Ripped Music

Dancehall has just blown up in mainstream markets over the past two years. A large part of its success can be attributed to the 'Dutty' Sean Paul, whose last album went 6 times platinum in the U.S. (or was it worldwide?).

And just as CSI spawned 'Miami' and 'NY', Survivor inadvertently spawned 'The Swan', 'Britney & Kevin: Chaotic' and all the other reality crap on T.V., and 'Will and Grace' spawned a new gay revolution, America jumped on the dancehall bandwagon. They can never get enough of a 'good' thing. Now all of a sudden, the sound, the words, the dances, the clothes, everything is becoming Jamaican. And you know the only people not cashing in? Jamaicans!

I watched '106 & Park' in horror the other day as Big Tigger sported his big shirt in the design on a massive Jamaica flag. Negro, you ain't born here! But you know, that's cool, as long as we're making money from that. But we're not making money from Usher's use of thunderclaps and rock aways in his 'Yeah' video (which had the Energy god irate), not to mention a whole new genre of music audaciously called 'Reggaeton' (Latin hip hop/dancehall, created in Puerto Rico I believe), which I'd be pissed about were it not for the fact that every damn song sounds the same. But they're still making money off it. And then there's Basian sweetheart Rihanna, whose breakthrough single 'Pon De Replay' is as Basian-difficient as Dolly Parton after a bluegrass convention. I mean, which Basian says 'pon de' anything, much less the replay?

My favourite new knock-off, however, is hands down R. Kelly's new song, which should be titled 'Slow Wine' (or maybe Wyne), but instead is officially titled 'Slow Wind', as if he's talking about a girl who's having gas, in slow motion. Classic. But you know what? That song will be a hit.

In the end, everything boils down to pleasing a market that watches with blindfolds on and listens with earplugs. These days, content is irrelevant- Gwen Stefani's #1 single 'Hollaback Girl' stands testament to that fact. I love the girl, but a crappier song is hard to find. These days, it's about giving the people what they want- pretty faces, and club bangers.

So why is everyone else making so much money off dancehall? Because we aren't. Well, Sean Paul is. What he's been able to do (while aided by the fact that he ain't a bad looking guy) is make good video presentations, look presentable, sing in just enough English to keep people interested, and speak even more English. So people can relate to him just enough to keep listening. Elephant Man has managed limited success in the U.S. mainstream, with most of his success coming in black markets. Face it- an unattractive man with a strong lisp, shaky language and grammar, and orange hair probably won’t excite white America. Sean Paul can, and has.

So what's the formula? I don't think there's a clear-cut solution, but I do believe there are some steps (as hinted to above) we can take. But for the short term, I believe one of the most important things we need to do is PROTECT OUR MUSIC! Nina Sky, Pitbull (protégé of Lil' Jon), Lumidee, and others have simply ripped Jamaican dancehall beats from their CDs and made hits out of them. We need to protect our own, so that our own can benefit from the work of our own. We also need to put our best foot forward. It might involve making a few compromises (Sean Paul's new Single, 'We Be Burnin', speaks about women, but its original version was actually about weed), but they'll be worth it. It's time that more of our own benefit from our creativity and originality. Yuh dun know!