The ladies of reggae chant down the house

Lady Saw and Lady G

LADY G and Lady Saw were two of the final three women to take the stage at the public forum on the Women in Reggae put on by the Reggae Studies Unit last Friday.

Queen Ifrica made her delivery between them. Earlier Judy Mowatt, Angie Angel, Cherry Natural and Sandra Alcott had given their contributions to the evening's discussion.

When Lady G took control of the microphone, the first thing she pointed out was that the first time she performed at a dance she had told the producer that he had to ask her mother's permission. This was however, not the most interesting thing that she revealed.

What Lady G's tale most clearly illustrated was the effects of pregnancy on a female deejay's career. She said that one of the most painful comments ever said to her was when someone said, "Wait Lady G, yuh stop deejay an turn baby madda."

She pointed out that her pregnancies seemed to be tied to her success. "Every time mi get a hit tune mi get pregnant," she revealed. Nonetheless, neither her pregnancies nor her single mother status have proven to be insurmountable obstacles for her, due to her determination.

Despite the bravery she showed in publicly revealing her tale, it was obvious that she had not yet gone beyond the pain as she soon began crying. At one point she actually had to stop speaking. At that point, the audience applauded her, some of them shouting, "cry yaa!"

Lady G ended her speech by pointing out that struggle is a part of a woman's life, though it should not stop her. "Wi affi fight it," she told them. At this, she pointed out that she had not come to perform, however the audience would have none of that. With shouts of "Bus' it!" they urged her to perform. Her performance of Nuff Respect and Breeze Off had the audience dancing in their seats and singing along.

For a while the audience had been anxious that Lady Saw would not make it. However, their fears were allayed when it was announced that she had called to say that she would be late but would definitely be there. When she finally arrived just after Cherry Natural had finished her delivery, she was greeted with thunderous applause as she made her way to the panel.

When she finally took the stage, she made it known that her stay there would not be long, stating, "I can't talk."

Thus, she encouraged the audience to ask her questions instead. There were two very important issues she noted, however.

First, she pointed to the importance of mothers. She noted that she knew this because her own mother once almost went to prison for her. She had stolen something and when the police was brought in her mother took the blame.

The second issue she raised was aimed at those who criticise her music and performance. Without making apologies she pointed out that this is the way she knows how to survive. "I used to know other ways," she said, "like washing people clothes and clean dem house, but mi nuh eena dat right now!" This statement brought much applause from the audience.

Finally, she brought the night to an end with her performance of A Woman Mi Name. This, too, had the audience singing and dancing along.

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