Restoring Dancehall Music to Its Former Glory

In the early 1990s, dancehall music gave birth to a number of artists whose musical talent allowed them to create songs that command the airwaves both locally and overseas. For that reason, songs released by founding artists such as Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, Yellow Man, Lady G, Buju Banton, Capleton and other alike all helped to give dancehall music its international appeal.

Back then, the dancehall atmosphere was one of pure fun and enjoyment, but today, it has transformed into a platform upon which artists use to glorify the darker side of Jamaica’s society.

The following includes a list of suggestions on how dancehall music could be returned to its former glory.

1. Hold artists accountable for the songs they sing
2. Boycott artists who promote and glorify criminals
3. Put a drastic reduction on the number of dancehall events that are held on or close to public streets
4. Impose heavier fines on artists who use excessive profanity while performing on stage
5. Boycott promoters who lie about popular artists performing at their events in order to increase ticket sales
6. Impose heavy fines on soundmen who use profanity and/or encourage party goers to behave sexually inappropriately in public or clubs
7. Implement a system that requires citizens to apply for permits in order to host events within their community
8. Offer special incentives to dancehall artists who build and maintain educational facilities within communities of their choice
9. Encourage dancehall artists to take part in community peace initiative programs on a regular basis
10. Impose stiff fines on radio personalities who play violent and overly sexually charged music
11. Dancehsall artist should educate themselves about the history of dancehall music
12. Parents need to be more active in censoring the type of music their children are exposed to at home
13. Sexual harassment is a crime and the fact that a female attends a dancehall event does not automatically give men the right to touch or make inappropriate gestures.
14. Law enforcement officials should be on the lookout for video men who intentionally try to videotape under the skirts of females at dancehall events
15. Since radio stations are prohibited from playing certain songs on air – soundmen should be barred from playing uncensored music publicly.

There are number of other measures that Jamaicans at home and abroad could implement in order to return dancehall music to its former glory. But above them all, Dancehall artists should be more selective of the type of music they sing.