FILE
Three-time 'Popular Song' winner Toots Hibbert.
Germaine Smith, Staff Reporter
Historically, we have always managed to capture snippets or, in some cases, chunks of Jamaican life and transform them into songs, whether negative or positive. They may be humourous, graphic, raw, exciting, or explicit, but from the soothing strummings of mento to the blasting beats of dancehall, what is taking place in the society has always been reflected in our music.
This includes the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) Popular Song Competition, but this year the entrants have captured the sombre cloud which hangs over the country. Our struggles with crime, drugs, guns and poverty are all dealt with in one way or another by this year's crop.
Of the 10 finalists, only one speaks to the theme of love, that being Don't Leave by Lil Joe. The rest, as some of their titles imply, deal with some of the negatives that we have been grappling with for ages, but which have caused more concern for citizens over the past three to four years.
No Drugs No Guns, Give I Protection, Poverty, Ghetto Youths Rise, Senseless Killing, Worldwide Cry, Jamaica and Destructive Weapon, all speak in some way to the self-sustaining crime rate that has enveloped the island.
The organisers admit that the themes of the 2005 finalists bear testimony to the society's concerns at this time. Executive director of the JCDC, Marcia Hextall, told The Sunday Gleaner that this is what the term 'Popular Song' should mean what is current at the time.
"We are getting back to a popular song mode ... If you are not writing a song for a 'festival' purpose then you are expressing your concerns," she stated. "Bam Bam, our first winner for example, is about rights. It was written in a time similar to now."
Junior Lincoln, another of the JCDC's directors, adds that he too is pleased with the tone of this year's tunes. "I agree (that they are reflecting a serious side) and I applaud it, actually," he noted.
"When I was asked to chair the direction of the competition, I did it because I didn't think that the songs were reflecting the popular music of the time," he adds.
"The lyrics I hear now represent Jamaican music as well and this music is what represents Jamaica overseas as well. Jamaican music always represents current affairs, politics, crime etc., that is why we link so much to the world ... This year, the songs and artistes represent Jamaica to me," he noted.
shifted focus
Upon examination of the past winners, it is clear that the competition actually started with some popular tunes when it was called the 'Festival Song Competition', but shifted to more 'Festival'-based tunes later on. From Bam Bam, and Sweet and Dandy by Toots and the Maytals in 1966 and 1969 respectively, to Cherry Oh Baby by Eric Donaldson in 1971, to Tinga Stewart's Play The Music in 1974, the tunes reflected the 'popular' sentiment of the time.
In the 1980s however, more and more aspects of the 'festival' sentiments took over the competition, with the tracks paying homage to either Jamaica, its beauty or to other festival-related themes.
Give Thanks and Praises by Roy Rayon, Jamaica I'll Never Leave You Again by Ras Karbi, Proud To Be Jamaican by Eric Donaldson, and Island Festival by Robbie Forbes are all examples of this.
Three-time winner Toots Hibbert, of Toots and the Maytals, says that in the 1960s, the times and tunes were exciting for him. He admitted that the popular artistes of the time were the ones entering the competition. Bob Marley, himself, Clancy Eccles and others were representatives of the music that was prevalent and accepted by the public.
Looking at the current conditions, Toots said he has no problem with the tracks for this year, as long as they bring a vibe with them.
"These songs are good songs. Festival songs are special tunes, so they must have a vibe about them," the veteran stated. "These songs this year are good and I give them high ratings for them to do the right thing. I wish them all the best, but they must focus on the length of the songs. When they are too long, they draw things out too much."
prevalent issues
This year's finalists say it was only natural for them to speak about the prevalent issues in today's society. Richie Influence penned No Drugs No Guns. Hailing from the sometimes volatile inner city of August Town in St. Andrew, he said he had to do such a track.
"I wanted to write a happy tune originally, but believe me, mi spirit couldn't allow me to do it. I had to preach to the nation," he explains. "It's only natural, cause what is going on is really affecting us and we just want to see some change going on. The crime rate really gone now and I have many friends who I lost to the gun. The coke thing and the guns, we see them mashing up people life and it's something we see every day," he added. "We bringing it in a cultural direction. It don't mek sense we talk bout happy times when these things a gwaan."
Khalil, who wrote Poverty, noted that his contribution was personal testimony.
"I was just thinking about the situations in life. I am a father of two and I want to put things in place so that my children don't go through the same conditions that I went through. I want to break the cycle now," he stated.
He believes that this year's songs capture the country's sentiments.
"I think the topics of them are powerful and the messages are strong, but we have no problem with that."
