Sister Carol performing at last year's East Fest.
Germaine Smith, Staff Reporter
IN THE fast-paced, ever-changing world of dancehall music, some things remarkably seem to remain the same. Women who chant roots and reality lyrics and the struggle they face to get the public's attention - and money - is one of the issues which has been a consistent feature of the music. Though there are always exceptions to the rule, in general female acts trying to strike it big via the culture route face raging battles.
The women who turn heads with raunchy lines and racy stage antics are well-known in the business. Ask any teen on the street about a popular female deejay and they can reel the names of the currently dominant handful.
Ask that same teen for the best female cultural act and the stuttering begins.
The names are few in dancehall music. From the old school there are Queen Omega, Sister Carol, Sister Nancy, Angie Angel and even Lady G, while on the new school list, names like Pashon, Queen Ifrica, Lisa Danger and a handful more pop up on a few posters.
RAUNCHIER COUNTERPARTS
The emphasis on our female acts who spit cultural lyrics is lacking and the appeal they have to the public is not as forceful as their raunchier counterparts, yet these artistes seem to be militantly pushing on despite the lack of mainstream acceptance.
Sister Carol and Angie Angel confirm the long-standing nature of what the newer cultural females face. They are not played on air as much as they would like; neither are they placed on some of the major shows that male cultural acts are headlining.
Why would any female artist see this reality and then consciously choose to face it?
According to Sister Carol, in her case it is divine appointment. She has been a consistent roots and reality deejay since starting out in the 1970s. She migrated to New York, yet managed to stay close enough to music to release eight albums and was featured in the films Something Wild, and Married To the Mob. She is known for tunes like Black Cinderella and Cut And Clear, among others.
"First and foremost, since I've been a child I became conscious that its a Rastafarian route that I was trodding," she notes. "I was really inspired by Brigadier Jerry, so no matter what, I stayed to culture. I find that people never just accepted people for who they are, so they never gave me what I deserve sometimes, but I don't watch that, it only made me stronger."
"I stuck to my grounds and kept doing it and everything came through same way."
Though she may not be riding a glitzy wave of hype in Jamaica, Sister Carol has toured the world, formed her own Black Cinderella Productions and even secured a Grammy nomination.
One of our more modern female cultural acts who is still in the early stages of her career is Queen Ifrica.
Queen Ifrica has been a consistent performer on local shows, including last year's East Fest and Sting, and has No Love Again and Randy among her recordings which have received some amount of airplay. Industry players credit her for being a strong performer and being able to write powerful songs. Queen Ifrica, however, does not headline as many stage shows as her cultural male counterparts.Why then did she get into this world?
"I think it was something I was ordained to do, yu know like how you were born to do something," she states.
CULTURAL MESSAGES
She does not see herself deejaying anything else than cultural messages. "The culture thing to me is richer than to do anything else. Even if it not profitable now, in the future when it takes off it will be better. Yu get a quick money when you do certain tunes and things, but in culture when you start to get paid it is better," Ifrica said.
Another cultural act, Lisa Danger, gives her reason for digging into cultural lyrics as personal. Lisa got public recognition when she did a friendly response to Junior Kelly's Love So Nice, entitled If You Really Cared.
"My reason is that while growing up my parents did not like the slackness, so I had to do clean lyrics, but as I grew up I learnt that it is the way to go for me," she explains. "In a sense it is difficult to make it, but spiritually I get lifted and motivated from the positive lyrics and the meditation."
HOT TOPICS
The arguments for the limited female cultural content have been around long, and are hot topics at times. Media owners have stated that they respond to market forces, hence what their listeners, readers or viewers want is what they provide.
Similarly, promoters argue that they have to deliver the artistes who are 'hot', who are blazing the airwaves with catchy numbers.
Another theory is that the public is so entrenched in the ideology of the male being dominant that they will listen to the cultural message from the males more intently than they will of the female.
"I think cultural music from females takes much longer to get across. It is not because your style not great or your material is not good, but they are accustomed to hearing the males delivering the cultural message, so for a female she has to do it with conviction," Queen Ifrica adds. Though she understands this, she says that sometimes people need to be trend setters.
"People don't just get up and want to hear things so. They have to hear it from somewhere so that it rings in their heads first. In that case, yu find people hearing it every day so much that they gravitate to it," Ifrica contends. While she does not condemn music from females that is not cultural, she adds that "there should be a balance in it, because in everything there are positive and negative and we wouldn't mind a balance more to the cultural music on the stage shows and on the radio".
Her cry is echoed by the president of the Jamaica Association of Female Artistes (JAFA), attorney-at-law Sandra Alcott. However, she takes a more militant view of the situation than Ifrica.
"I must say that there seems to be a definite prejudice against female cultural artistes. Not only do they not get enough airplay, but they are left out of the live shows as well," she contends. "I think it is a perpetuation of the status quo and these are the attitudes we are trying to get rid of. The thing is, that many of those who do so may not even be consciously doing it either."
With respect to the theory that the males get more listenership from the audiences, Alcott dismisses it.
"I don't think that it's that they listen more (to males). The women just do not get the opportunity to enjoy the same listenership. I don't think that male artistes have more cultural messages than the women, but they just don't get a chance to show it."
As in life itself, there are exceptions to the rules. Although it is not limited to him, Tony Rebel is one show promoter who has constantly used female cultural acts on his annual Rebel Salute. He tells The Sunday Gleaner that his placement of the females is for equality.
"It's just for the balance of it," he notes. "If you notice, we live in a male dominated society and in the music it is that way, so we think that it is important to promote the females in the culture aspect of it. You can't just have males doing all the work; we need balance too so that's why we use females on our show," he said.
Moments like these, according to Ifrica, when she gets to appear on a stage show, are what she uses to further her cause by showing the world the depth of her talent.
"I have had a few encouraging moments. I am privileged to travel already and to be on a few huge stages in the world. I have reaped what you could call a short cut victory, because people have known me more as a performer than having a number one song on the charts," she said.
One thread which runs through all the acts who spoke with The Sunday Gleaner - they all remain positive about their careers. Sister Carol says she will continue to record and perform as long as possible. Angie Angel notes that she is working on an album to be released this year, as is Queen Ifrica.
With the ever changing themes, styles and focus of Jamaican music, the pendulum of attention may just soon swing towards the cultural females. With the drive these women possess, their time may not be long in coming.
