Could an Anti-Gay Reputation Be Hurting Jamaican Music?
Buju Banton. Beenie Man. Sizzla. Bounty Killer. The list of Jamaican musical acts with a history of homophobia runs longer than a Joe Biden speech. But could these three fellas, along with several other anti-LGBT singers, be hurting Jamaican music as a whole?
If you look at tour profits, as well as the number of countries that are balking at hosting Jamaican musical acts, the answer could most definitely be yes. And that has some folks thinking that it's time to change the homophobic reputation that has come to accompany Jamaican music, especially dancehall music, over the past decade.
In a year where Live Nation pulled its sponsorship of Buju Banton's concerts over anti-gay lyrics, and where Pepsi was forced to condemn a concert that the company sponsored in Uganda where Beenie Man called for gay people to have their throats slit, action from Jamaican music producers can't come soon enough to distance themselves from entrenched homophobia in dancehall music.
According to music analyst Clyde McKenzie, touring has become the most lucrative part of the music business. Yet, as Jamaican performers are turned down for visas in countries throughout North America, the Caribbean, and Europe because of homophobia and violent lyrics, McKenzie has a word for Jamaican singers: tone it down.
"The doors are being closed as far as immigration is concerned, whether it is the perception about violence or homophobia. You find that some Caribbean territories are refusing to have artists from Jamaica on their soil," McKenzie said.
The crux of that argument is that homophobic lyrics don't pay. Just ask Eminem. He's had to censor some of his lyrics for part of his UK tour, after protests from some leading gay rights activists. The fallout with Eminem comes over his song "Criminal," where Eminem says in no uncertain terms, "My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge/ That'll stab you in the head, whether you're a fag or lez/ Or the homosex, hermaph or a trans-a-vest/Pants or dress? Hate fags? The answer's yes."
Eminem was never one for subtlety, huh? Neither is Buju Banton, who said before being arrested on federal drug charges that his war with "faggots" was far from over. Sounds like the type of class that will continue to get you dumped from concert promoters.
The point in all of this is pretty simple: anti-gay lyrics aren't worth it. Yes, they'll get you the attention of folks like GLAAD, or add a little media attention. But by and large anti-gay lyrics do nothing but foster hate, and in some cases violence. Record execs should know better than to try and make a profit off of artists who champion them.
Michael Jones
is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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