Dear Editor,
It is unbelievable that a concert was held in Guyana on May 27 at the National Park where the “artiste’s” entire repertoire was on murder. This concert occurred days after the shooting of 19 children by a barely adult male in Texas, US. In addition, in the performer Skeng’s home country of Jamaica, a politician was assassinated one day before the said concert. There is also a video circulating on social media of our young soldiers dancing and enjoying themselves to one of the artiste’s hits, “Gunman Shift”.
In case anyone would view these comments as pearl clutching by out-of-touch adults, I quote from the lyrics of two of the songs with English translation:
Gunman Shift
“Intellectual murda people edition
Kakam fyah full a gun like Remington – (Kakam fire, filled with guns like Remington)
Fully charge up eager fi kill a man – (Fully charged up, eager to kill a man)”
Talibhan (which is supposed to be a song for the ladies)
“Buck up pon a bad gyal talibhan (yah) – Met a bad girl Taliban
A likkle one (Bad) – A little girl- Bad
Suh me say yuh have a man- Do you have a man?
Him do yuh wrong, yuh want me kill him, Dump him dung a riverton- Does he wrong you, you want me to kill him and dump him in Riverton (Jamaica’s leading landfill site)
Anyway u have a plan (have a plan); Me have a plan (mi have one) Come make me Tek yuh to a Killa Killa land, – Anyway do you have a plan. I have a plan. I can take you to killing land.”
Are the companies and their shareholders that sponsored this concert aware of this music message and its consequences? I noted that Guinness and Western Union were prominent sponsors at the event. Our society is rife with violence, and our young people are both victims and perpetrators. Events like these do not help in reducing the violence in our community. I am willing to bet my last dollar that there were no safeguards in place at the event to prevent persons under the age of eighteen years from going to that concert and being exposed to and enjoying those lyrics.
Sincerely,
(Name and Address Provided)
