DPP Says ‘Choppa’ Songs Are Influencing Youth To Take On Lotto Scamming

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn has raised concerns about Jamaican Trap artists glorifying scamming in their songs.

On Thursday, during her keynote address at an anti-fraud seminar in Kingston, Llewellyn made it clear that the lyrics which give pride of place to the criminal schemes, have not escaped her attention, especially as they were influencing many young people to take on the self-destructive ‘choppa’ lifestyle.

She also expressed worry that not only were many of Jamaica’s youth shunning legitimate employment, and were opting instead to venture into lotto scamming, but that women and entire households were getting involved in the illegal activity, according to a Gleaner report.

Using the parish of Westmoreland as an example, the DPP had said that of the 110 new matters listed for the Easter Sitting of the Circuit Court there, about 80 (73%) were for charges of possession of identity information used in scamming.

The Jamaican Trap subgenre, which is rooted in US Trap and UK Drill, has been overwhelmingly impacted by choppa songs, made popular by entertainers such as Squash who has songs like Bandulu, and Gold Gad, who, while he says his scamming songs are done solely for humor, has a slew of songs such as Client Convo, Chap Life, Quarantine Chap, and F*ck You MOCA, in which he jeers the anti-organised-crime agency.

Even Lady Saw, now Minister Marion Hall had voiced a scammer song titled Scammer Man on the Hot Steel riddim, in which she sang about her yearning for “a big money thief” from Montego Bay.

However, during her presentation, Llewellyn said that these songs were influencing young people to engage in a life of transnational conmanship, by appearing to legitimize and idealize scamming, from which the proceeds help to finance the purchasing of illegal guns and ammunition, as scammers are known to turn on their cronies over lead sheets, “clients”, and accusations of “unfair sharing” of money.

“And then you have the culture, the music, in some respects, and I am going to say it and confront it. The music that is being played and sung by our young people glorifies chopping, which is to become a scammer. Can you imagine?” she asked.

“You have to take the fight; you have to wrestle with the conscience and the lack of proper moral compass of a lot of our young people. You have to help to neutralise the songs that are celebrating chopping, and I think this is part and parcel of your responsibilities,” she told the members of financial institutions in attendance at the seminar.

In response to the DPP’s statements, commenters, for the most part, were in agreement that the songs were influencing the conduct of young people.

One commenter ordered the Government to “stop being so passive” and went on to script a long list of actions that he believed ought to be taken, among them, the erasing of scamming songs from the internet.

“We need to first ban chopper/scammer /gun tunes from the public space.   The ministries of culture, education, security and sound system owners must come together. They should urge artistes and selectors to be more positive with their influence. We cannot continue to promote evil in the society and expect good in return,” was the recommendation of the Gleaner reader.

“We must realise that we have two sets of Jamaicans; those who want better for Jamaica and those who are selfish, careless and evil.   The selfish ones don’t want a better society because they profit from the violence and death. The want to lead the youths astray and get rich off it. Playing murder/scammer music is not freedom of expression. It is stupidity and carelessness.  Johncrow business parading as music and entertainment,” he added.

According to the commenter, the Jamaican government ought to “work with YouTube and Instagram to remove violent songs off the internet which target Jamaican children” if the nation is “truly interested in curbing violence in Jamaica”.

“The internet is ground zero for this battle. The public should also report channels which glorify violence to the site managers.  Translate the words for the site managers. Most don’t understand the fast Jamaican dialect,” he stated.

“Down vote violent videos. Google how to do it.   Fight ignorance and death for the sake of peace, safety and your own children. You may be saving your own lives or the life of a someone you know. We are all affected by violence.  The artistes will take notice and change their content. We will save our industry in the long run from untalented fools,” he said.

As for sound system operators, the respondent said that the State should, among other things, have the police shut down any sound which plays violent music, ticket the promoter and the selectors for disorderly conduct and inciting violence and seize their equipment.

“Take away assets. Take cars and houses. Jamaica’s leaders must be firm on crime. We can’t afford for gangs to take over any part of Jamaica nor cyberspace. Again, stop being lazy. Do the work you are getting paid to do.  Gangs are to be targeted and exterminated anywhere they exist.  There is no place in society for them. To have gangs flourishing in our communities is not sane nor practical…,” …,” he noted.

Another commenter also posited that the influence of the songs was “undeniable”.

“Most advertisements are done via songs, and songs also do advertise …. not rocket science. And couple this with a society prone to illegality, a history of “samfie”, the financial incentive, the relative ease of the operation, the relatively low risk of arrest and before you know we have a full-blown criminal industry on our hands,” she stated.

Others contended that while the songs were fuelling the scamming fire, the legal system ought to be fixed first.

“I agree that these songs add to the scamming but the real problem is the quick money.   If we had an effective judicial system that would help.  Paula needs to be replaced, speech alone can’t work,” he noted.

Another argued that it was parenting that was the root of the problem and not the music alone.

“This is much bigger than dance hall. If we were raising kids with good character, good morals and core values dance hall and other negative influences would be history by now… I am no fan of dance hall and I do agree that it does affect aspect of the society negatively. But when you are raised with core values it’s hard to counter that. Just too many people lack basic core values so they are prone to do anything for money…,” he stated.