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Fred Zindi
In Jamaica, where the music genre originates from, Dancehall music has moved a step higher as it is always accompanied by raunchy sexy dances and at times violence. It is no longer about the music, but how best women can shake their bodies in the most sexually seductive way and the battles among men to fight over these women.  Every year in Kingston, there is a Dancehall festival called ‘Battle of The Bikinis’ where women come dressed in bikinis and wriggle from the waist downwards.

Winners of the contest are awarded  prizes which range from $500 to $1,000. It is not unusual to see women who are in skimpy fashions or almost nude going to Dancehall night clubs.  Many middle class Jamaicans see this new thing as moral decadence. Even my good friend, King Sounds, condemned this new ‘music’ as evil. He sent me a video he picked up from YouTube which showed school children lifting up their skirts and asking boys to come behind them to ‘dance’.

His remarks were, “Fred, look at this! This is disgusting! Lord have mercy!”   After watching this video, I went to the You Tube platform and typed in “Dancehall Skinout”. What I saw there cannot be described in a decent family newspaper like The Herald.

Dancehall musicians making videos of their acts in Zimbabwe are influenced by what they witness on YouTube and they are in a way trying to emulate these Jamaicans.

The question is: Are more conservative Zimbabweans ready for this?  I spoke with one popular Zimbabwean dancehall musician (name withheld) who vehemently stated, “Musicians have a right to express themselves in any way they want. It is up to the consumers of music to decide what to listen to and what to buy or what to watch. These things are reality and cannot be avoided.”

In Uganda the government has banned all sexually suggestive videos such as those coming out on  DSTV’s Channel O. Will the government in Zimbabwe tolerate  videos on sex and violence, I wonder? In more conservative times in America there were numerous songs about killing police officers. None of which were considered immoral, but when a rap is titled ‘Cop Killer’ it is considered highly immoral and dangerous for kids to hear. Even though it’s about police brutality.  If it was never a problem before why make it one now?

Due to the fact of Musically Induced Crime and censorship, parents need to make their own decisions about the music their children listen to and not let governments make the decisions for them. In this day and age where Satanic music is said to  be on the increase, music lovers ought to be wary about what they listen to. But, do musicians compose songs in order to provoke the society’s emotions or to commit a crime, crimes that otherwise wouldn’t have a motive? For instance in 1996 in the United States, three fans of the heavy metal band Slayer, murdered  Elyse, a girl from their school.

One of the murderers, Joseph Fiorella stated in his defense, ‘The fact is Slayer’s music didn’t have anything to do with the murder. The police went into my house and saw Slayer posters and records and they made up the motive that this was a devil thing.

Jacob Delashmutt the second murderer said, ‘The music had zero influence on me going out and killing some one. There was nothing ritualistic or satanic about it. Those allegations were put together by lawyers to make money. So if lawyers didn’t want to lose credibility for not being able to find a motive, they made one up’.  As can be seen, both the artist and the criminals deny the tie between their music and the crime committed, yet the parents of Elyse still push for the censorship of music.

So, should the censorship board in Zimbabwe ban Dancehall music? In a world where music and other forms of media are used to convey how the world is doing and what is happening, is it smart to censor all the bad stuff?

Officials appointed by the government to look at the good and bad stuff should be in a position to censor what society considers to be bad stuff, but it is going to be tricky for them now because they also have to see how teenagers dance to even lyrical good dancehall tunes such as Guspy Warrior’s ‘Ita Seunononga’.  Another Zimbabwean musician I asked on whether dancehall music in Zimbabwe should be censored because of its influence on morality had this to say, “The individuals that are for censorship are trying to impose their morals and standards upon the rest of the population, which would imperil the people’s constitutional rights. Another problem with censorship is keeping artists from expressing themselves and making a living like productive citizens.

Dancehall is not banned in Jamaica where it comes from, so why should it be banned here? The people like it and the government must respect what the people like. The  Censorship Board tries to label songs with lyrics relating to sexuality, violence, drugs, alcohol, suicide, or the occult.  By doing so, they are restricting sales for record companies and artists alike which prevents them from making a living and supporting themselves.

With albums labelled as unfit many major chain stores refuse to sell them, making it hard for fans to buy the albums. I don’t know about you but I hate when I try to find a CD and it’s not sold because it is unfit.”   There is another man who agrees with this his name is Thomas Gama, and he said, “Musicians should not be held responsible for the action of an unstable or irresponsible person.

With that said I ask one thing. Please all of you unstable  or irresponsible people, don’t listen to music and then go commit crimes or do immoral things. I ask this of you because you’re causing a lot of problems for innocent people. Even though there has never been a link made between anti-social behaviour and exposure to any form of artistic expression, please stay away from music.”

Parents need to listen to the music their children listen to and they can make their own decisions on what is good and bad music. That will stop the authorities making decisions for them. What are the advantages to this plan you may ask?

Well, the main thing is it keeps the parents informed about what’s going on in the world that their children are growing up in, and the parents may even like the music, which can help bring families together as censorship is threatening to your own freedom of speech. The only way to fight the beast of censorship is to accept responsibility for your actions!

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