Bad Vybz

By Garth A. Rattray

I enjoy a wide variety of musical genre. I know some of the songs performed by Mr Adidja Azim Palmer (Vybz Kartel). It is obvious that he is very talented and prolific. He writes lyrics for himself and several other artistes. Vybz Kartel has a powerful influence within a certain strata of society. More than most of his ilk, he commands a large and extremely loyal fan base. He inspired a subculture within the dancehall subculture.

This subculture became so solidified that it brought about acrimony and divisiveness among the rival camps of followers turned acolytes. The competition between the 'Gaza' and 'Gully' devotees escalated into violence and bloodshed. Idle and impressionable youths were spewing hate and injuring each other just because of ideological differences of allegiance with Vybz Kartel's Gaza or Movado's Gully 'gang'. Things got so bad that the police high command and the prime minister of the day intervened.

Palmer's 'slack' lyrics cannot be printed here. However, a tiny smidgen of the violence-promoting lyrics that he wrote and publicised are - "Head wi open up like umbrella"; "We put copper inna kidney, lead inna liva"; "Yuh brain will get float in with the big millie 14, my gun carry copper no calcium no protein"; "Mi have di Beretta, Calico, Smith and Wesson, di Teckie"; "Three more head a buss like jelly, Yuh should a neverKartelli, When yo si di Mac-11 tell Madden get ready"; "Me jus beg him a light an kill him sweet".

FOUND GUILTY

Palmer was suspected, accused, tried and found guilty of murder. The circumstantiality of the charges and evidence made me wonder if he would have been convicted of the crime of which he was accused. But I also realised that we were not made aware of all the facts of the trial, so we were in no position to predict the outcome with any accuracy.

I viewed with interest the opinion presented by noted academician and University of the West Indies lecturer, Professor Carolyn Cooper. A staunch fan of Vybz Kartel, the professor proposes that Adidja Palmer was found guilty of murder because of the misunderstood stage (and therefore media) persona portrayed by his Vybz Kartel alter ego, with all the attendant negative stereotyping that it engenders. I was naïve to much of his 'offerings' until after the verdict, so I doubt if any member of the jury pool would have been previously exposed to the underside of Mr Palmer.

The erudite professor also reasons that, "In the respectable worlds of literature and film, we don't assume that the author is identical with her or his fictional characters. We know better than that". Whereas I recognise the professor's opinions on literature, I hold divergent views regarding Palmer's works.

WROTE IN FIRST PERSON

It seems clear to me that Adidja Palmer wrote of blood-curdling violence in the first person, not as one would write a piece of literature for a book, a play or a movie. "...mi use and murder many, many men any bwoy weh borrow gun haffi return emi...", for instance.

Palmer was obviously well aware of his influence, especially on young, immature, developing minds. Misusing that power to promote obscenity and callous, murderous violence was a very, very bad thing to do. Bad Vybz indeed.

I can never understand why some singers, deejays and sing-jays opt to pander to the most base, vile and violent elements within some human beings. Are they so debauched, irresponsible, power-hungry, desperate for money and/or crave admiration from the lowest among us? Isn't it just as easy to write uplifting songs to promote peace, unity and love?

Music of any kind has a very powerful effect on our mood and behaviour. When it takes on subcultural overtones it spawns throngs of loyal followers. Music can be used for good or bad. We know that, why can't our entertainers?

Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and garthrattray@gmail.com