By Kon-Vick
OutAroad.com Writer
Jamaica’s crime rate has been spiraling beyond control in recent times. There has been constant bombardment on our dancehall artistes to clean up their music as it is argued that the violent lyrical content contributes to the crime wave.
OutAroad.com caught up with ace deejay Busy Signal, known for hits such as Nah Guh a Jail Again, The Days and Badman Place featuring Mavado, who shared his views on the argument outlined above.
“Some people take the message of the music the wrong way, but yuh still can’t blame the music in Jamaica or the rest of the world (for the spiraling crime rate). Music cannot be solely blamed for crime, there is also poverty, lack of jobs and the fact that the highest set of crimes worldwide is caused by dirty politics,” Busy explained.
Busy has shown his versatility in the dancehall genre of music with songs like The Days, a single depicting the everyday hardship in Jamaica, and Nah Guh a Jail Again, which talks about the alleviation of criminal activities. However, one can argue that he also trespass onto the gangster role in Badman Place.
“I try to keep it dancehall and leave out the graphic aspect out of the music. There are all types of people out there who enjoy different kinds of music. When we sing positive songs there are still people out there who don’t listen to them, they still gravitate towards the hardcore ones,”
he told OutAroad.com.
“Radio disc jocks need to play positive music, but they also need to play for their audience. They cannot shoulder all the blame either.”
OutAroad.com: “Do you think dancehall is growing in popularity?”
“Dancehall is building, but there are those who try to zoom in on all the negativity and shine a bad light on dancehall. People are trying to blame dancehall for violence.”
According to Busy if one is going to start branding dancehall as a perpetrator of violence there are several other factors and entities that will need to fall under that umbrella.
“If you are going to start blaming dancehall for the spiraling crime then you will also have to start blaming the internet, movies, alcohol and drugs. What critics need to realize is that a lot of times artistes sing what they see,” Busy argued.
Busy Signal is presently voicing several singles and is in the process of completing several high-end music videos. He is also looking forward to his album that is due to hit the streets in the latter part of July or early August. Signal has an extended tour of Europe in July and August, but will return to Jamaica for Reggae Sumfest.
Busy is also fine tuning his movie soundtrack single Cop and a Bad Man for the soon to be released movie Loaded Maga.
Posted on June 5, 2008 14:05
BWOT BUSY THAT'S Y MI HAFFI LUV U. U SOUND REAL INTELLIGENT UNLIKE SOME OTHER ARTISTS GWAN DO U TING MI FREN.
Posted on June 5, 2008 14:07
A Jamaican and a Iraqi is juged by father GOD,GOd ask's why are you here?The Iraqi-The Americans invaded my country bombed all of my family and i blew then up,for my dead family members
GOD to the Jamaican why are u here?Don't bother answering, just go to hell you kill people for the least of things and died trying to get rich.
Posted on June 5, 2008 14:30
Yow Busy mi love how yuh deal wid the question, yuh answer dem 'bad eeen', dem remind me of Bruce saying: "No not in my cabinet" to the fish them. One love mi deejay. Wi waan some hard tune from yh fi di summer
Posted on June 5, 2008 18:22
selassie seh "you must not be proud of ignorance!"...alright, mi nuh inna no long talk...MEK WI SI WHO AGO STAY CONSISTENT WIT WHA DEM SEH(BUJU MEK A TALK...DEN KONSHENS...NOW BUSY A TALK BOUT POSITIVE LYRICS, ALL MOVADO A TALK BOUT CLEAN UP GULLY...VERY GOOD...BUT WILL ALL DEASE GUYS UPHOLD GOOD AND STOP SUPPORT F..KRY...LIKE WHEN DEM WAS ON GULLY BANK(before dem buss)AN NAH DO NUTTN)...MEK WI SI WHO A WAGONIS AND WHO UNLY A DO LIP SERVICE...remember people, no matter ow wicked yu was JAH still LOVE the man whey come from the wrong and do the right
Posted on June 5, 2008 20:12
Real thing. dancehall does not not promote crime. thats what them corrupt government need to know and stop framing them artist like mi boy MAVADO.KEEP DEFENDING THEM MI BOY.
Posted on June 6, 2008 07:46
Busy Busy Busy ... hope yuh start give us some positive but hard hitting lyrics like wha yuh duh inna di past. Mi always think yuh a one a wi better artiste. Dont disappoint mi.
Posted on June 6, 2008 08:47
Fi real though, di positive ting is good and ting, but some days mi just want hear tune outa di gully, brain fly, marrow fily fassy fi die, and definitely kill b*tty man daily.
Dis nuh mean, mi a guh buss mi gun fi fun, it nuh mean mi a guh rob just because.. Di real ting is, at the end of the day we all have choices as individuals..
Check it, nuf man weh buss gun, di real gunna dem, dem nuh listen radio, dem nuh go a dance, so how di bumbo cl%%$#T music fi influence dem?
Posted on June 6, 2008 10:26
Mi nah lie mi check fi you song dem,but We all a Jamaican before anything, so look pan it this way.Are you helping the Situation?...If a DJ don,t think him have no influence pan people,How come they do Tv ADs and promote goods.You don,t think you help to deliver.Why u take BigUp Fi Dat.people just selective with them Responsibility....Dun talk!
Posted on June 6, 2008 11:10
PEACE AND HORMONY GLOBALLY..NUFF LUV..DAT WI WANT..WI NUH NEED VIOLENCE, WI NUH NEED ENVY..WI NUH NEED GROUCH..BUSY EVEN THOU TIMES ARE HARD WE AINT GIVING UP..NO WI STILL A WAIT PON JAH BLESSING TO FILL OUR CUPS..TIMES MAY SEEM SO HARD A BEG U HELP US FADA GOD..PROTECT US FROM VIOLENCE, BLOOD SPILLING, TERRORISM LOCAL AND ABROAD...
(LYRICS FROM GHETTO YUTES- BUSY SIGNAL)
DANCEHALL MUSIC DOES NOT PROMOTE VIOLENCE..AS U SEY A HOW D PEOPLE DEM INTERPRET IT..ARTISTES LIKE U MORE TIME MIX UP D TYPE A MUSIC UNNO DO..GIRL TUNE, GANSTA & POSITIVE TUNES..TUNES PEOPLE OF ALL AGES CAN RELATE TO..MORE TIME A TRU D MUSIC PEOPLE KNW WAT GOIN ON...LIKE IN UR SONG, THESE ARE THE DAYS.. THESE DAYS AT THE AIRPORT, DEM WANT U TEK OFF BELT, KICK OFF AIRFORCE, DEM TEK WEH YUH COLOGNE, ROLL- ON, TOOTHPSTE..WAH DEM HEAR BOUT..ITS LIKE A MESSAGE BEING COMMUNICATED THROUGH MUSIC..
NAH GO A JAIL AGAIN, THESE ARE THE DAYS, GONE A LEAD, RAT RACE, GHETTO YUTES, SEX SELLS, CURPHEW, TOO MUCH GUNS, BORN AND GROW, BELIEVE MI, HARD TIMES, GOT A STORY TO TELL, FACE TO FACE WITH LIFE FT DEMARCO, PEOPLE SO EVIL. TO NAME A FEW..
POLITICS FULL A TRICKS, BARE LIES AND PROMISES..STILL DI POOR STAY POOR AND THE RICH GET RICH...PEOPLE SO EVIL...
LYRICS AND CONTENTS PROPPA..
YUH ANNO IDIOT FI JOIN DEM RAT RACE..DATS Y MI AFI RATE YUH..ARTISTE THEN, NOW, 4EVER..BELIEVE MI NUH!! CONTINUE BEING D ROLE MODEL U R IN MANY PEOPLE LIVES.. BUSY YUH GONE A LEAD..
DEM NEVA KNW U, NUH LUV DEM NEVA SHOW U. DEM VEX TRU U TOO BUSY FI DEM OVA THROW YUH..DEM CANNOT STOP YUH GLORY. CAAH FEED YUH NO SAD STORY..DEM CANNOT STOP YUH NOW.. DEM A TRY STEP INNA YUH SHOES AND NUH KNW HOW..YUH TING GLOBAL!!
KEEP MAKING MOVES, KEEP MAKING MUSIC,
KEEP DOING WAT U DO BEST..
BLESS
Posted on June 6, 2008 13:59
Busy yuh rite we R livin in a wurl of all kinds of tings...Politician a do white collar crime a tief wi tax money an nutten gr8 is being done bout dat, we have escalating oil prices and food crisis wurl wide an no real attempt is being made to curb these things...these R the real causes of crime.
If yuh want to blame dancehall yuh affi blame rap, rock cause these R genres ppl use 2 express dem selves wurl wide. An di piont Busy raise bout D internet, movies alcohol and drugs is a even bigger contributer 2 crime not 2 mention VIDEO GAMES...YES VIDEO GAMES, these R interactive games that give ppl hands on training 2 commit various crime, the solution is letting or kids know the difference between wats real and wats not....yuh don't hear bout Busy, Mavado, kartel an all dese artists picking up guns and killing ppl. No they do music tours, sport flash cars, date beautiful women, drink expensive liquors and party lyk rock stars. So we need to let our children know that wat they hear is not wat they do so know the difference.
Portmore
Piece I'm out
Posted on June 7, 2008 00:39
A crap dat...when a gun man ago do im ting, a which CD u tink dem a listen tuh?...conchus liricks?/!!!...di hole a unuh f#$^ aff. Unuh listn to d song dem? wen dem a glorify bad man an gunman ting, wi fi drive dem inna d grung!!!! how dem a taak bout clean up liricks if it neva dutty in di firs place? HOW COMES!!!
Posted on June 7, 2008 14:34
Mih a tell yuh fi real, when eva mi have a life and death mission fi guh pon. Mi nuh listen Bullshit tune, a nothing but culture mi listen to.. Tune like " JAh Give me strenght" (Lucano), "it's arocky road" (Capleton), trodding the valley ( Jah Cure) mih can go on naming tunes..
The fact is Once again, as individuals we all have choices, we all need to step up and be accountable for our actions; Because Killa Seh "Copper shat" dat mean Mi ago kill a man?..
Come on, Violence ina jamaica is largly in part of injustice by the powers that be, Police, Government etc.
Man a blow up man everday ina di middle east, all dem listen to more time is a bunch of drums flute, and tambarine, but people still a dead.. Fighting against oppression..
Posted on July 2, 2008 14:04
some a dem people ya come de site a chat pure f''kery everybody haffi tek responsibility fe dem own actions,for instance it all start in the homes parents need fe tek the riegns ,get a hold of dem kids spend more time carin and showin dem the way ,a next thing again is politics is the main thing y we have so much crime dem start de gun buying thing,how the hell poor people get money fe buy bullet and gun so all a diss talk bout dancehall diss and dancehall dat is bullshit,everybody like different types of music ,u hav the hardcore side of dancehall and the the more calmer side ,most djs like busy and bounty dj badman tune ,but u hav the concious side of dem to,u neva hear these people talkin about the uplifting lyrics the djs a perform,a dj cannot say 'me ago rob da bwoy dey' and some one listen to tht and go do the action and dem blame it on the dj,the man had a choice to do or not to do and him do it,so dem fe stop blame dancehall and clean up society ,more jobs,buy less guns fe kill off jon doe people dem dung the lane wen election time come ,it simple as dat.