With Reggae Month just concluded, one of the messages which was proclaimed loudly was the need for positive messages through the music. This strident call came from Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Olivia Grange, as well as her State Minister Alando Terrelonge.
In an interview with The Gleaner recently, Terrelonge, when quizzed about the possibility of implementing quotas to ensure that more reggae music is played locally, dismissed any such suggestion and instead highlighted the necessity for the music industry to recognise the value of wholesome, message music.
“Look at it this way, there is freedom of speech, and there is freedom of expression, and I think that the people know the kind of music that they want to consume. And the moment that you start to think about setting [a] quota on music, then you are actually limiting artistic freedoms, artistic expression and integrity, and you are also restricting the rights of people to listen to the kind of music they want to,” he stated.
The minister of state said that the reggae of yesteryear is not necessarily the reggae of today and appealed to producers and artistes to ask themselves if they are producing music with a diminishing shelf life, just so an artiste can get a forward, or are they going to produce the kind of songs that last beyond even the lifetime of the artiste.
“Are we going to be writing about current issues, social justice, peace and love, the humanity of the soul, or just something that speaks to a particular kind of lifestyle that is going to last two weeks? The great Bob Marley and the Wailers, for example, had a message. Reggae led to the liberation of our brothers and sisters from colonial powers across Africa. That is the power of reggae. Reggae is a music of peace and love and speaks to the core of humanity. Were we to go back to that era of reggae, then reggae would be glorified once more, even more so on the global stage,” a passionate Terrelonge said.
Referring to himself as “a connoisseur of music” who listens to Reggaeton, Afrobeats as well as other genres, Terrelonge compared the fast-growing global popularity of those genres against reggae music. “With Reggaeton, you are talking about Latin America and the Caribbean … there are over 500 million people in this region alone who speak Spanish, and Reggaeton is the heart of their music now. And again, it has global popularity, and it also has reggae at its core.”
He added, “As a country, we must be introspective when it comes on to the type of music that is produced and the lyrical content of that music. And, I think that should be the focus, not quota. Reggae Month is an important month for us to consider that kind of reflection so that reggae can truly take its place in the globe, above and beyond anything else that is using reggae music at its base.”
During an interview with Irie FM at the church service to launch Reggae Month, Minister Grange emphasised the importance of the message in the music and appealed to the industry to focus on positive songs rather than defamatory lyrics.
“[Reggae music] is known for being that Balm in Gilead when you are going through troubled times, and when you are challenged. And so I am asking the singers and songwriters and the musicians, let’s keep the music positive; let’s move away from that edge that I see creeping in. Let’s get rid of the gun lyrics; let’s get rid of the defamatory way that we refer to our women. Let us use the music to do good, and let’s use the music to inspire,” Grange said.
Last week, during the sitting of the Standing Finance Committee of Parliament, Karl Samuda, minister without portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, after complimenting Minister Grange as “the best”, had a “but”, which revolved around the lyrical content of the music. He appealed to her to use her “magic” to help artistes to understand the importance of good music and “encourage them to be philosophical with the lyrics”.
“Nobody is going to buy something repetitively that only has the rhythm. That’s only part of it. The lyrics must go with it. We are not short on lyrics. The ones that are most successful are the ones with a philosophical base and a message,” Samuda said.
“I know, Minister. There is a lot of work to be done. We have come a long way, but there is still a lot more to be done,” Grange responded.
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