
Well said Annie and Longbench !!
EAR!
where have u been? so glad to hear from u.
Long, no i havn't seen that article...will look up...
Tired of all the chat. Let's face it we are responsible for the state of the music today. Jamaicans used to produce good music, but this dancehall, daggering,gallis, tracing new set of artistes have brought the music to base level. So why are we complaining when we are disrespected. Very few literate people are in the music business these days, so don't complain. If you all want to be respected then CLEAN up your acts. Enough already!!
Tired of all this chat. Jamaicans used to produce good music. Go back and listen. Now most of the music is about tracing, slackness. daggering and gallis. What is uplifting in all of that. These artistes are more like the politicians..theym think they arive big time and NO ONE dare critisize them. Oh please spare us!! Too much already.
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