Beenie Man Says He’d ‘Give Up’ Music If He Felt The New Generation Could Manage
The three-decade relevance of Dancehall giants Beenie Man and Bounty Killer is as awe-inspiring for some as it is superfluous for others. The ‘Doctor’ touched on the latter during a Let’s Be Honest interview aired on Friday, declaring that he’d gladly throw in the towel if he felt the new generation could manage.
“The problem is, with Jamaican music, it’s like some people just waan get rid of you, just get you out of the business but which part the business gon’ go?” he questioned. “Weh it a go deh? Who a go tek it over? If somebody deh deh fi tek it over, of course, we give up and seh ‘alright, the music left inna good hands’, but who fah hands we a go lef it in?”
And so, spoiler alert, he’s here.
Like, seriously, as Beenie Man would say, he believes there have been deliberate attempts to not only silence artists, but Jamaican-recorded music itself.
Between heavy sighs and visible frustration, he argued his case using references like the attempted assassination of reggae icon Bob Marley at his Hope Road, Kingston, abode in 1976.
“Some man a talk bout 50 Cent get shot nine time,” he juxtaposed. “50 cent used to rob people; thump a man inna him face and tek him jewellery… Di man dem shoot you fi music inna Jamaica for what are you doing. You a try elevate yourself out of the ghetto… Di man dem try fi kill the music by killing you.”
If not that, he reasoned, it’s social and financial death through stifling gatekeepers. He recalled the noughties when the international queer community clamped down on several Jamaican artists for homophobic lyrics which saw visas being revoked, apologies flying left and right, and concerts being canceled with the quickness.
“Remember when King of the Dancehall come down, dem seh we hate gay people because King of the Dancehall ago enter Billboard (at) number one…” he said.
“We nuh hate nobody at all… People a people and dem come down pan we wid that. We alone. We alone when everybody inna hip hop a seh ‘kill a f*ggot’, ‘shoot him inna him head’ – we alone nuh like gay people. We alone homophobic. No American never homophobic… Dem fight the music to the point where dem try fi kill it and it’s still deh here. We are here, same way.”
His sentiments extended to big wigs with resources that could propel the entertainment industry, commending governments in countries like Trinidad and Tobago and St. Lucia for their support of and investment in soca.
“Yuh have some man can only talk business but which part the business is supposed to deh, it’s not, and the man dem weh can do and mek the business be where it’s supposed to be, they’re not doing it none tall…”
The resolve, he posited, lies with the Jamaican people. He encouraged those at home and abroad to steer clear of divisive systems and support artists.
“Jamaicans fi stop badmind Jamaicans and just love we as weself,” he said.
“Like, seriously, God Almighty man. You come out, ‘Yo, Kartel a mi artiste, mi nuh like Aidonia, rae, rae rae’. Mi like Aidonia, mi like Kartel, mi like everybody inna Jamaican music, simple brethren. If everybody support everybody, we nice. We have an industry weh nobody cannot beat because we mash up the world. Jimmy Cliff nuh mash up the world? Dennis Brown nuh mash up the world? Bob Marley nuh mash up the world? So wah happen to we now?”