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Pastor Joins PM Holness In Calling Out Skillibeng’s ‘Whap Whap’: “We Not For It”

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Pastor of Boulevard Baptist Church Reverend Devon Dick sided with Prime Minister Andrew Holness in denouncing Skillibeng’s popular gun song Whap Whap , which featured F.S., during the Jamaica 60 Ecumenical Church Service on Sunday.

The reverend, who is also author of Enduring Advocacy for a Better Jamaica, The Cross and the Machete and Rebellion to Riot: The Jamaican Church in Nation Building, made his position known as he gave the welcome and opening remarks during the church service which also saw Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sports, Olivia “Babsy” Grange in attendance.

“Mr Prime Minister, we want to tell you that we support you when you say that you are against that song Whap Whap Whap, because any song that is promoting violence in this country, we not for it, so we support you,” Reverend Dick stated, while welcoming the Prime Minister, whose name he said was second on a three-page list.

As Reverend Dick made the comment Grange looked over at Holness, who nodded approvingly.

In June, Holness, during his address at a meeting of the Jamaica Labour Party in St. Catherine, had expressed unease about much of the content of the new music being recorded in Jamaica, chief among them Whap Whap and Montego Bay artist Brysco’s Code, which he referred to as “Ensure”.

The PM had said such songs were sending the wrong message about the island, and go against higher principles to which Jamaicans strive.

“We are being defined by some very limited things. Whap Whap and Chap Chap and Ensure… All of those things have their place, but it can’t define us.  We should not allow that to define us,” Holness had said.

The Prime Minister’s statements had come four months after he said that his administration would continue to maintain its hands-off approach, and would not censor Dancehall artists or their lyrical content, even if depraved or degenerate, but would instead, continue to privately utilize gentle persuasion.

Holness had also said he was aware that there were many concerns being raised within the general public about the distasteful content in much of the new music being released.

“There are many people who feel that the message has been diluted, diverted, and that though there is still talent, the talent may not be directed towards the social good,” Holness had said in an interview with The Entertainment Report.

Since Skillibeng released the music video for Whap Whap four months ago, it has racked up more than 20 million views on YouTube, while his remix, released on June 7 with rappers Fivio Foreign and French Montana, has had a little over 3.5 million views.

When the St. Thomas native released the audiovisuals for the original song, which was shot in Trinidad, he had received an initial roasting from his Jamaican compatriots and their Trinidadian counterparts.

One Trinidadian publication had even noted that West Indians on social media had “roasted Skilli’s tail like a galvanised room with no lasko fan”.

Nationals of both countries had found his continued use of the phrase ‘whap whap” incredulous, the majority coming to the conclusion that the sound was a reflection of those which emanated from the belts of his parents whenever he got a flogging, something Skilli later alluded to in an interview.

Others had likened the lyrics to nursery school rhymes, while some Trinis wondered why Skilli had travelled all the way from Jamaica to do the video.  Some Jamaicans said that Skilli had deceived them into thinking he was talented, and according to one Twitter commenter, it was “the biggest flopping disappointment ever” and that “lyrically Skilli had nothing left other than repetition”.

Others said Skilli’s intention might have been to provide comic relief.

The American media platform Baller Alert had also shared clips of the Whap Whap video, while pointing out that Skilli was RCA Records newest signee, a notation which resulted in many commenters claiming he would be dropped in the first week.

However, that was not to be as Whap Whap grew in popularity and has now become one of the Crocodile Teeth artist’s biggest songs on the international scene, with rappers Youngboy NBA, Ron Suno, and Badda TD also sharing individual remixes of the song; fans singing the hook like a church choir whenever he performs live; and celebrities like Chris Brown recently showing approval for the track.

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