Shaggy Says Spice’s Age Will Not Stop Her From Doing “Something Bigger”
Dancehall icon Shaggy says he believes Spice’s advancing age will not be a barrier to her moving forward in the Dancehall industry, which is known to shelve female artists, casting them off as “unsexy” and “past their prime”, once they reach the age of 40.
In an interview that was aired on Television Jamaica’s The Entertainment Report on Friday night, Shaggy responded to questions posed surrounding the issue where “people are speculating that because of her age, she cannot do something bigger”.
The Cool It singer turns 40 in August next year, but according to Shaggy, she is vibrant and very adept at keeping herself relevant, and so her age should be of little importance.
“Definitely her age is going against her, but, you can easily say the same fi me. Have I stopped?” Shaggy asked.
When the interviewer suggested that in the business, men are treated more favorably as they age versus women, Shaggy disagreed.
“I don’t think it’s different for men and women at all. I think it really just boils down to you keeping yourself relevant, by creating good music and music that is relatable to people. Everything is about things that are relatable…whether you young old. And one thing I can tell you, despite her age, she is one of the top trending persons in a daily basis. People talk about Spice every single day and she keeps herself relevant… She knows how to be the talk of the town…,” he said.
Shaggy’s sentiments are similar to that of producer Mikey Bennett who said in a 2020 Gleaner interview, that older artists, such as Macka Diamond, have nothing to worry about” where advancing age is concerned.
Macka Diamond, 52, has for more than a decade been the person most bullied about leaving the Dancehall industry because of her age, from even before she hit age 40.
“She knows the game very well that she is not at the mercy of any producer; for her it’s marketing and she understands the gimmicks and everything. There is a confidence dancehall needs to excite fans.” Bennett had said about Macka.
However, according to Macka, these comments about leaving the industry have not been coming from industry players, but from jealous older females, who have aged badly, even as she continues to maintain her looks, figure, and music relevance and remains one of the most fashionable women in Dancehall.
The Cucumber artist has always stressed as well, that she does not feel pressured to meet the demands of the younger Dancehall audience as her core was the more mature audiences, due to the fact that, while she started off in the music industry at age 16, she did not get her big break until she reached age 30.
Macka had told The Gleaner that as far as she was concerned, age could not be a big deal as long as a female entertainer “still sound and look good”.
“People need to stop limiting females and deciding what age is the end of an artiste’s career. I am actually proud when I look at myself; I love the way I am ageing gracefully. There are many persons who are not healthy or do not live to see what I have and if people don’t mention my age, I don’t even think about it. To call me old is to encourage me to come up with something creative to stay fresh, relevant and ¬consistent,” Macka Diamond had said.
In March this year, Reggae songstress Nadine Sutherland, in discussing age discrimination within the music industry, said she had seen people in the music industry attempting to age-shame older artists, goading them to take early retirement.
Sutherland in an Op-Ed in the Jamaica Observer newspaper had argued that the apparent preoccupation with youth, is influencing many of the decisions made by some of the gatekeepers in the industry, in their quest for what is seen as “new” and “fresh”.
At the time, the Action singer said many older artists had been shamed into leaving the industry as many music marketers see the young and edgy demographic (the age cohort between 15 and 25) as their primary target audience, while others “pejoratively refer to the older artistes as ‘has beens’ or ‘past their prime’.
“I am in agreement that there is always a need for fresh, young artistes to rejuvenate the talent pool; however, embracing new acts does not have to be at the expense of talented, older artistes who could not be accurately described as fresh… So, it is not a question of age, but more a matter of stage and energy,” she had argued.
She also cited the late Toots Hibbert who had a massive following across the United States, which consisted mainly of white teenagers who were sometimes younger than his own grandchildren, as an example of a timeless artist.
The response to the VERZUZ clash between Beenie Man and Bounty Killer she had stated, were scenarios that prove that mature artists with large catalogs have significant entertainment value.
Sutherland had also pointed out that there has been a conflating of success and energy with youth, while attributing failure and decay to aging, which was not necessarily the case, as performers who are true to their craft and career in most cases, can become better with maturity and age.
“I know that sometimes, as some artistes age chronologically, if they treat themselves well their voices can grow to be richer and fuller.”
“Conversely, some artistes do worsen… Some artistes do not realise that aging requires additional attention to the demands of their bodies. Some abuse their voices through smoking or the excessive consumption of alcohol. Others become complacent and do not adhere to the standards which were responsible for their success,” she wrote.