by Ronald Austin Jr

In December 2009, the University of the West Indies announced the findings of a study on violence and dancehall conducted by Dr. Donna Hope-Marquis. This study was carried out among 300 15-24 year-olds in Jamaica. Not only did the study show no correlation between dancehall music and violence, Dr. Hope-Marquis declared “The results were so insignificant that they could not be used as a guiding principle”. These results killed the noise on this issue. So should we say that was the end of the debate? I think not. We cannot dismiss the influence of some aspects of dancehall music on the youth. Since crime and violence are most associated with this constituency in the Caribbean, I find the dismissal of this connect between some aspects of dancehall music, crime and violence, to be incredulous.

I have been ridiculed by friends for playing dancehall music in my car. I have been admonished for listening to ‘sick music’, as some describe it. They ask ‘how could you understand what is being said by those mad men’? There are many who believe that dancehall music is directly linked to crime and once you listen, you are automatically seen as part of a particular ethos. Not every dancehall song is laced with vulgarity and violent content, Exhibit A: ‘I am blessed’ by Mr. Vegas. That is another issue. Be that as it may, please note that the article speaks to some lyrics, there is no broad brush being applied. Further, I have defended this simple pleasure by saying that I cannot be so easily influenced, I have attended strong institutions and I grew up under good parental leadership. In my case, that has worked for me. Can everyone boast of this lack of fear of being influenced? I think not. In the absence of robust parental interventions and stable and steady values, music will always have an impact on the mind, some aspects of dancehall music are no different in this regard. Let us examine the lyrics of the song ‘Banger’ released by Sheldon Lawrence, also known as ‘Aidonia’ on December 2, 2016: ‘We no listen when chatty mouth chatty mouth chat. Me saw off shotgun, the shotty mouth chop. Just, plat up ya head, shot a chop it out back. Badman no tek style dawg, you haffi know that’.

The lyrics, documented here, contain the glorification of death and reinforces violence as a means of settling disputes. In strained circumstances, poor institutional structures, when this meets the ear of persons who cannot discern careful judgment, who would dare argue that this can have no influence. Some dancehall musicians are the leaders of a dangerous sub-culture that captures fragile minds. To present a case of them having no responsibility for what their listeners do is to suggest that they have no effect on the behaviour of their fans. So why do companies pay millions to procure their services for advertising and how come they drive taste in clothing and more? Constantly absorbing ‘Informa fi dead’ and ‘murda dem and shub dem inna ground’, cannot be a simple engagement that has no impact on the behaviour of impressionable minds. It is the validation of criminal sub-culture. Not everyone has the luxury of being exposed to institutions that give them good values which are adopted. For the unlucky few who gravitate to dancehall music, this is often their only guidance.

The United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNOC) reported that three of the top 10 for most murders per 100, 000 inhabitants were Caribbean islands. This report also stated, “Nearly one in three said they had lost someone to violence. Guns are used about twice as often in robbery and three times as often in assault in the Caribbean as compared with the global average”. ‘Bust me gun inna yuh face’ and ‘lay them body out inna morgue’ pounding in the ears of our youth consistently and intensely has to have some backlash. I say reopen the investigations and studies, try other methodologies, something might be uncovered. I am aware that some lyrics in dancehall music are not the only source for the reinforcement of violence. Many youths are exposed to violent movies and the internet is the frontier for all manner of negative portrayals. However, I maintain that music has its special ability to motivate for positive and negative reasons.

The solutions to solving this unprecedented surge in crime in the Caribbean have got to be fraught with an evidence-based approach. The national conversations have been exhausted in my view. It is time to revisit, from an academic standpoint, the correlations between some aspects of dancehall music, crime, violence and our youth.