Edward Seaga Says Dancehall Music Is Verbal Nonsense

[Assault Magazine LLC]

An feature on former leader of the Jamaica Labour Party, and formerPrime Minister of Jamaica - The Most Honourable, Edward Seaga - appearsin today’s Jamaica Observer newspaper, and in it he lambastes the dancehall music genre, basically describing it as verbal nonsense.

Seaga was a significant promoter and producer of Jamaican music in the1960s - when he even owned the West Indies Records Ltd. which was later sold to Byron Lee and renamed Dynamic Sounds - and noted asone of the individuals who helped to popularize the ska genre.

"Dancehall music lacks components of classical music, which includes lyrics, melody and rhythm."
Seaga has long been a cultural expert, having pioneered various anthropological efforts that relate to the arts, religion andpolitics.
Speaking to what has become a steadily rising andpotentially volatile sub-culture spawned from a lyrical war between rival dancehall artistes Vybz Kartel and Mavado, Seaga outlined that their brand of music, though undeniably powerful, is verbal nonsense.
"Things come and go, but I don't know why, for the loveof me, this one won't go," he added. Seaga noted, though, that dancehall music remains incredibly popular because of its enduring appeal to youth.
"It doesn't have melody, and forget lyrics, but what itdoes have is rhythm and that has made it hugely popular," Seaga pointe dout, alluding to the 'riddim-driven' culture that obtains incontemporary Jamaican music.
The gully/gaza conflict recently received internationalattention after the world's fastest man, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt,endorsed Vybz Kartel during an interview with New York radio station Hot 97. There is, too, the ubiquity of graffiti strewn across Kingston that he ralds the fictitious locales of 'gully' or 'gaza'.
"Our music is very powerful. we can just hope that somebody comes up with a tune once again," Seaga told the meeting, "andevery now and then you get it."
The former prime minister's comments come at a pivotal time - during National Heritage Week - when many are questioning if the recent deaths of several of the island's cultural icons will mean are definition of national identity.
Asked if he felt confident about the next generation of cultural guardians, Seaga could not give a definitive answer.
"There must be people around who will eventually matureto take up the mantle, but I can't readily think of anyone," he said adding that, "it's not every day society experiences icons like those."
The cultural community has lost music producer Wycliffe'Steely' Johnson, who died on September 1; playwright Trevor Rhone, whodied on September 15; media professional and elocutionist Wycliffe Bennett on October 5; and the most recent master trumpeter Sonny Bradshaw, who died on Saturday.