CHAM, NINJA AND KILLERMelville Cooke, Freelance Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
IN TERMS of profanity on-stage, Red Stripe Reggae Sumfest 2002 was a cozy afternoon tea party.
Apart from a few from Foxy Brown, who came on-stage at the behest of Baby Cham, and Bounty Killer, who let a few slip almost unnoticeably, the performers at Catherine Hall, Montego Bay, St. James on Thursday were a well-behaved bunch.
For even a term like 's- yu madda', Baby Cham and Elephant Man allowed the crowd to fill in for them.
In fact, if summons could have been served en masse, then a few thousand people would have wound up in court when they chanted an answer to Baby Cham's Que Se Ra, chanting:
Kiss me ---
'Dem sey no profanity, but tell Missa Re Re an Missa Te Te sey dem cyaan stop me from sing da one ya. We tiad a dem injustice,' Cham said before launching into Babylon Boy.
The man from Sherlock Crescent also said 'motherefer' instead of the long version.
Capleton said buggerman instead of his usual bman and Baby Cham left out the 'y' when spelling out the same word.
'Dem sey Saturday or Sunday mawnin me gwaan too bad a Carifes'. But dis is Sumfes', an me know how to me decency counterac' mi piggish mentality, cause Sumfes' live pon radio, pon TV pon Internet,' the Don Gorgon said as the crowd roared in appreciation.
'After me bus murder case, police want me so bad dem charge mi fi murda,' Ninja continued. 'A no bad wud mek dem lock me up. Yu know why?' he asked before deejaying 'mi a de eyes a de people'.
A little later in his performance, Ninja Man showed that he was really serious about keeping it clean. 'Yu know mi did a go beg dem tek mi offa radio, but me ago show dem sey mi can do a clean show,' Ninja Man said.
He cautioned, though, that it was not that he was getting soft.
'Mi no waan no police inna de crowd feel sey mi get coward. Mi no want no people inna de crowd feel sey mi get coward. When mi fans hear sey mi deh pon bad wud charge, dem call me an sey Ninja no mek dem lock yu dung,' Ninja Man said.
'I naa go jail,' Elephant Man said.
Bounty Killer cut out the f --ry in Anytime and said 'timan' in a song about Beenie Man, instead of spelling out the matter.
However, he went on to explain the charges raised against him.
'When dem charge me is not fi profanity, but fi makin a stand,' he said, declaring that he had put his career on the line to do so. "I am not doing this just for me and us, is for de future a Jamaica. If Nanny and Bogle neva stan up we woulden be here," Bounty Killer said.
The Warlord, who closed the show, may just have summed it up when he deejayed:
--Fi rise up de yute me no haffi use profanity.
