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Classism In Dancehall Music

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Notably, it is evident that conflicts between the classes in Jamaica in the post- independence period have taken a variety of forms. Areas of conflict have been racism and culture as in the case of the cultural wave of dancehall music. Dr. Donna Hope cultural analyst asserts that, during the formative years of Jamaican music, classism was at its peak, therefore, only the kind of music and musicians that were accepted by the elite received the required media coverage (Gleaner 2015). Classism is defined as a biased or discriminatory attitude based on distinctions made between social or economic classes (Dictionary.com 2018). It includes individual attitudes, behaviors, systems of policies, and practices that are set up to benefit the upper class …show more content…

Music is a big influence on the world today. Notwithstanding this, classism is still evident in music genres. Generally, the low-income people (lower class) are displayed in dancehall music as dirty, uneducated, and poor. While the elites (upper class) are usually displayed as, rude, highly educated and rich. Buju Banton song “How Massa God World a Run” shows the stratification of classism between the rice and the poor in the Jamaican society. He stated, “Where food is concern, there is a problem, Woman cyan find food fi give di children, While the rich man have di fowl and give him dog dem, Mi say woe beyond to dem, He who rise against, against poor people shall perish inna di end”. Similar songs like this are use in dancehall music to display classism in the society. In addition, the language in dancehall music ‘patois’ is seen by many as a language of the lower class of society. The English language is deemed the official language of the Jamaican people. Nevertheless, there is a high percentage of the Jamaican population who speaks the native language ‘Patois’ better …show more content…

It consists of several well-known artist that is recognized locally and internationally such as Sean Paul, Buju Banton, Shaggy, and others. Although there are positive impacts of dancehall music, it is mostly associated with negative impacts as it is said to reflects and reinforces misogyny; heterosexism; and classism in Caribbean societies. This is noticeable in the lyrics of most of these artists, as the culture of the people is embedded in dancehall music. There are persons who use the lyrics in dancehall music to justify their actions as the view a woman been called in a song ‘Ho’ or ‘Slut’ as being normal. Polygamous relationships are also encouraged as having more than one sexual partner is considered acceptable. Heterosexuality in dancehall music is received with positive connotations, while homosexuality is associated with the negative. Notwithstanding this, dancehall music has been a major part of the Jamaican culture that has been embraced by other countries in the Caribbean such as Guyana and Belize and has extended out of the region to the US, UK, Canada and Japan. Japan currently has over 300 sound systems which shows how passionate they are about dancehall music. Even though dancehall music is associated with the lower class in society,

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