Slack song ban - Kartel's 'Rampin' Shop' among explicit lyrics outlawed
February 07, 2009
The Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, the watchdog over the island's electronic media, yesterday banned radio and television stations from airing songs with content deemed explicitly sexual and violent, even if concealed by bleeps.
All dancehall songs which qualify as 'daggering' content - the rapidly emerging culture of quasi-erotic dances and music - will also be outlawed from the airwaves, the commission also said.
The ban, which takes effect immediately, does not affect content recorded on CDs and DVDs.
"There shall not be transmitted through radio or television, any recording, live song or music video which promotes the act of 'daggering' or which makes reference to, or is otherwise suggestive of 'daggering'," said Hopeton Dunn, commission chairman, in a release last night.
"There shall not be transmitted through radio or television or cable services, any audio recording, song or music video which employs editing techniques or bleeping of its original lyrical content," Dunn continued.
Widespread criticism
The Broadcasting Commission's tough stance coincides with widespread criticism of the chart-topping hit, Rampin' Shop, a song laden with sexually explicit content and inferences. The song is performed by deejays Vybz Kartel and Spice.
Debate was stirred when Esther Tyson, a Sunday Gleaner columnist, lambasted media managers for giving dancehall artistes a platform to "corrupt the psyche of Jamaican children".
"We must work together to stop enriching people like Vybz Kartel who create filth and are then paid when they release it on the public.
"The corporate giants in this nation who are promoting such filth need to come into the schools and see what is happening to the minds of the young," wrote Tyson, principal of the co-ed school, Ardenne High....
Author: Andre Wright
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
