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How De Yutes Get So?

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Submitted by Just Observing

26 years ago there was a hue and cry when a then young Minister of Education who managed a group of artists brought school aged students to the Wildey Gymnasium to be “feted” by none other than Mr. Edwin Yearwood, Pic of De Crop winner.

At the time this mass “party” was unheard of but clearly went on to become a staple of B/DLP politics, campaigning and our cultural and sub cultural landscape.

Fast forward 27 years to the present and we have a young Minister of Education who manages a group of artists and uses them for promotional and motivational student videos (covid, back to school, stop the bullying etc.) including the popular Mole, Peter Ram and others.

BUT, here is the rub. The attached video shows the duality of entertainment and the flip side of performance roles.

TROJAN RIDDIM MIX VIDEO



So, one day it’s go to school, learn well, sanitise and don’t trouble nobody. The next day it’s gunshots showering like storm, high grade, kush, 357’s, AR’s and coffins for informers who get shot.

All coming from the same mouths, with the same faces, in the same spaces.

All managed and seemingly endorsed by a young Minister of Education whose business interests apparently diverge from the broader national, social and values based interests when convenient.

Imagine this at a time when violence, guns, shooting and fear of serious crime continue to climb. This is what far too many of our young people glorify, rejoice in and give praise to.

As one of the same said artists said over 30 years ago…..

“Well boh, I find out doh, uh NOW realise how de yutes get so”

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506 responses to “How De Yutes Get So?”

  1. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    On a psychoanalytical level..

    Gunz symbolise penises

    if any of you read books like Frances Cress Wellsing you would know this already

  2. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Y’all so stupid..

  3. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    This is a takeover

    Nobody move Nobody get hurt

  4. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Fowl Slaves should hang their head in shame, the same hypocrite government and tiefing racist minorities are who FUND THE SAME ARTISTES and have since 2004 to PROMOTE gun violence, lewedness and disrespect for grandmother, women, girls and boys in their songs which then flowed into the minibuses, ZRs, depressed areas and every level of the society……it has escalated into DEATH AS IT WAS BOUND TO…and they knew that, but that’s the image of Black people they wanted to project….now they REAP…

    they want to PRETEND THEY ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE…..it can’t work, the hypocrites and criminals have no where to hide..

    ignorant fowl Slaves…

  5. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Still waiting for any of them to headline Marley, Shaggy, Angelique Kidjo, an African group, etc there are so many of them there is not enough space to list them…..’

    in all their years of FUNDING and promoting violence, lewdness and disrespect they have NEVER PROMOTED NOT ONE…

    continue the fraud and hypocrisy of trying to pass blame for what the elite pedigree criminals did to the people and island…

  6. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    Some take away from the lyrics what fits there purpose morally or
    Politically
    If govt wants to stand on moral grounds
    Then govt past and present actions across the board should be a reflection of all things moral
    Having a PM hanging out at Cliff with the same people she nows condemns would set off a firestorm placing her actions in the bulls eye of hypocrisy
    Oh BTW never knew aka 47 had knives attached
    Yes I did learn something new and many other things in that lyrical story( up in deah)

  7. David Avatar
    David

    You forgot to add having a former prime minister (FREUNDEL STUART) giving the speaker (MICHAEL CARRINGTON) a pass for holding on to an old man’s money was immoral as well.

  8. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    “Having a PM hanging out at Cliff with the same people she nows condemns would set off a firestorm placing her actions in the bulls eye of hypocrisy.”

    That is a very good comment. Because, I’ve been wondering how is it that former Transport Minister, Michael Lashley was at the helm of formulating traffic laws, some of which were to govern the PSVs.

    Now he is out of Parliament, he is defending PSV operators that broke those same laws.

  9. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Is Lashley one of the best criminal case lawyers in Barbados?

    ” Queen’s Counsel Michael Lashley, who appeared on behalf of Reeves along with Simon Clarke and Sade Harris”

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/06/05/soldier-walks-free-from-army-hearing/

  10. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Am confident local artistes will respect grandmothers, women, children and each other much more, and push respect and upliftment of each other in their lyrical content going forward,…..this is a turning point for them…and it’s clear they have the support of the more enlightened population.

    they must also pay closer attention to lying corrupt governments and the dangerous criminal minorities who seek to use them to fuel and empower their own anti-black agendas..

    this is a win win for the majority population..

  11. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Open Your Mind to See the Light

  12. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    love it, lawd….heads I win, tails you LOSE….

    https://www.instagram.com/tv/CPtQ40JAHCI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

  13. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Artistes are influencers.

    They just have to not be sponsored by the corrupt with ulterior motives, that’s why many of them go it alone, because certain. sponsorship can be toxic……

    independent artists find their niche where they can promote the positive, and then anything is possible. Their fans and supporters enforce their message.

  14. David Avatar
    David

    It bears reminding the issue here is about sanctioning smut. Smut is smut.

  15. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    The SMUT was INITIALLY SANCTIONED by the government and the toxic minority sponsors…..CONFRONT THEM….and ask them WHY….what was their intent…

  16. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Our job is to ENCOURAGE the artistes to TRANSFORM themselves, and help in the REBUILDING and HEALING of the island which will in turn EMPOWER their people who were targeted and MARKED for generational poverty and oppression..most of them are products of those areas that were maliciously and WILLFULLY depressed by the hypocrites…

    …..they have the power and influence to start that ball rolling to remove that DELIBERATELY applied stigma.

  17. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    or alyuh just want to sit, complain and bitch about the smut without actually doing something about it and not give the artistes the information, confidence and encouragement they need to drive change and upgrade…..pick ya poison..

  18. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    Oh before I forget
    Her actions even more of a daring nature
    Taking pictures during the height of the blp campaign with people of alleged ill repute
    Yes I can go on and on
    None of Mia such daring up in the people faces actions can be compared to Stuart long standing relationship with people whom he would have known for long time and had good and friendly relationship
    Unless such a comparison relationship (wise) can be attributed to Mia hobbing and taking pictures with people of questionable behaviour as being ok
    Xxxx
    In the case of Lashley I believe he is a certified lawyer and by law has a right of duty to represent people caught up in the long arm of the law
    No offence should be laid against Lashley as he is performing a Constitutional duty

  19. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    The local artistes will LEVEL UP on their own terms, devoid of skanky sellout governments and evil criminal minorities….again, a win win for the Black majority…it’s that time…the silver lining.

  20. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    How many of you moralisers watch porn?

    How many of you frequent strip clubs?

    How many watch BET twirkers?

    How many of you cheat on your wives?

    How many tell women you care just to get sex?

    How many love to watch Rihanna videos?

    Or maybe that’s all in the past because you are too old

    Well, yuh dun know I am a pea brain so I will not be hanging my head in shame!

    And I dare say, yardfowls and politicians do more damage than Lil Rick and Peter Ram.

    P.S. Did the song mention grandmother’s parts? You do know that the grandmothers he talkin’ bout could be between twenty-eight and forty years old and doin’ more dealin’ without feelin’ than a teenager? In the cramped housing area conditions there is nothing private.

    You people better stop and think about the truth in the lyrics. Understand where these people are coming from.

  21. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Couple of Points to Ponder for the Haters
    If you don’t like a song and it’s message – don’t listen to it
    Youths often come out with shocking lyrics when they start out and mellow out as they got older


    Verse 1 – PSALM:

    I feel like goin against me is blasphemy
    All these cool niggas goin out sad
    I’m glad u dusty ass niggas can’t cancel me
    I guess it’s the past for me
    The community spoke it’s the end of the road
    For y’all you Never was ‘sposed to fall?
    Ha Ha God got another trick
    Had to humble me I swallowed my hubris

    Where was this clout when I ubered ?
    What do I care about you for?
    Unless you a fan or supporter or family
    I’ma do me you can do yours
    Step over there
    Somebody who cares about shit that you care about
    Might speak
    I changed so much since volume 1
    I don’t give a fuck who don’t like me

    I tried to be nice….
    It just got me vices and lost years
    Druggin with predator rappers
    So disappointed in most of my top peers
    Used to look up to the grimiest niggas
    Because they could sell a few tickets
    I’ll play to a hundred true Psalm One fans
    Before I do shows with you bitches

    Pandemic illuminates darkness
    Uprisings just hit me the hardest
    And all you virtue signaling fucks
    Will not get to sample the harvest
    See I don’t align with no coward…
    Cuz I used to be one
    Thankful that’s over I fear no human
    My God and my 9 be the reason

    HOOK:

    Who do I trust?
    My God and my 9

  22. lawson Avatar
    lawson

    What if they were singing they like little boys, especially those that dont want dealings without feelings, would that be okay

  23. Lorenzo Avatar
    Lorenzo

    Donna peabrain i said what i wanted to say.There is nothing to stop and think about.You could ask a million questions to look for excuses for your boy Lil Rick and the others.I do not idolise or particularly listen to them .MY VIEW IS THAT SONG IS DISPICABLE AND ALL INVOVLED IN IT SHPULD APOLOGIZE TO RIGHT THINKING BAJANS.YOU COULD LIKE IT OR LUMP IT I DO NOT CARE.

  24. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “What if they were singing they like little boys, especially those that dont want dealings without feelings, would that be okay.”

    there are numerous scum who that would appeal too and no one would say a word because it’s been ongoing for decades and normalized…anything to degrade children whom they see as having no rights, it’s only now women can stand up for certain rights and even when it comes to employment and getting their money and severance from the lowlifes in the hotel industry, they have none.

    the greatest disrespect to the population is for corrupt governments and minority thieves to spend decades ripping off the population of billions of dollars and enforcing poverty, DRIVING THE COUNTRY INTO PERMANENT DEBT….refusing to upgrade the education system because their TIEFING IS MORE IMPORTANT……but the Slaves can’t see that…

  25. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    it’s only now women can stand up for certain rights and even when it comes to employment and getting their money and severance from the lowlifes in the hotel industry and from other tiefing human rights violating employers, including lawyers, they have none.

    as a matter of fact, many of these same victimized women not only come from the same depressed areas as the artistes, that they are now trying to set up to take the fall for the violence they funded and promoted and that the scum pauperized, but they are also the grandmothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, cousins etc of these same artistes.

    ah got an oil tanker of PURE GASOLINE so keep coming.

  26. Lawson Avatar
    Lawson

    to bad it isnt a box of marcel marceau

  27. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    “You people better stop and think about the truth in the lyrics. Understand where these people are coming from.”

    To be honest, I got bored listening after about 10 seconds and turned it off. I prefer music from Jamaica and USA.
    But, musicians are artists who use their mind to paint and are the modern griots with their tales.

    VOYAGE OF FREEDOM- CREATING A NEW REALITY process

  28. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    As long as the message has sunk in that no one, except Slaves are going against their own people, ESPECIALLY THE YOUNG ARTISTES/GENERATION for any corrupt governments or a bunch of hateful, racist walking dead minority thieves.

  29. Disgusting Lies & Propaganda TV Avatar
    Disgusting Lies & Propaganda TV

    LorenzoJune 5, 2021 8:39 AM

    “David BU my two cents worth i find the song to be unacceptable in these times. I do not care who is involved.To be singing stuff about grandmother private parts and if ya dead ya dead is totally vulgar and unacceptable.Persons like Lil Rick and Peter Ram who are looked up to as role models should know better.As for sensible people on here looking for all kinds of excuses should hang their heads in shame.”

    How dare you come with your moral based opinion here on BU sir!!!!. Under the 21st amendment of the Banana Republic of Buhbaydus constitution, devised at the Culpepper Island conventions, I have the right to do WHAT I FEEL LIKE!!!!! I can listen to whatever vulgarity laden songs I want on full blast for everyone including young children to hear. I also have the right to fly my 5 kites, each with 100 bulls, 25 hours a day to annoy everybody within a 5 mile radius because it ain’t hurting anybody. I have the right to ride my noisy ass bike with my friends up and down in front of the hospital, in and out every police station if I feel like. I have a right to cuss out anybody dat look at me without my permission. If a police sergeant happens to speak to me, I have the right to “do de wurst” and use as much RHs and F words I can compress in a minute. I will petition for our sole to TV station to broadcast porn between 1pm-3 pm. because I work nights and my miserly pay cannot allow me to afford internet to enjoy my hobby.
    I also have the right to trade in any commodity because there is a MARKET FOR IT!!!!!!. That includes pedophilia, bestiality. crack cocaine, organ trafficking, sale of controlled legal drugs without a doctor’s prescription, human trafficking and slavery!!!!!! . TO HELL WITH YOUR MORALS SIR!!! You can call the MORAL POLICE. I DONT CARE!!!

  30. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    ya probably also have the right to TIEF 5-6 BILLION DOLLARS AND LEAVE tens of thousands of Black people in poverty and generational DEBT

    ya probably also have the right to VIOLATE THE HUMAN RIGHTS of the Black population and have the supreme court SO CORRUPT, IT’S NONFUNCTIONAL

    ya probably also have the right to have a bunch of racist criminal minorities helping ya ROB THE PEOPLE AND COUNTRY for the last 54 YEARS, and distributing guns, drugs and promoting/funding violence and crimes…

    yall got a lot of rights, ya should hear what the PEOPLE WHO YALL WILL SOON BE BEGGING FOR VOTES ARE SAYING about all those rights ya got….it’s music to everyone’s ears and being shared EVERYWHERE….enjoy the balance of the criminal rights ya got, that too has to end….ask DLP.

  31. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    And everyone is saying the same thing, government PROMOTED AND FUNDED a lot of the SLACK MUSIC for minibuses. ZRs, fetes etc.as we knew all along. so what do they expect, trying to reel in what they created…….someone even wrote a short article on governments’ complicity..

    again…the questions is WHY they and the likes of bizzy fund, promoted and glorified gun violence, drugs, sex and lewdness in the depressed areas…..some say for the last 20 years, but it’s closer to 30 years….it’s only escalated in the last 20….

    ah bet ya no one will open their mouths and say a word to those artistes anymore, especially with crap-over around the corner…lawd..

  32. TheOGazerts Avatar
    TheOGazerts

    Geez
    I read your ‘How many’
    Not feeling like a real man..
    Should I try to beat wife

  33. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Oh shirt! “My boy Lil Rick????

    I have never played a Lil Rick song besides the Trojan Rhythm provided on this blog. Don’t listen to the radio at all. Never attended a show where Lil Rick performed. Years ago I watched the Cropover events on MCTV and I would have heard him on radio – not the raucous stations. Never deliberately listened to his Guiness show but I have been in places for a short while where it was being played.

    I do not listen to that kind of music. But as usual, such matters are beyond your comprehension.

    What I said was that there is a kind of life that is incomprehensible to the average person. But to some this is all they know.

    These songs tell their reality.

    Instead of killing the messenger we should attempt to change the reality for these youngters.

    But instead we want the artists to be silent so we can ignore the reality we have allowed to plague these unfortunates.

    How many of them would choose this life if they believed something better was available to them?

    A few maybe but certainly not this many.

    And wuhnuh too damn hypocrite! Especially the politicians and their yardfowls!

    Posing in Brandy and Poonany teeshirts and condemning Brandy and Poonany music.

    He thought Paula Hinds would be playing at the Brandy and Poonany bus crawl?

    When yuh drinking brandy and looking fuh poonany I bet Lil Rick Trojan Riddem was high on the playlist!

    An wuh yuh tink the drug men dat went to parliament listen to after dem went home- the St. Michael Cathedral Choir?

    Steupse, man! STEUPSE!

    I never look for excuses, not even for my own misteps. I do look for REASONS, though. Always necessary for changing behaviour.

    P.S. Lil Rick is not my son. He is too old. Why would I need to excuse his behaviour? I did not raise him.

  34. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    “And everyone is saying the same thing, government PROMOTED AND FUNDED a lot of the SLACK MUSIC for minibuses. ZRs, fetes etc.as we knew all along.”

    What a whole heap of shiite. Where is the proof?

    Sometimes you should definitely take break.

  35. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Don’t mind the ignorant as*holes, government has FUNDED LIL RICK and many of those bashment singers for YEARS……they have been accused for days now AND CANNOT COME OUT AND DENY IT…it’s now secret…

    they funded the violence, lewdness, disrespect for women and glorification of anything that would further degrade the depressed areas and society at large AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WAS DONE and of course the minority lowlifes like to JUMP TO THE FRONT when there is anything that would ROB AND DEGRADE the Black population and they started funding it too…

    so the ignorant can SIT THEIR ASSES DOWN,,.and go take their medication…

  36. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    it’s NO secret…

  37. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    Wait wuh dis yuh telling me
    Yuh mean tuh say guvment gave the soca artist millions of dollars but cant find the mind a moral compass to say Thank u to PTL
    What a ting doah
    Yuh mean after all de hue and cry and shedding of de crocodile tears by govt that is a truth
    What dat yuh saying

  38. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “An wuh yuh tink the drug men dat went to parliament listen to after dem went home- the St. Michael Cathedral Choir?”

    the IGNORANT would get on BU and tell you that no drug men were ever invited to the opening of parliament;…although there IS PHOTO EVIDENCE to prove it…just like there is evidence to PROVE government’s complicity in the SOCIAL DESTRUCTION of the society…

    “Posing in Brandy and Poonany teeshirts and condemning Brandy and Poonany music”

    didn’t another one not get on here and told me it’s not true although I AM THE ONE WHO REPOSED THE INSTAGRAM PHOTO.

    BOTH governments funded this evil shit for YEARS…now it’s biting them in their asses because they now want to use these artistes as scapegoats to clean up their dirty image….some sins not even soap and water can wash away……so blaming those they weaponized and POSITIONED to underscore and SHOWCASE violence and lewdness on minivans and ZR vans, bashment fetes will NEVER WORK….they GOT RECEIPTS…and can pull them out at anytime.

    the yardfowls, Slaves and the ignorant need their OWN BRUTAL AWAKENING…

  39. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Blaming the Government and Minorities is getting into the realms of Conspiracy Theories by Nut Jobs.
    Problem is you’re basic–.

  40. David Avatar
    David

    We politicize every single issue and wonder why…

    Here is Kid Site on the issue.

    Kid Site’s say on gun lyrics debate
    Veteran dancehall artist and calypsonian David
    Kid Site Piggott says the debate stemming from Barbadians singing about gun violence could lay the foundation for the building of Barbados’ music industry.
    He said after the talk has dissipated there should be developmental programmes or fora for the youth who want to “sing positive stuff” and get into the entertainment sector.
    This, he noted, could lead to the shaping of the country’s culture.
    Kid Site said it was just a matter of execution as he refused to knock his “fellow artistes for trying to identify with the young culture” and to survive. He said there existed a sub-culture for which there was a demand for the type of music which was hotly debated last week because of explicit lyrics about gun violence.
    “There are four sides to this story, and it is a situation where artistes are singing for a specific market. You have top soca artistes Lil Rick and Peter Ram and they want to be relevant in the dub background they came out of and they’re catering to the underground dub crowd. “To be honest it was a very good riddim and they went down very hard on it. I don’t really like the themes, but I understand those are the themes they want to bring to find relevance with the young people if they want to . . . make money. Whether you say it is bad or good that is what they’re trying to do – survive trying to be popular or gain relevance. If I had to go on that riddim, I would have touched reality and not so much the culture. They’re artistes and they’re trying to survive, and they were trying to be relevant,” he said.
    However, authorities were against the lyrics but the theme is a pervasive one throughout the Caribbean.
    “Therefore, it needs to be pointed out and the question needs to be asked if that is what the youth want to hear. How do you change that?
    You’ve got to change the culture. You’ve got to bring something counter to that and get the youth’s attention off of it. I don’t know if the authorities are willing to do it or know how to do it. That is what the young underground dub culture wants to hear,” he told the Sunday Sun via telephone.
    He said the underground dub culture “has been going on for a long time now” and the outcry from the authorities and public was understandable given the recent shooting death of a police officer and other gun-related incidents.
    He added they did not want it to spiral into something more violent such as obtains in Jamaica, Trinidad and Guyana.
    “I come up with the dub music from the 1980s, and I remember when they were always gun songs, but they were other songs too and they didn’t advocate that kind of thing,” said Kid Site. ( GBM)

    Source: Nation

  41. David Avatar
    David

    A refreshingly serious commentary devoid of the froth.

    Society continues to fail citizens

    Let me down when I wanted support, but I stan’ firm and never fold, because I believe in myself. Now the tables turn, I moving cold, I ain’t feeling for a soul… you like you fuhget you fail me when I needed help. – Chiief Din, Bajan dancehall artiste
    This society fails so many who need help. Understand that the cultural vacuum created by a narrow-minded focus on economics leads to instability.
    If I had energy for outrage, it would be at the consistent neglect of sustainable, cultural development.
    Without a strong cultural structure, the nation lets down those who need support.
    Martin Luther King Jr wrote: “There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society with a large segment of people in that society who feel that they have no stake in it. There’s nothing more dangerous than to build a society with a large segment of people in it who feel that they have nothing to lose.” This is the kind of society we are building.
    How else do we explain the lack of outrage over the reports that around 60 per cent of students leave secondary school without any qualifications or certificates? If you are outraged by a group of songs with questionable lyrics but barely react to a very questionable educational system, something is wrong.
    Can you blame a man, whose schooling and society tried to make him not believe in himself, if he does not then feel connected to that society?
    Corporate exploitation
    This society has been failing a large number of citizens for a long time. This is not about one or two administrations. This is not about any lost decade. This is about decades of a system of political and corporate exploitation of the citizens of Barbados. This is about the centuries-old legacy and spirit of the plantation which haunts us and possesses us as well.
    It is the spirit of the plantation that leads us to focus on capital accumulation without consideration of the cost to humanity. Some of the most violent lyrics I’ve heard have come in the form of economic discourse. It may not sound so at first but it is violence when you appreciate where it leads to.
    You will hear people comfortably and confidently say that a business’ only responsibility is to make a profit for itself and/or its shareholders.
    These same people will want to tell artistes, who are struggling to make a living, much less a profit, that their responsibility is to maintain the moral fibre of society.
    These economistic thinkers will boldly dismiss talk of cultural development as being impractical and unrelated to everyday life. Yet, they will become outraged and concerned about the influence and impact of certain songs upon the society and everyday life.
    Yes, music can be a Trojan horse.
    Hide a message in a melody or behind a beat and it can make that message much more likely to get past the defences of your discretion and into the city of your mind and everyday life. The same goes for other arts, like film and visual art.
    Art is powerful. It carries culture: beliefs, values, attitudes and models of behaviour. If your culture is strong and well developed in you, all kinds of art can be left at your gates and it will not overrun you. But it takes work to develop a strong culture. A lot of this work is carried out through the arts.
    This is foundational work we have not realised the need to do.
    Even more so because there is culture coming at us from all over the world on our devices. We literally leave our children to their own devices. And then we wonder how they pick up all the world’s vices.
    Now that we find ourselves in a manmade cultural crisis, we are realising how high the price is when we don’t attend to the arts and culture. And then you want to turn around and blame the artistes.

    Adrian Green is a communications specialist. Email Adriangreen14@gmail.com.

    Source: Nation

  42. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    “He said after the talk has dissipated there should be developmental programmes or fora for the youth who want to “sing positive stuff” and get into the entertainment sector.
    This, he noted, could lead to the shaping of the country’s culture.”

    that’s the positive coming out of this now that government and minorities HAVE EXPOSED THEMSELVES….a whole new direction can be taken ..let’s see if government sees this and FUND THE POSITIVES INSTEAD and stop minorities from getting involved in anything to do with Black development especially as it pertains to the youth and future generations..

    ” I don’t know if the authorities are willing to do it or know how to do it.”

    even Site has doubts…they had no problem funding the negative thougn…none at all, waiting for them to come out and say they never funded it….;the artistes are waiting too..

  43. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Dub is the instrumental version with no lyrics that DJ/MCs chat their lyrics over aka ride the riddim

    Youths singing about about Guns are not Gun Smugglers / Sellers / Shotters they are just imagining they are the gangsters with mad money from proceeds of crime

  44. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Music is about Dancing to, and, not over thinking lyrical flows

  45. David Avatar
    David

    Job creation a must

    A few Fridays ago, after a long, exhausting workweek, I decided to take an evening stroll along the beach with one of my dogs.
    I hardly get to the beach more than twice per year, so I was proud to do this evening stroll. It was almost dark when I returned to my vehicle and I noticed a woman with two young children parked nearby. I decided to stick around so that she would not be left alone with her children on the now dark and secluded beach.
    Not wishing to appear to be a stalker, I told her I would wait with my dog (who hopefully would provide some protection) until she and her children were safely in her vehicle. She thanked me and said it was important that we look out for each other because she expected an increase in crime and robberies given the anticipated rise in prices.
    Untimely death
    No truer words were spoken. Within a week of that conversation, CIBC FirstCaribbean Bank Wildey was robbed. Shortly after, acting Station Sergeant Newton Lewis suffered an untimely death following an armed robbery of a shop in Rose Hill, St Peter. Later that week, a snack van was robbed in Eagle Hall. And last week a police officer reported that his son was able to successfully fend off armed men who tried to rob him at an ATM.
    The pandemic has had a devastating impact on many households, thrusting many into the throes of poverty and desperation. Although the unemployment rate is reported as 13.6 per cent (which seems surprisingly low), this rate does not account for those who are now underemployed, whether due to salary cuts or from accepting jobs with salaries below their qualifications.
    Desperate measures
    As long as unemployment and underemployment continue, people who become desperate may adopt desperate measures to survive. It has long been established that there is a direct connection between poverty and crime. If the current administration wishes to address the rise in robberies and gun violence, they must focus on creating more jobs to allow people to meet their basic needs.
    Since our primary source markets for tourism have imposed measures that deter overseas travel, tourism will not generate jobs at the pre-pandemic level in the near future. Consequently, this administration must make job creation in other areas and industries a priority.
    In my article last week, I examined the medicinal cannabis industry as an alternative industry for job creation. It was recently reported that the Medicinal Cannabis Authority entered into a memorandum of understanding with the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, for research and development. The authority also formed a partnership with the TVET Council for teaching the cultivation of cannabis.
    I believe these are positive measures which in time will assist in generating jobs within the industry. However, if the legislature fails to revise some of the cost-prohibitive and other punitive measures within the medicinal cannabis legislation, then the industry may not attract sufficient investors to cause the level of job creation for students who undertake the TVET course.
    Removing the ban
    The capital works projects which the Government proposed since 2020 must also get under way without further delay since this is proposed as a means for job creation. The Government must also consider removing the ban on the opening of supermarkets, shops and other businesses on Sundays.
    Job creation will have a widespread positive impact on society as it will trigger increased consumer spending, minimise the number of people on the poverty line and reduce the incidence of certain forms of crime.
    Finally, I am a firm believer in the power of music to influence behaviour. Many songs have inspired me, helped me heal or even created the right mood (come through, Barry White). However, poverty and desperation have a far greater influence on crime than any song can ever have. One sure way to address the rising crime is to focus on creating more opportunities for employment, including allowing businesses to reopen on Sundays.

    Michelle M. Russell is an attorney with a passion for employment law and labour matters and a budding social activist. Email: mrussell.ja@gmail.com

    Source: Nation

  46. David Avatar
    David

    Music, lyrics have power

    By Ezra Alleyne
    I have missed my calling. I am a frustrated musician.
    In my ideal world I see myself as a conductor of a grand orchestra, using the power of the baton and the authority of the podium to excite the emotions of the audience.
    Music, as a branch of the communication tree, can have that kind of emotional appeal whenever it is heard by receptive ears. That is the point of the debate about the Trojan Riddim Mix. The ability to move people emotionally through music is power, real power. It must be responsibly exercised!
    Any doubting Thomases, male or female, can watch the crowd at calypso finals night when lyrics and melody combine to move mountains of human beings after the music and lyrics have penetrated their receptive minds!
    Or, better still, shut the windows and turn up the volume, listen to the atavistic appeal of the African drum compelling the opening musical bars of All O’ We, and then tell me if you are not moved emotionally!
    I won’t belabour the point by asking you to recall the lyrics of Bob Dylan’s Blowing In The Wind, in which he asked American people how many times were they going to ignore the rights of the black Americans. That was before the Civil Rights Act! That song helped to speed up Americans to confront the evils of racism.
    Crushing power
    Can we simply dismiss the crushing power of Eddy Grant’s
    Gimme Hope Jo’Anna, a song which reportedly sent shivers up and down some white supremacists in the South African regime in the late 1980s and early 1990s? I say, “No, we cannot!” Music and lyrics have power.
    In modern times, the Internet has created a monster out of the power of freedom of expression.
    That power is now used in many cases, with or without music, without due regard to the responsibility inherent in the use of that power.
    Many moons ago, the politician and historian Lord Acton said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Notice that he was clear about the impact of absolute power. Do these statements matter? Of course, they do. We are influenced in our several behaviours by the ingested impact of these statements.
    Freedom of speech
    So you will understand now why in our Constitution the freedom of speech is not an absolute right, but can be restricted by other laws that may be deemed necessary in the interests of public order and public morality, among other things. Hence, the Public Order Act
    circumscribed the freedom of expression in 1969-1970 So I rubbish views of the calls on Brass Tacks asserting that violent gun-promoting music cannot induce a vulnerable person to wield a firearm. Tell that to the marines, as we used to say when I was much younger.
    About 25 years ago, I disagreed with some media practitioners who were arguing then that music and lyrics have no impact on youthful hearers!
    My views have not changed.
    What is more, in the early 1990s I drew attention to the dangers of cultural penetration as a problematic consequence of open global communication.
    Not a man moved then. But it is not too late for all of us to understand the power of communication . . . .
    Now, I believe that all of the artists on the Trojan Rhythm Mix video are honourable citizens of this place. But that is not the point. When Lord Acton spoke of power, he was more concerned about the consequences of the exercise of power in and of itself!
    That is the major issue, the consequences and the prior question: if certain consequences harmful to the society may eventuate, then what responsibility should inform the use or abandonment of the exercise of the power?
    Hence, I totally agree with the Prime Minister’s message, which quite properly focused on the responsibility which has to be exercised by any person, including performing artistes who enjoy that kind of almost absolute freedom of expression.
    The fact is that we all send messages by what we wear, what we do and most significantly by what we say.
    Our society is therefore shaped by all these silent and sometimes not-sosilent influences upon our psyche.
    That is why we are told not to follow the multitudes to do evil.

    Ezra Alleyne is an attorney and former Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly.

    Source: Nation

  47. WURA-War-on-U Avatar
    WURA-War-on-U

    Tell it to the IGNORANT and the Slaves….the sky is blue but they will still try to convince you it’s purple….the plantation mentality has successfully DESTROYED GENERATIONS of young people, eliminated their self confidence and naturally born gifts and talents……but then the ones who made it through WERE ROBBED OF THEIR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES by sellout governments..

    “Corporate exploitation
    This society has been failing a large number of citizens for a long time. This is not about one or two administrations. This is not about any lost decade. This is about decades of a system of political and corporate exploitation of the citizens of Barbados.”

    there is a voice note going around from yesterday that ACCURATELY describes what these BEASTS have done and it has gone viral worldwide…keep trying to cover up and don’t air this for the whole world to have a view…..people from east to west are APPALLED at what the poorer section of the population has been subjected for decades..

  48. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Chuck D from Public Enemy said “Rap music is the Black CNN”

    Mr. Shakur, can you please explain the meaning
    Behind your violent lyrics?
    Explain the meaning?
    The fuck these niggaz talkin bout?
    Damn…
    Police, FREEZE!
    Can’t get shit off!
    I said FREEZE you miserable black son of a bitch!
    What, come on, come on!
    My attitude is shitty
    My message to the censorship committee
    Who’s the biggest gang of niggas in the city?
    The critics or the cops?
    The courts or the crooks, don’t look so confused
    Take a closer look:
    Niggas get they neck broke daily
    Tryin to stay jail free
    What the fuck does Quayle know
    What young black males need?
    Please tell me
    Message to the censorship committee
    Who’s the biggest gang of niggas in the city?
    Huh, I pack a nine millimeter cause I gotta
    Livin hotter than the 4th of July, if I gotta die, I gotta
    Momma told me, “Don’t let em fade me
    Nigga don’t let em make you crazy!”
    Game is what she gave me
    Gotta watch your back, strapped
    Real niggas rat-pack
    If you get your ass taxed, bring a gat back
    That’s not the way we made it
    That’s just the way it is
    Slangin rocks, fed a nigga’s kids
    I came up
    My message to the censorship committee
    Who’s the biggest gang of niggas in the city?
    Cops pull me over, check my plates, but I’m legal
    You couldn’t get me, figure fuck with a niggas people
    They got me trapped, gat with the motherfuckin hammer back
    Cops on my back, just cause I’m black, Snap
    Now I’m guilty?
    Message to the censorship committee
    Who’s the biggest gang of niggas in the city?
    All you punk police will never find peace
    On the streets til the niggas get a piece, fuck em!
    They kill you to control ya
    Pay top dollar for your soul
    Real niggas don’t fold, straight souljah!
    Can’t find peace on the streets
    Til the niggas get a piece, fuck police, hear them screamin
    Fuck em! Can’t find peace on the streets
    Til the niggas get a piece, fuck police, hear them screamin
    (I hear ya!)
    Fuck em! Can’t find peace on the streets
    Til the niggas get a piece, fuck police, screamin
    (I hear ya!)
    Fuck em! Can’t find peace on the streets
    Til the niggas get a piece, fuck police, screamin
    (I hear ya!)
    Fuck em! Can’t find peace on the streets
    Til the niggas get a piece, fuck police (I hear ya!)
    Fuck em! Can’t find peace on the streets
    Til the niggas get a piece, fuck police (I hear ya!)
    Fuck em! Can’t find peace on the streets
    Til the niggas get a piece, fuck police (I hear ya!)
    The niggas scream fuck em!
    Motherfuckin punk police (I hear ya!)
    Thinkin they run the motherfuckin streets
    It’s mo’ niggas than it’s police
    Think (I hear ya!)
    One nigga, teach two niggas
    Teach three niggas, teach fo’ niggas (I hear ya!)
    Teach mo’ niggas, and we could run this shit!
    I hear ya!
    They finally pulled me over and I laughed
    Remember Rodney King and I blast on his punk ass (I hear ya!)
    They finally pulled me over and I laughed
    Remember Rodney King and I blast on his punk ass (I hear ya!)
    They finally pulled me over and I laughed
    Remember Rodney King and I blast on his punk ass (I hear ya!)
    They finally pulled me over and I laughed
    Remember Rodney King and I blast on his punk ass (I hear ya!)
    They finally pulled me over and I laughed
    Remember Rodney King and I blast on his punk ass (I hear ya!)
    They finally pulled me over and I laughed
    Remember Rodney King and I blast on his punk ass (I hear ya!)
    They finally pulled me over and I laughed
    Remember Rodney King and I blast on his punk ass (I hear ya!)
    They finally pulled me over and I laughed
    Remember Rodney King and I blast on his punk ass (I hear ya!)
    They finally pulled me over and I laughed
    Remember Rodney King and I blast on his punk ass (I hear ya!)
    They finally pulled me over and I laughed
    Remember Rodney King and I blast on his punk ass (I hear ya!)

    Tupac Vs Biggie Smalls

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikq5ZmsBd6s

  49. angela cox Avatar
    angela cox

    So yes Music is a motivational factor c
    There no doubt
    Reason why the words of hymns or spiritual lyrics grips the heart.
    However what is missing in the debate is a one-sided approach as to where and to whom responsibilities takes foot hold
    Govt and moralist comes out swinging at the artist with a political axe finely sharpened on a moral tool whilst bearing the signage of hypocrisy
    Mottley said to whom much is given much is expected
    She has no moral right to utter those words when govt has more than once engaged the services of those she criticized to speak on moral issues that affect society
    She cant have her cake and eat it too
    Mia must also shoulder some of the blame and not hid behind a curtain of finger pointing which shields herself from blame

  50. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Adrian… again saying what I said…. but better.

    These guys feel they have nothing to lose.

    Whose fault is that? Who all claimthey can fix things to get the vote? Who get paid to fix things?

    Have they been paid? Have they fixed things?

    David, it IS political! But not partisan!

    It’s a BDLP ting!

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