File
Capelton says that some of the songs played on the radio are not specifically for the dancehall. The DJ, however, says he sees nothing wrong with recording two versions, one for the dance and one for the radio.Carolyn Johnson, Freelance Writer
"Gal, buss
Smokehave fun"
So goes the chorus of Busy Signal's monster dancehall hit song Step Out. On radio, beeps would substitute for the words obviously edited in print.
However, one local radio station has made a decision that might affect how artistes like Busy Signal's edited songs are played - or not played. IRIE FM, which notably instituted a ban of a different kind last year on the music of incarcerated artiste Jah Cure, has gone a step further by banning the beep laden songs.
Effective January 1, 2006, the Ocho Rios, St. Ann-based roots rocking reggae radio banned "all music containing beeps or edits" to remove curse words.
Brian Schmidt, marketing manager of the station, said that only the clean versions of songs would be aired. He said the radio versions should be produced independently of the explicit versions.
The decision was made to "clean up the airwaves", says Schmidt.
"It is one thing to beep out a word, but to sing a song with beep, beep, beep, its almost like an instrumental, it does not make sense," he said.
fit for airplay
They hope the move will encourage the production of music that is fit for airplay. By doing this, Schmidt hopes local music will have more presence worldwide. He explains that in other countries, the radio version of a song which is not suitable for airplay is produced separately.
Schmidt also pointed out that the station had no problem with an unedited version, but naturally the performer would not expect that it would receive airplay.
When asked how artistes and producers were responding to the new policy, Schmidt replied with confidence. "Overwhelmingly positive. Producers and artistes alike from all levels, established and new, have said that they've loved it. Even distributors said it was a great move," he continued. "The next step is to wait and see if other media houses will be as ethical and do the same."
He was unable to say, however, if any of the banned music has been replaced with clean copies.
However, not all entertainers are singing the praises of the ban on beeps. Capelton and Twin of Twins are not in agreement with the decision. While both parties are quick to point out that they respect IRIE FM for its decision, they feel this policy, if adapted on a wide scale, would push dancehall music underground. They believe it would cause a return to the era where dancehall music was played only at stage shows and dancehall sessions.
According to Clifton 'Capelton' Bailey, the dancehall will become more appealing since the music radio stations refuse to air will be played there. "This will bring more power to the dancehall as more people will attend the dance to hear songs because they are not played on radio," he said.
While he maintains that the songs are filled with metaphors and are strictly for entertainment purposes, he says "I agree certain songs should be censored in terms of airplay and children, but everyone has their own choice."
It is a choice that might have some songs which were made specifically for the dancehall staying there. In this sense, Capelton says that artistes are not always at fault as a lot of songs aired on radio were actually dub plates intended for the dancehall. He mentioned his Who Yu Calling Nigga as one such song.
two versions
Agreeing that it is not difficult to produce two versions of a song, Capelton said confidently, "I have no problem with that."
The Twin of Twins duo was not as accommodating as Capelton. An irate sounding Patrick Gaynor described IRIE FM's position as "hypocrisy". According to Gaynor, it is the same station that advertises alcoholic beverages that are potentially dangerous to children.
"Words never kill nobody yet," he declared. "Dem a fight the words but dem fi fight payola," he said. He accused radio stations in general of dumping good tunes and playing bad ones and of 'charting songs' for a fee.
And on the matter of doing two versions of a song, Gaynor said, "music is a spiritual thing, self expression. Is how you feel. Music is comprised of feeling. How a must modify the feeling?"
According to the twin, modify dancehall and it loses some of its authenticity. Viewing dancehall as a form of music rooted in rebellion and defiance, he said "if dancehall takes this nice, cleaned up direction its gonna be destroyed."
Even though stations such as FAME FM and ZIP FM, known for their dancehall content, indicated that there are no plans to follow IRIE FM's lead, they agree that it is still not a situation where 'anything goes'.
"We have no policy of banning songs that are edited," explained FAME FM's programme manager, Francois St. Juste. "Even some edited songs will not be played because the mood, sentiment or message of the song is found to be unfit," he said. According to St. Juste, as it relates to songs getting airplay the only criteria are for them to sound good and be in line with broadcasting laws.
In an article published in THE STAR on December 8, 2005, Judith Bodley, ZIP FM's programme director, is quoted as saying, "We highly commend IRIE FM on their massive movement in a positive direction and whenever ZIP decides to make such a move we will inform the public ... Currently, we adhere to strict musical guidelines to keep our airwaves clean and tasteful."
no problem
Richard 'Shams' Browne, producer of the Baddis Ting rhythm, which features the Lexxus and Vegas combination Taxi Fare, says he has no problem with the radio station's decision. "Most of the time if a tune edit you can still tell what de artiste saying, so I guess it leaves very little to the imagination," he said.
Browne says he has no issue with people going back to the dancehall to hear certain songs, and in fact welcomes this move. However, he acknowledges that airplay is important in providing popularity for the artiste and producer.
However, Browne suggested two reasons for artistes not producing two songs instead of one. The first is the time factor. "It is time-consuming for both the producer and artiste to make a track and then revoice another track when the technology exists to manipulate vocals," he said.
The second reason is expense. While he did not give a monetary value, he said it was costly for artistes who do not have their own studio to record two versions because they have to pay for extra studio time to voice another track. He pointed out also that it is costly to 'stamp' two records (groove vinyl records) for disc jockeys who use seven-inch records instead of CDs.
clever lyrics
Browne hopes, however, that the move will help the industry, forcing artistes to be "more clever with their lyrics".
How do the listeners feel about the move? Rory Black says he believes it might negatively affect IRIE FM's listenership, since they have marketed themselves as a reggae station.
"IRIE put out a certain image. They going naturally lose some listeners as they won't hear what they normally hear. Some songs people love just won't get played," he explained.
However, Nordia Morrison does not see the ban affecting the station's listernership and welcomes the move. "It really an truly a get outta hand. They have one song that contain 50 bad words one behind de other, beep, beep, beep, bear beep," she said about some edited songs which get airplay.
