Twins Of Twins’ Tulox Says Grange Is The Only Politician In Jamaica Who Fights For Dancehall

Dancehall artist and songwriter Tu Lox has come out in strong defence of Entertainment and Culture Minister Olivia “Babsy” Grange after she came under scathing criticism from some Jamaicans, including opposition senator Damion Crawford following the abortion of the now reinstated National Festival Song Competition 2022.

According to Tulox, the Minister cannot be faulted for initially taking the decision to abort the competition, since the judging panel of experts had found that the majority of the entries were subpar, so much so that they could not handpick the 10 required for the competition to take place.

Tulox, who forms one-half of the duo, Twins of Twins, said Grange has been the only politician who has an ear for, truly loves, and has shown maximum respect for Reggae and Dancehall and Jamaican music overall, in words and in deeds, and so her commitment to the music cannot be questioned.

“Big up yuhself Mumma Babsy… Mi couldn’t believe di amount a bashing weh mi si dem a gi di woman online.  Mi a guh remind nuff a oonu enuh seen?   Yuh si if a neva dah woman yah, Dancehall, Reggae, di whole music woulda suffa,” he said.

“Shi a di only person weh stan up fi dah music yah, politically.  And dis nuh have nuttn fi do wid politics.  Babsy Grange genuinely loves her culture, musically.  Babsy Grange has done a lot fi dah culture yah, fi dah culture yah weh name Dancehall regardless of its origin, unlike some a har co-worka dem.  Shi fight fi dis,” he added in his preamble on his My Tu-sense podcast.

In the aftermath Grange’s decision to scrap the National Festival Song Competition, over the weekend self-proclaimed ‘Dancehall Defender’ Senator Damion Crawford, who is Opposition spokesman on Culture and Entertainment blamed her for the developments, and said she had reduced the Ministry of Culture to the “Ministry of Events”.

On Sunday Prime Minister Andrew Holness had intervened, stating that the competition must be held, as Jamaicans are very good at music and “there is no reason why we can’t find a festival song that will capture and project and promote optimism, positivity, togetherness and harmony”.

But according to Tulox, the quality of the songs was a reflection on the state of music in Jamaica generally, which has fallen drastically, and with Grange being a former music executive and producer, she has the credentials to ferret out the inferior songs which were submitted, from music which is solid.

“If yuh a talk bout putting songs togedda and key and presentation, everyting weh dem look fah fi get dat good festival song inna today Jamaica, which part yuh go find dat?  But until oonu realise seh di music overall, culture has decayed, rotten, johncrow nyam dat long time and belch,” he declared.

“Suh if oonu feel seh a Babsy Grange fault, an dem too hard an dem nuh want no festival song, oonu meck a sad one.  A bare f_kery Babsy dem a hear.  Becaw Babsy dem ears still deh at a standard… If di standards drop inna di music overall, it a guh affect Reggae, Dancehall, festival – every type a genre there is,” Tulox argued.

According to him, in the heydays of multiple festival song winners such as Eric Donalson, Roy Rayon and Toots and the Maytals, and deejays like Buju Banton, who are real musicians, Jamaicans highly celebrated their culture, unlike nowadays where the musical landscape is predicated on “whosoever will may come”.

“Everybody and dem mumma a feel seh dem a artiste.  All yuh haffi do now fi be a artiste is wake up. Can you imagine dat?  Just wake and you a artiste.  No standard nuh deh deh. Suh dem naw write fi compare…,” he said.

“Wha yuh a guh sing bout now? Yuh can imagine one a di festoval contestant dem run out (singing) ‘woooi, mi caan wait  fi guh teck mi maalie (molly drug)’.  Weh dem a guh sing bout?  Weh inna di culture now eh look like it cool?  A beer fukery seem like it cool now man,” he added.

Last week Wednesday, Grange had disclosed during her 2022/23 Sectoral presentation in Parliament, that the panel, which was established to select the finalists of this year’s competition, advised that it was unable to choose 10 suitable songs from among the entries despite extending the deadline.

In expressing disappointment about the entries, Grange had also said that the JCDC had taken a professional approach toward the competition, and had recommended that the competition be shelved this year.

The Minister also said that Jamaica is now a global brand, and as such, she was unwilling to put inferior productions on “30 digital platforms across the world” and that the JCDC did not have the time to “take a production from scratch to completion and then select the winning song”.

Grange had also said that songs that are submitted “must be the finished product”, well-produced with the requisite instrumentation and proper arrangements.

Chairman of the song selection panel Gussie Clarke had also insisted that the quality of the entries did not meet standards and that many of the submissions were  interpolation of other songs, had poor lyrical content, poorly mixed and some “were just acapella”.

“The criteria clearly started that there should be recordings that were properly recorded and mixed and are not elements or interpolations of any other existing recording.  And a lot of them fell in that and could not even be listened to,” he had said.