- FILE
Lady Saw performs at Beenie Man's Summer Sizzle 2005, held last August at the Jamalco Sports Club, Halse Hall, Clarendon.

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

DANCEHALL TACKLES many issues, looking at things which happen locally and internationally, and is the mirror of present-day Jamaican life.

Yet, despite the thematic diversity there are some things dancehall artistes discuss frequently, among them sex, guns, politics, partying and weed smoking.

From Macka Diamond's cry of Money-O!, to Tuck In Yu Belly, Sound Di Big Ting and the old classic Love Punanny Bad, dancehall is the master of change. According to Donna Hope, author of Inna Di Dancehall, Popular Culture and the Politics of Identity in Jamaica, "Dancehall talks about many things happening in Jamaican society." Deejay Mavado also claims that "dancehall gets the people together."

THEMES

Some of the more common themes, according to Hope, are "themes of how women are viewed, for example, baby mother, mothers, girlfriends etc., particularly by male dancehall artistes. Another theme is fun, the kind of 'we are having fun' attitude."

Recording artiste Leftside agrees, saying "Personally I sing mainly about partying, girls, sometimes social commentary; sometimes those don't get played."

Of course, every artiste has different experiences to sing about. Lady Saw claims "I sing about everything. Sex is great and you have to protect yourself. Money, we all spend money. Without money you can't support your family. Love, because I have a lot of love to give. Bad mind, envy and grudgefulness, it's what we live in the dancehall." Her inspirations are also life-related. "Hard life inspires me. When life is hard I work harder. I want to uplift myself, so I use music to get what I want," she said.

"We all talk about things that we live ­ everyday life, issues, what else is there to talk about? If I live in a community where there is crime, crime and that's all I know, we preach what we see," she said.

However, Hope notes that sometimes it is the negative aspects of dancehall that are given more airplay. That negative aspect displays a more 'shotta, raise the guns and kill off all gays' attitude.

However, the popularity of these songs can be attributed to the need or desire of the audience to hear these somewhat violent lyrics. Leftside claims "The mere fact is that whenever a dancehall artiste does a gun tune, or a homophobic song they get nuff ratings from the crowd. Artistes are very forward thinking, so when they see that this works, they continue writing about it."

However, he said "I don't see myself doing gun-related songs. If I do a homophobic song, there's a message I want to get across, mainly for the streets." According to Lady Saw "There's some positive things in dancehall; people only look on the negative side. Some tend to look on the negative side, cause dancehall is ghetto music, poor people music."

Street life is also a popular topic, such as portrayed in Baby Cham's Ghetto Story. Unfortunately, street life is hardly ever positive.

According to Leftside the most common themes consist of "partying, girls and weed. Nowadays it's a gun thing. Only culture people, like Gyptian and I-Wayne hold up the righteous songs." Lady Saw also noted a shift towards a gun mentality, with culture or reggae mainly bringing positive vibes.

And if there is a shift to gun music, then it would reflect a shift in the society itself.

There is also, according to Hope, a bling culture.

BLING BLING

"Dancehall is about the hype and bling is hype. Dancehall encourages people to be bling. Bling is part of reality," she said. The bling is manifested in the material possession artists claim to possess. Vybz Kartel sums it up lyrically with "how yuh fi have a gal if yuh no have a phone?" and "no vehicle, no romance".

If you do not look good in your clothes it is another issue, as songs such as Leftside and Esco's Tuck In Yu Belly proclaim. That song has raised a few female hairs, offending some ladies who have a little extra around the middle. But contrary to popular belief, according to Leftside most women are quite fine with the song. "We don't get a negative vibe," he said.

Audience response is also a main factor in what is sung. There are different flavours for different people and the international scene is a slightly different feel. "Internationally, they listen to club songs or a girl tune. It's not that which really works here as such," Leftside said. What works often in Jamaica is sex and when it comes to sex, according to Leftside, "it's what you say and how you say it. Some of the songs are kinda vulgar but at the end of the day girls wine up to it."

Mavado strongly agrees that it is for the people. "If we sing a song about guns or sex, we do it off a vibe, a vibe for the people. When the people don't walk out of a party, dem love it," he said. He continues: "Mi will sing about anything; mi no business wid people. Mi sing fi please di people, sing the truth, but not everyone likes the truth."

Whatever keeps the fans happy and to keep up with trends, dancehall has to be about innovation. According to Lady Saw, "My fans are happy. I'm a multi-talented person. I can switch from doing a hardcore dancehall and bring it down to the church or woo with a lot of love songs. I just try not to get caught up in the gay business. From dem don't trouble me, mi no business wid dem."

When it comes down to it, Leftside adequately sums it up with "the thing about dancehall is that it talks about everything."