Blak Ryno Claps Back At Fan Over Criticism Of Gun Lyrics After Shooting Of Professor
Dancehall artiste Blak Ryno has become the latest entertainer to speak out against ‘gun violence’ on the island. The singer, however, was forced to defend himself after he was called out by fans for glorifying violence in his music.
This comes after the shooting of NCU Professor, 62-year-old Dr. Gordon Lightbourne, in the parish of Manchester, on August 7. Dr. Lightbourn was last week found dead at his Sedbergh, Christiana home.
In an Instagram post on August 8, Blak Ryno, whose real name is Romaine Anderson, stressed the need for his fellow Jamaicans to do better.
“Tell Jamaica everybody can’t bad we dont need so much shooters, what happen to other professions? Nothing not wrong with being defensive, but being destructive towards human life unreasonable is not appreciated,” the deejay said.
The entertainer highlighted the importance of having regard for human life. In particular, the nation’s teachers. “How we gonna learn when unu the shooters start kill teachers,” said Ryno.
He expressed his disappointment with how the country is being viewed by the world as a result of the upsurge in gun violence. Black Ryno also said that people from all over the world visit Jamaica to experience the culture and that, among other things, has put the country on the map. So it is important to capitalize on that versus damaging the country’s reputation, he says.
“People from all parts of the world have visit our island to experience the culture, let’s keep it, cherish it and capitalize on our culture not destroy it. Viewing from the outskirts of Jamaica the violence is destroying everything we made the world love.”
Fans of the dancehall artiste were quick to jump in the comments under his post to express their opinions.
One fan agreed with Ryno, to which the artiste replied, “I been hearing gun lyrics since childhood, but never chose it, my intentions weren’t violence even tho I was around it.”
As expected, not everyone was on board with the message being delivered by Blak Ryno, and so there was some backlash. One such response was that from a critical fan who urged the artiste to stop glorifying ‘badness’ in his songs.
“That goes for the rest of the artist too. That is the first step in tearing down a culture you helped create,” the fan added.
Ryno was having none of it and swiftly clapped back, “Dont tell me no f-ckery, stop watching action movies, music has nothing to do with a man actions, everyman have a mind of them own.”
“Stop listen music cause seems like u forget what dancehall derive from ‘hardcore lyrics’ poverty is the cause of violence,” the singer continued in another reply.
The back and forth continued with the fan eventually asking the artiste to reconsider whether music that “glories badness” contributes to the violence.
Ryno flatly replied, “its not considerable.”
Blak Ryno is best known for hits such as Bike Back, When Mi Buss Mi Gun, and his latest Murderous.
Today, the artiste teased the release another track, titled Murda Murda, in another Instagram post which he captioned, “Music is art”.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDtqzgHh2H8/
Tommy Lee Sparta had also denounced gun violence in an Instagram post days before turning himself to police after being listed as a person of interest in ongoing investigations into gangs and violence in the St James parish. Noting that violence was not the answer, his appeal came after the shooting incident involving fellow artiste Rygin King.