Carolyn Cooper | Jamaicans do not own reggae

A lot of Jamaicans have been nyamming up themselves on social media because the American group SOJA won the Grammy earlier this month for ‘Best Reggae Album’. The title of the top-rated album is Beauty in the Silence. Angry Jamaicans should listen to that message. Beautiful silence, rather than ugly outrage, would have been a much more appropriate response to SOJA’s triumph.

It was impossible for some diehard Jamaican reggae fans to keep silent. SOJA beat Sean Paul, Spice, Jesse Royal, Etana and Gramps Morgan for the Grammy. But these militant patriots should at least have listened to SOJA’s lyrics, which pay tribute to the Jamaican roots of reggae. SOJA stands for Soldiers of Jah Army. These recruits are part of a global battalion of reggae artistes who were not born in Jamaica. They have immersed themselves in our culture and have tirelessly worked to perfect their craft.

As SOJA declares in ‘Press Rewind’, the first track on Beauty in the Silence:

“I can remember in the days we used to watch

Buju Banton, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh

Pick up six string and just tell me where to go

If you could tell me then about now, I would never know

And now the tour bus is pulling up to every city

And all my old friends are still the ones who playing with me

And every single song that I sing, I’m still smiling

Remember that the journey is all about the timing”

SOJA have been trodding on the reggae journey for a quarter of a century. They are not hurry-come-ups. They have paid their dues. This was SOJA’s time to win the Reggae Grammy. Their name reflects the pronunciation of ‘soldier’ in the Jamaican language. That’s a whole other issue. Reggae fans all over the world take pride in learning the Jamaican language, which so many of us despise.

In response to my column last week, ‘Holness an Tufton a Talk Outa Two Side a Dem Mouth’, Chris Mitcehll [same so] posted, “People reading The Gleaner expect standard English be used, unless its a quote

The writing of this artilcle (sic) is better for the Star newspaper.” Another reader clapped back: “She shudda thump yuh dong inna one article next week fi dis hya outta ordah comment!” The only thumping I’ll do is to say that Chris needs to master English spelling and punctuation.

RIDDIM MAGAZINE

In March, two music journalists from Germany, Ellen Koehlings and Pete Lilly, won another reggae award. The Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) honoured them for their “extraordinary impact on the reggae industry”. For two decades, Pete and Ellen have been the dedicated editors of Riddim, the first high-gloss reggae and dancehall magazine to come out of Germany.

In her heartfelt acceptance speech, Ellen said, “When we came to Jamaica for the very first time, it was actually a life-changing experience for us. You know, we were so moved by the music and the culture in general that after that we started to write about this experience. . . . And since the inception of Riddim magazine, it has to be, you know I think the most essential part for us was to stay true to this beautiful culture.” Ellen described the award in this way: “It is the biggest achievement we could dream of.”

In his speech, Pete said, “We want to give thanks to the singers and players of instruments for being so open to us.” He highlights an important issue. Unlike fanatical defenders of Jamaica’s ‘ownership’ of reggae, our musicians respond positively to foreigners who engage with our culture respectfully.

An excellent example is Chronixx who posted on Instagram about SOJA’s big win: “Soja been one of the best bands in America for years. . . Dem man ya been blessing us and sharing their platforms for with us for years … consistently. Bring nuff a wi on the road before we got opportunities open for any of the native Jamaican music legends.”

As far as I can tell, there was no social media outcry against Ellen and Pete being honoured by JaRIA. Is this because hyped-up Jamaican reggae fans don’t take music journalism seriously? Or even worse, they have no respect for the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association awards? How ironic it would be if those short-sighted reggae fans who defend Jamaica’s ‘entitlement’ to reggae only care about a foreign award! Not their own!

‘REGGAE RUDIMENTS’

Recently, there was another irrational social media protest about the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) sponsoring courses offered on the Reggae Online website. The course that seemed to upset many people was ‘Reggae Rudiments’. This was because the instructor, Gerd Beyens, is Belgian. An angry person posted: “Why should we use taxpayers. [same so] money (Tourism Enhancement Fund) to pay a foreign er [same so] to teach Jamaicans reggae.” When people are angry they seem to forget to check what they’ve written.

Perhaps, this offended writer does not know that Beyens is head of the Theory and Musicology Department at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. He studied Composition at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and he’s certainly qualified to teach a course on the “instruments and elements that give Reggae its typical sound”. Objecting to Beyens’ expertise is equivalent to insisting that a Jamaican can’t teach a course on Shakespeare at a publicly funded British University!

In 2008, the Reggae Studies Unit and the Institute of Caribbean Studies at The University of the West Indies, Mona hosted an international conference on ‘Global Reggae: Jamaican Popular Music A Yard and Abroad’. Scholars came from all across the world to share their academic work on reggae. Keynote speakers documented the reach of reggae on all continents. Their papers are collected in the award-winning book, Global Reggae. It’s time for Jamaicans to recognise that even though reggae originated here, we don’t own it. Just like how parents don’t own their children!

- Carolyn Cooper, PhD, is a teacher of English language and literature and a specialist on culture and development. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and karokupa@gmail.com.