Hommophobia inna dancehall style...

No one should be exposed to the Bible because it is FILLED with bad ideas.

Are there dancehall lyrics pertaining to lesbians? or to jews for that matter?

I don't really know enough about dancehall to parse which of those forms seems to be the dominant one. And I'm certainly not trying to excuse the latter, just pointing out that it's a hugely different proposition.

look at cultures all over the world that don't use the bible - do they actually embrace homosexuality? did they ever?

The thing is, Rastafarianism is a Judeo-Christian religion that places great emphasis on apocalypticism. Since the apocalypse (greek for "relevelation") will "reveal" who are the chosen people-- the "elect"--as opposed to the "damned," apocalyptic belief helps to console adherents (who are often oppressed societies) by telling them that there will be a better life for them in the next world/after the day of judgement. Babylon will fall and believers in Jah (the tribe of Judah) will take their rightful place as the "elect." Like Zionists, Rastas believe that there will be a homeland for their people. They think that the bible is talking about the Rastaman's plight--their homeland, the place for "the Israelites" of which Desmond Dekker sings--is in Ethiopia.

Rastafarianism, as an apocalyptic religion, is a very powerful force in the creation of community. The community must have a strong sense of itself, but it also must have a very strong sense of what constitutes the "other" i.e. who IS NOT part of the community.

While the community can provide some extremely positive things, such as empowerment to oppressed people and a sense of validity for one's culture, the desire to abject the "other" requires a clear definition of what doesn't fit. Where does one find this definition? In the Bible, of course!

Babylonians are equated with non-Rastas (significant supporters of the Babylon system being folks like George Bush, the Pope, the Queen- and her facist regime, etc.). Non-Rastas are also those who do not support Rasta belief and, say, commit un-Rasta acts such as having an intimate relationship with someone of the same sex.

The problem for me is that I agree that Babylon is wrong and populated with evil people like George Bush, persay, but I don't like how oppressive forces of Babylon are equated and collapsed with the so-called moral corruption of homosexuality.

just wanted to be clear...

Which is more likely the subject of these homophobic songs: a) Elton John or kd lang b) Joe Q. Homosexual and his longtime companion, taking the LIRR to Fire Island every weekend c) Homosexual folks who share much the same cultural milieu that the dancehall singers come (or came) from or d) Some beast that's about as grounded in lived experience as the baby-eating horn'd Jews in several centuries' worth of anti-Semitic fantasy?

I dunno, I think the issue of holding other people to moral standards mainly devised by human-rights lawyers bears some examination.

The original poster was expressing her disgust at people who wanted to kill: labelling murder as evil is not some cirlicue of recent European liberal legal trends but is rooted in "Thou Shall Not Kill" (or a corruption or a misunderstanding or a oversimplification of the same).

Doesn't anyone think that the 'right' to actively pursuing sexual minority status is a bit of a luxury in the grand schme of things?

When taken in the grand scheme of the way the rest of the world lives now, or the way the mankind has lived throughout most of its existence, or the way sentient creatures typically live within nature, ALL rights (both with and without scare quotes) start to seem like luxuries.

I live a lie too. I am trapped by my extreme need to sleep with supermodels instead of ratty indie chicks. I am unable to act on this and blame societal factors, such as the fact that I'm in a low- paying job and thus am not attractive to same. My thwarted desire is causing me to lead a shadowy mockery of an existence and my desires are ridiculed by friends and family. What's more, an army of feminists is on hand to tell me I am sick, dangerous and the source of all malignity. Why can't I proudly act on my desire to sleep with supermodels?) Yes I know this is disingenuous.

It's not disingenuous. It's chickenshit.

The phrase "exposed to cultural products" here is probably a little too weak. If I thwacked you in the face with my Louisville Slugger, would you say that you were "exposed to Clarke's bat"?

And I was, like, kickass interesting rhythm or not, that's fuckin' bullshit.

That's about it.

Laughable.

Damn it!

Perhaps part of the irritation with dancehall is that (unlike, say, pop-punka stuff) is that, aside from some astonishingly awful views on social issues, it could be so good -- both musically and sociopolitically.

I'm assuming you mean "Who's to say pop-punka stuff hasn't been that good?" No one's to say that in any objective way. It has been really good. But on a personal level, it doesn't give me chills the way good dancehall does. And its more retrograde (jesus, there's an irritating word) tendencies don't bother me as much for that reason -- I don't care about it the same way I do about dancehall.

when i used to listen to john peel he always used to play the odd dancehall track and he had the same problem so he always would listen out for gay basing stuff and he would only play the 'clean' stuff.

I think its all within the context of the song, you know (but maybe its just that i do have this thing where i don't know abt a lot of the terminology here and i'm poor at picking up on lyrics). I have enjoyed lots of what i've heard on the radio, the rhythms are quite something.

so what makes this diff from, say, gangsta rap. do ppl listen to one and not the other?

Chorus:
From dem a par inna chi chi man car
Blaze di fire mek we bun dem!!!! (Bun dem!!!!)
From dem a drink inna chi chi man bar
Blaze di fire mek we dun dem!!!! (Dun dem!!!!)

Verse 1:
Craigy:
So mi go so, do yuh see weh I see???
Niggas when your doin that
Nuff a dem a freak dem a carry all dem dutty act
Thug nigga wanna bees nuff a dem a lick it back
It dem bring it to we, hold on nuff a cop a shot
Cop a shot rise up every calico go rat tat tat
Rat tat tat every chi chi man dem haffi get flat
Get flat, mi and my niggas ago mek a pack
Chi chi man fi dead and dat's a fact

Chorus:
From dem a par inna chi chi man car
Blaze di fire mek we bun dem!!!! (Bun dem!!!!)
From dem a drink inna chi chi man bar
Blaze di fire mek we dun dem!!!! (Dun dem!!!!)

Verse 2:
Flexx:
So mi go so la la la la la la la la la la la
Nah go mek nuh chi chi man walk right a so
>From a bwoy a deep we ago dun dem right now
Leff him whole family dem a blow wow

Alexx:
I see it from far mi and dem nah go par
A nuff a dem bwoy mi a smoke man cigar
Mi and dem coulda never inna wrong bar
Dem bwoy deh flex too bizarre

Chorus:
>From dem a par inna chi chi man car
Blaze di fire mek we bun dem!!!! (Bun dem!!!!)
>From dem a drink inna chi chi man bar
Blaze di fire mek we dun dem!!!! (Dun dem!!!!)

Repeat intro twice
Repeat Verse 1 till song end

Best word evah!

this is an interesting topic,i'd love to see more discussion on this,although i'm not sure what i think myself

i don't see a huge difference between this and some of the more misogynist elements of rap- (wildflower by ghostface killah)

Okay, maybe I'm reading way too much into this, but...look at Buju Banton's hands in the photograph. He's making a sign over his crotch that some people use to indicate a vagina. And I invite you to try to sit that way yourself...it does not feel like a very natural position to me. I'm guessing Banton is making the sign to mock the folks in the photograph with him.

^^^^ i almost posted the exact same thing, it seems really weird!

remember omar, homophobia or even being a white power creep like some of those norway black metal dudes is no sin compared to being an semi-popular indie rock band that uncool ppl like

^^^^ i almost posted the exact same thing, it seems really weird!

― a perfect urkel (gbx), Saturday, October 17, 2009 5:06 PM

even after seeing the pic i posted?

incisive political cartoons inna dancehall style

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Entertainment/images/20091015T200000-0500_161898_OBS__NO_END_TO_THE_WAR_BETWEEN_ME_AND_THE_GAYS___BUJU_TELLS_MUTA_1.jpg

It's "Gary."

http://www.alfingers.com/news/busy-signal-gary/

so much evolving going right now

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/us-news-blog/2012/may/18/beenie-man-rap-gay-rights

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W90Moq_InEc

i don't even know what this is supposed to mean

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/assets/8071090/ed-cart-thursday-17-may.jpg

i'm not completely convinced. just a reminder that last time beenie "apologized" he came out with this right after:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5NDcksC0wQ

hell of a bellybutton on that gay community

why is beenie man wearing a stethoscope?

because he is The Doctor

Beenie looks away from the camera too much to make me think he feels it in his heart, but he feels it in his head.

The 100% cynical response of the people in the Observer video is probably otm, unfortunately.

The US recently cancelled the visas of a couple of dancehall acts and governments within the Caribbean, including Barbados and St Lucia, have started to refuse big-name stars work permits to play there.

Irrespective of whether it's heartfelt or not, it's still the right message.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dwS82qLToI

evolution is obfuscation, per crit darling (and upcoming no doubt collaborator - can't wait) busy

"link with the rainbow" seems pretty clear to me, but yeah most artists avoid directly targeting homosexuals these days because of all the visa issues

Buju Banton is undeniably gay

http://www.examiner.com/article/beenie-man-denies-apologizing-to-homosexuals-fellow-artistes-react-to-video

http://images.wikia.com/runescape/images/1/1f/Emoticon-Facepalm.gif back to the drawing board...

smgdh

it got kind of buried under the anderson cooper and frank ocean stories, but diana king ("shy guy") came out of the closet this week, too

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/05/diana-king-comes-out-jama_n_1652189.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

cool.

I like her description of homophobia as a "heavy burden".