Whap Whap, Chop Chop and Ensure negatively impacting youth, says PM

Prime Minister Andrew Holness, popularly called 'Brogad' on the streets, said the violence being portrayed in schools is a reflection of the lyrics in dancehall music glorifying crime, scamming and lewd content.  

Speaking at a training session for workers of his Jamaica Labour Party in St Catherine on Sunday, Holness spoke about the music and its influence on the local and international space. 

His comments came on the heels of dancehall artiste Skeng being banned in Guyana over a gun salute at the Baderation event at the Guyanese National Park in May, which led to a premature end to the concert.

"When another country says 'I don't want your artistes in my country', it's an embarrassment," Holness said. 

He said he was very concerned and believes some of the things being portrayed in the music being produced are negatively impacting the nation's youth.

"We are concerned, very, very concerned, and worried about it. What has happened to us as Jamaicans is that we are being defined by some very limited things,” the prime minister said. 

“Whap Whap and Chop Chop and Ensure and all of them… all of those things have their place but they can't define us. We should not allow that to define us.”

Whap Whap is a hit single by Skillibeng, glorifying gun violence, while Chop (scamming) is a term used in the music to promote ill-gotten gains. 

Ensure became a trending topic following the breakthrough song Code by Montego Bay artiste Brysco and is in reference to females performing oral sex with the nutritional drink. 

Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams recently appealed to the education sector to double the efforts to curb anti-social and maladaptive behaviour by some students, parents and other stakeholders. 

In a statement, Williams said the ministry was very concerned about videos being circulated on social media depicting students being very aggressive with each other to the point of starting fights, cursing, smoking and speaking about the genitalia of others, among other highly undesirable behaviour. 

Williams said the videos highlight "the need for a radical shift in creating respectful relationships between teachers-and-students, parents-and-children, students-and-students and with others with whom we interact during the course of any day."

- Andre Williams

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