Stop dem Merda Music!?

Stop Murder Music Campaign
AMW !.e.: Andrea M. White
June 15, 2007

Though we have all sang and partied to many reggae lyrics over the years, I don’t believe we have maintained a true understanding of what some of the widely popular songs were really stating and the affect they would carry in years to come. Songs like Buju’s “Boom Bye Bye - rude boy nah promote no nasty man, dem ah fi dead" and Beenie’s, "Bad Man Chi Chi Man," are just a few tunes that ignited any party each time they would boom through the speakers. To be honest I’m bobbin my head just thinking about the songs right now. Unfortunately, we have failed to address the long-term consequences these songs have held throughout the years and how these lyrics are currently putting the livelihood of artists such as Buju Banton at risk today.

There has been a Stop Murder Music campaign also called The Reggae Compassionate Act launched by gay-activists, the campaign’s purpose is to "respect and uphold the rights of all individuals to live without violence due to their religion, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity or gender.” Beenie Man and Sizzla are the only two artists so far that have signed-on for the campaign so far which invites all people to listen to their music without the fear of violence. This is probably a good move for Beenie who has already had some of his engagements cancelled because of the lyrical content in a few of his songs. However, a number of other reggae acts have not signed up for the campaign, including Elephant Man, TOK, Bounty Killa, Vybz Kartel, and Buju Banton.

Speaking of Buju, he has experienced some heavy backlash while on tour promoting his album “Too Bad” – revered as one of the best albums of his career. His appearances in Oakland and San Francisco were cancelled after gay protestors urged concert goers not to support the artist. The criticism is due to the highly popular song “Boom Bye Bye” which placed the artist on the map.

Even after an agreement had been brokered by OutRage – a British gay activist organization and the Jamaican Government – Buju is not feeling the fact that he is being censored. The agreement states that several artists, including Buju, would agree not to perform songs with homophobic content. However at Miami’s Reggae Festival earlier last year, Banton performed a bit of "Boom Bye Bye," unfortunately for him the 45-second video was posted on YouTube which continued to outrage the gay community.

Journalist Eric Arnold said it best, “the album "Too Bad" has no crossover appeal. There are no high-profile collaborations with American rappers or R&B stars, no hip-hop remixes -- and, it should be noted, no misogynistic or anti-gay lyrics.” So give my boy Buju some credit; although he is stubborn he has grown as an artist (somewhat).

Though I may not agree or relate to certain lifestyles or preferences, there is something to be said for what these activists are trying to do within the music industry. They are demanding respect and making plenty of noise doing so. I’m sitting here trying to figure out why the black community hasn’t started our own Stop Murder Music campaign? After all of the songs we’ve sung celebrating violence and disrespect in our own music, where are our community demands and our boycotts of concert venues and radio stations? Oh well, I guess we’ll just continue bobbin our heads until another Imus comes and ruffles our feathers.

Source: Eurweb.com