Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Upcoming Events: April 2009

It's April and seeing that Easter falls in April this year there will be lots of activities. They will be added to the side bar.

Peace Fest, April 4th, 2009
Is Natural Black performing at this event? What local artist will have a big spot, that preaches peace and love and unity (Eddie comes to mind)?


Ist Intuition Jump Off, April 12, 2009.
My boy Coen is now into the promoting biz. I hope your venture is a success.

Dancehall Queen Competition April 25, 2009
I hope they will have a proper competition. The last thing they had on youtube was an embarrassment.

Sailing to Hawaii on the Demerara River, May 1st, 2009
Hawaiian paradise meets Guyanese paradise...as if we weren't tropical enough. This was hatched by an American influenced mind.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Behind the scenes: Timeka's Hush video

What started out as two individuals in separate worlds writing about infidelity may well turn out to be two chart toppers on the indiscretion rhythm produced by shane brown from Juke Boxx Production.Several weeks ago Peter Morgan, lead singer from the Morgan Heritage band recorded his version of infidelity titled secrets on the track.

But Morgan is not the only one who's having issues with love and commitment. Guyanese rising star Timeka Marshall is also in the cook-up letting her desires and attractions lead her to pen lyrics sharing a female's version on her infidelities.

As the plot thickens by some higher purpose both ended up recording on the same track at different times and none was aware that the other complemented each other.

In the end two songs were recorded and now the two are coming together in an extended video version where Morgan and Timeka both play lead roles.

When deception and secrets but fiery passions collides the steaminess and the dishonesty brings realities truths into focus. The two began filming the videos on March 23 in Jamaica.
The above from gtvibes.com

Pics from behind the scenes of her new video for the song Hush..








Chase the dream girl!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Who wants to be a music star?

From GTvibes.com

Local singers looking to be part of the GT&T Song competition (Guyana's equivalent of American Idol) to start getting their acts together.

Auditions will soon begin and that marketing staffers at GT&T are working overtime to make the competition bigger than ever before where a car is being touted as the likely first prize.

Cleon Cadogan has been the reigning Jingle and song competition winner for two years while the other past winners includes Sean English and Timeka Marshall.

Not much has been heard from English since his win but Cadogan has since released an album and a music video while the inaugural winner of the competition has gone from jingle singing to, making video's and collaborations in Jamaica.

This year the competition will only feature a song competition as it has dropped the Jingle competition.

Timeka Marshall, also a past jingle winner, is set to begin shooting two music videos today and Tuesday with Morgan heritage lead singer Peter Morgan.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Hits & Jams sues T-Pain

T-Pain sued for canceling Guyana concert

Hip-hop star T-Pain got slapped with a lawsuit Monday in Broward Circuit Court -- for canceling a major concert in Guyana last month because of alleged kidnap and death threats.

The plaintiff, Hits and Jams Entertainment, says the 23-year-old rapper and his reps became a major pain by making grandiose demands -- from a private jet and FBI protection to a phone chat with Guyana's president.

He's only 23, he looks like 30-something!

T-Pain, paid $75,000 in advance, failed to appear, according to the complaint filed by Miami attorney Ron Lowy.

Hits and Jams, the Georgetown-based concert producer and promoter, along with three of its officers, also sued T-Pain's Nappy Boy Touring and Chase Entertainment of Fort Lauderdale.

Tell me this, the average Guyanese doesn't even get paid $75G per month Guyana dollars, where oh where did they get 75K USD just to pay T-Pain in advance?


T-Pain's real name is Faheem Najm. The moniker stands for Tallahassee Pain -- he was born in Tally.

T-Pain was to headline the Republic Day event on Feb. 23. Hits and Jams provided more than a dozen airline tickets for T-Pain and his entourage, including seven in first class. The contract also called for: a ''four-star hotel or better'' with Cartoon Network and 24-hour room service; a stadium dressing room with a private bathroom; and bottles of Grey Goose, Gran PatrĂ³n Platinum and Hennessy, and Gatorade and herbal tea.

This man let fame get to his senses! He don't know our country is now nearly poorer than Haiti, did he enjoy such luxury growing up in the South?

But on Feb. 20, Chase Entertainment's David Abram told the promoters he'd been 'advised by a credible source associated with T-Pain's camp that T-Pain should not `come' to Guyana because he would be killed or kidnapped because Hits and Jams had not paid their 'street guys.' ''

Negotiations failed to allay T-Pain's security fears, although the threats were never substantiated. Two days before showtime, Abram ''offered to return the $75,000 advance payment and to assist with the damage control,'' the suit says. But the promoter said that would not offset damages or ``remedy the disappointment to the Guyanese fans.''

Lowy lodged a $5 million breach-of-contract claim against T-Pain and Nappy Boy. He also filed libel and defamation counts against all the defendants, including Abram.

I agree they should sue his ass for embarrassing us like this, kidnapping threat, we ain't so bad!

Source

Monday, March 23, 2009

Daggering Music

I have not seen one word being used so much in music. I still believe it should not be banned. I find it quite funny. Searching imeem.com only, I found nearly 100 songs. Here are some....including an anti-daggering song by Jadee, #4 on the list.

As I mentioned before, soca seems to use daggering in a whining context while reggae uses it as meaning sex.


Daggerin





Sunday, March 22, 2009

Vote for Ray Sytes!


Now my Guyanese people, I know you like spectate and not participate, but go to youtube and vote for Ray Sytes. Sign up and leave a comment.

The votes count towards, VP Records and Golden Krust contest which can win him a record deal. So participate! And while u at it you can comment here too :)



I run GT!

Ray Sytes want you to be the GT don...go cop your I Run GT T-Shirt.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Timeka on the prowl!

Go Timeka, it's your time to shine girl.

This is from the Jamaican Observer.

Drop dead gorgeous, talented and charis-matic. Those are the words that best describe singer Timeka Marshall. Marshall is hunting for the big break with her hot new single, All Night, of which a sexy and steamy video directed by Jay Will, has been making the rounds.

"It's a feel-good song and it was a lot of fun making the video. Right now I'm back in Jamaica working on some stuff including some collaborations which I can't talk about right now," an excited Marshall said recently.

Marshall ... I'm really excited with the way things are looking

She heated up video screens with the video We Should Separate a few years ago and she is banking on All Night to make her the next big star out of Guyana, a country which has already produced hit-makers including Eddy Grant, First Born and Natural Black.

See how dem Jamaicans only for Reggae, how about hit maker Adrian Dutchin?

"Right now I'm working with Shane Brown and I recently did some work with Preston Onfroy on the Disturbia rhythm.

I'm really excited with the way things are looking,"
said Marshall.

For the past two years, she has been pursuing her professional musical ambitions. While in high school, she entered a jingle competition on the urging of her school teacher. She later won the competition which was promoted by the GT&T Selling Plus telephone company in Guyana. "I was practically forced to enter the competition by my school teacher and he wrote the jingle. I was surprised when I won and everything basically took off from there," Marshall recalled.

Guyanese journalists are not the only ones who don't do their research. Stealing a lil bit of MC and Living Guyana's thunder. GT&T Cellink Plus! Did Selling Plus make sense Jamakunumunu!

She now represents the company in various advertising and promotional campaigns.

Back home in Guyana, Marshall has done a bit of modeling, but music has become her first love. She even gave up two years of her studying at university to further her musical ambitions. "I started to pursue a degree in communications at the University of Guyana, but I took some time off to get into music. I hope to one day continue my studies, but I love graphics and I would also love to get into directing and go behind the camera," she said.

A recent recipient of two Guyana Music Awards, Marshall says the sky is the limit for her. "Just to be nominated for five awards was motivating enough for me. And to have won R&B Artiste of the Year and Best New Artiste, is just very rewarding. I was really shocked when I won the awards," she said.

Last year, Marshall updated Johnny Osbourne's Ice Cream Love which she retitled Ice Cream Boy. The track dented several Caribbean radio stations playlists for months.


Tuesday, March 17, 2009

More rum for me til I die....

Adrian and Terry joins the rum culture. Alcohol addiction, misuse and abuse is a serious matter especially in Caribbean countries where it's the cause of too many accidents, spousal abuse, and irresponsible behavior.

Adrian and Terry seem to be teaming up these days. It's a good thing - One People, One Nation, One Destiny. Musically the song is passable, but this video unfortunately gets an F! Adrian please don't lower your standards. It seems that they went to a bar in Queens- Richmond Hill and invited a bunch of Indians to come and make themselves something. I can count the amount of Black people in the video - what happened to love and unity? Drinking is an Indian thing so where better to go than lil Indian Guyana!

Wait I think I see Dj Prakz in there! Adrian run as far as you can from that no-talent excuse of an "artist." More on him later...

Somebody wants their money back...

Hits and Jams give the man his money!

‘T-Pain’ Concert - A Barbecue Concept?

DEAR EDITOR,
The organizers of the T-Pain Mash Night Mega Concert; Hits and Jams Entertainment advertised for over a month, creating a huge appetite for a T-Pain performance on the 23rd February 2009, however just over 24 hours before the show they made a national announcement that T-Pain would not in fact be coming to Guyana....

The promise of reimbursement was considered for those consumers who were able to, on a national holiday; Mash Day, submit their tickets within a four-hour period..

To offer an alternative line-up of over used artists as a compromise to an international artist such as T-Pain and expect the audience to accept this and not want their money back is ridiculous....

Following numerous attempts to contact the organizers, who were too busy to take heed to your complaints, I might add, I finally got through to a so-called ‘senior member’, who promised to reimburse my money after attempting to rationalize the fact that they weren’t paying out money because of their “barbeque concept”.
That concept was articulated that once you purchased a ticket for a barbecue and the date has passed you are no longer entitled to a refund. I also heard this concept echoed via the television show that one of the organizers usually hosts.

As an organization they hold full responsibility for providing what they have been advertising or to provide a full refund and foot the cost. A serious organizing entity would have had the insight to agree full contracts that protect themselves and the public from situations such as these...

I recommend that these organizations read carefully the conditions printed on the reverse side of the tickets which state clearly “Refunds on cancelled shows…may be obtained by presenting this ticket to the place of purchase within 60 days of the event”.


This was shortened, the full letter below.

Source

Thursday, March 12, 2009

The Congo man was influenced by the Guyanese jungle

So when I told them Trinis that Sparrow was influenced by us lowly Guyanese they never want to believe me...

Looking back… How a Guyanese ‘discovered’ Sparrow
By Oluatoyin Alleyne | March 7, 2009 in The Scene

It was 1955 when a then struggling Guyanese promoter met a young Trinidadian by the name of Francisco Slinger and on a whim decided to include him in his group that was about to tour the interior.

That whim proved to be very profitable for the Guyanese as we all know that Slinger, better known as the Mighty Sparrow eventually became one of the best known names in the calypso world.

That Guyanese was Cyril Shaw who later became Sparrow’s manager and went on many tours with him around the world.
Today Shaw, who is 87, finds if difficult to remember those days as his memory is failing him but his wife Bhanmattie Shaw, who went on some of the tours, recently told The Scene “those days were fantastic days.”

Bhanmattie said her husband would from time to time indicate to her that he would love to be interviewed but because of his failing memory it is not possible. She still wanted his wish to become a reality so she chatted with The Scene recently, though even she cannot remember it all, as her memory is also not as good as before.

Sitting among the many costumes she was preparing for the upcoming Nrityageet show, billed for May 5 and 6 at the National Cultural Centre, Bhanmattie attempted to chronicle her husband’s journey with the mighty calypsonian.


She disclosed that it was only a few years ago that her husband stopped being Sparrow’s manager since he no longer kept things up to date and had a difficulty “counting money”. She feels that his failing memory has to do with a fall he had 20 years ago when he toppled over a veranda while at Sparrow’s house in Trinidad and failed to seek medical attention. Two years after the fall a blot clot developed in his head and he underwent an emergency operation.
“But I know he is old now too, so maybe that contributes to his memory going… he remembers sometimes,” Bhanmattie said of her husband who at the time of the interview was spending time with relatives in Essequibo where he was born.

Brash lanky young man
Shaw, who wrote an article chronicling Sparrow’s journey from 1955 to 1985, describes Sparrow as a “brash lanky young man in his late teens” — 19 to be exact – who was brought to Guyana (then British Guiana) by a Trinidad band leader/promoter with an entertainment after Carnival Troupe in 1955.

According to Shaw, Sparrow was left in Guyana with a few other performers and was taken to him to be included in his group to tour the interior areas of Guyana.


“After the usual preliminary discussions regarding poor travel conditions and accommodation in the Guyana interior which was then called the ‘Forest Areas of Guyana’ I added him to the group,” Shaw wrote.

He said they toured “every nook and cranny in the country areas.” And while the conditions were hard which saw both him and Sparrow becoming ill, it was Sparrow who was hailed as the star of the tour with his “High Cost of Living” among other hit songs of the day.

The bigheartedness of the man coupled with his shrewd business acumen was evident even at that tender stage of his life career as he lifted the morale of the other performers with his “don’t quit” attitude, Shaw wrote of Sparrow.

Shaw noted that Sparrow was unconsciously forming a team of associates to advance the art form and also beginning to show the qualities necessary for a successful future in the fickle world of show business.

“In spite of all hardships and difficult travelling conditions in the bush areas of Guyana with snakes racing the Ballyhoos [wooden boats] in which we had to travel to get to the various villages, Sparrow kept the morale of the troupe high, high, high. I recall him singing ‘Growling Tigers’ [and] ‘Train Song’ much to the amusement of the members….” Shaw wrote. He said it was Sparrow’s singing after shows in the nights that helped them to pass the night away while they slept on the hard benches waiting for the same boat transportation to the next village.

Because Sparrow was so good, Shaw said, he contracted him to return to Guyana the following year after the 1956 carnival. “I recall telling him go win the 1956 Calypso crown and come back while things will be better.”
Sparrow did more than that as he not only won the calypso crown but also the road march with his popular “Jean and Dinah”.

Backing tracking a few years, Bhanmattie told The Scene that before becoming a full fledged promoter and later Sparrow’s manager, her husband owned a printing press and printed newspapers for both former presidents Cheddi Jagan and Forbes Burnham. The printing press was called the Arcade Printery and she said it was shortly after the split between Jagan and Burnham that her husband was forced to close down the press.

In fact, according to her, he was hauled down to the police station many times as he attempted to keep the press open and it was only because he went to school with the then Chief of Police, Sir David Rose that he stayed out of jail.

Bhanmattie recalled that two police officers were always found standing in front of the printery in the days leading up to its closure and they would even check the food she took for her husband.

But they never knew she hid the copy of The Thunder newspaper in her bosom and rode on her bicycle to former president Janet Jagan for her to proof the copy. “They never knew that,” she said with a laugh.

Shortly after, according to Bhanmattie her husband was forced to live outside Guyana and she remained here with their children. It was only when the brought the now dead South African singer Miriam Makeba and her band came to Guyana that he was once again allowed to return without fear of being prosecuted.

Shaw finally built a successful business in Trinidad which saw him promoting concerts, sports and doing artiste management, hence him becoming Sparrow’s manager.
Bhanmattie and Cyril and their daughter Nadira


As a matter of fact the Shaws later bought a house in Trinidad right next to Sparrow’s even though the singer is now based in New York and the Shaws’ house is now rented out.
Bhanmattie is of the opinion that her husband made “Sparrow what he is today. “We use to travel to all the islands with Sparrow and if you use to see how the girls use to flock him, …those days were fantastic,” Bhanmattie said with a far away smile.


And while she has travelled the world extensively and spent many years in Trinidad Bhanmattie said she has never left Guyana permanently as she loves her country. Her children are all now living abroad.
Read it and weep Trinis :)
Seriously though, we had Sparrow throding our soil since the 1950s Guyanese calypso and soca talent has remained virtually untapped except for the Tradewinds. Every Guyanese has heard Jean and Dinah at least once in his her life and it came out since 1956 and I was born in the 80s. I believed I've heard it thousands of time, cause a party ain't a part until them big people play Jean and Dinah and Tiney Whiney.

So did our political climate has anything to do with our suppression of the arts. Of course it did! Well I'm delighted that we've got some talent now, with their OWN music even if it's not our won genre. Talking about our won music, Shanto they call it, our own genre. I don't think I've heard it well not consciously, but Bill Rogers is suppose to be the creator. More on that and him later.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Musical History: James Ingram Fox

James Ingram Fox: ‘A treasured composer’
Celebrating our creative personalities
By Dr. Vibert C. Cambridge
Stabroek News
March 13, 2005

When James Ingram Fox passed away on February 8, 2005, at the age of 96, he was probably Guyana’s most prolific composer of classical music. He left an impressive collection of five symphonies, an opera, concerti, piano sonatas, choral works, and 60 songs. Many superlatives have been used to describe Fox. In 1987, Bridget Hart-Doman referred to him as “one of the most talented classical pianists, symphonic and operatic composers, writers and lecturers.” In 1998, Talise D Moorer described him as a “treasured composer.” His obituary summarized his life as a “true ambassador for music all over the world.”

James Ingram Fox was the first son of James Christopher and Clara Fox and was born on February 18, 1909 in Georgetown, British Guiana. His father was a dentist, and the family hoped that James would study medicine. Like his relative Ken ‘Snakehips’ Johnson, he responded to the muse of music.

Fox grew up in a musical environment and developed his love for music in Guyana. He left during his teens for London via New York, but never reached his intended final destination. During a concert at Carnegie Hall, he was seduced by the works of Beethoven and Wagner, and this led to his decision to stay in New York and pursue music. It was a decision that did not find favour with his father, who cut off his allowances. To make ends meet, Fox took a job as an elevator operator for the princely sum of $17.68 per week. “Can’t forget the 68 cents,” said Fox in an interview with Hart-Doman. “In those days, black students and professionals had to do menial jobs or else starve to death.”

In 1932, Fox enrolled at the New York College of Music and studied with Dr August Fraemcke and Gottfried Kritzler. After earning his BA at the New York School of Music, Fox completed an MA in Music from Columbia University in 1938.

After graduation, because of the virulence of the racism that existed in American society, Fox was unable to find a job as a full-time music teacher. He kept his job as an elevator operator and worked occasionally with Morton Gould arranging music for Broadway shows. He would maintain this relationship with Gould for many years and work with him on musical compositions for radio.

Fox completed The Academic, the first of his five symphonies, in 1939. It attracted the attention of Dean Dixon (1915-1976), the African American Director of Music at The Julliard School, who became a promoter of Fox’s music. In 1940, Albert Coates conducted the London Symphony Orchestra’s performance of The Academic at the Royal Albert Hall. Fox’s other symphonies are The Choral (on the Ode to Nativity by Milton), The Hinterland (dedicated to the people of Guyana), The Emancipation, and Southland.

In 1945, Fox obtained a Guggenheim Award and travelled to Northern Nigeria. The research he conducted there was the basis for his opera Don Fodio: The Unhappy Warrior, according to Hart-Doman.

Fox’s productivity after graduation established him as an important composer of classical music. However, like other Black classical composers in the United States, his works were not recognized.

To address this problem, in 1950, Dean Dixon, who, according to Hart-Doman, “was fired from the Julliard because he wanted to incorporate Blacks into the Orchestra Department,” organized a concert of symphonic music composed by Black musicians. Among the composers whose works were celebrated were Samuel Coleridge Taylor (1875-1912) of England, Ulysses Simpson Kay (1917-1995), William Grant Still (1895-1978) of the United States, and Ingram James Fox of British Guiana.

The concert attracted the attention of many influential white musicians such as Aaron Copeland, Samuel Barber and Serge Koussevitzky. The concert opened doors for Fox. He obtained his first job as a music director, namely, at Wiley College, Marshall, Texas. His academic music career would take him to New York University, Dartmouth College, Western Michigan University, University of Chicago, and his alma mater Columbia University.

Fox’s musical horizons were constantly expanding. While continuing his academic career, he arranged music for Morton Gould and started to explore African rhythms. In time, he became established as a scholar and virtuoso of African rhythms and integrated these rhythms into his piano compositions. This creativity is evident in the opera Dan Fodio. Dean Dixon considered this opera to be a masterpiece “because of the tessitura [the position of tones in instruments] and the manner in which he used complex rhythms.”

In 1969, Fox was getting ready to travel to Frankfurt, Germany, to work on a production of Dan Fodio at the Hamburg Opera House when he was empanelled as a juror in the Supreme Court of New York. He became the foreman of the jury for the famous Black Panthers’ trial. Among the 13 defendants was Afeni Shakur, the mother of Tupac Shakur.

“The Panthers didn’t want me no way,” said Fox to Hart-Doman. “They saw me as the black bourgeoisie.” “He dressed so well, so conservatively, that I could imagine the Panthers calling him Uncle Tom,” said Edwin Keenbeck. “Yet they had taken him on their jury.”

Fox was able to allay their fears. Hart-Doman reported that during the jury selection, Fox was asked to give his opinion on his concept of revolution. He replied, “Revolution starts with the pen. It is necessary to every individual and nation... Revolution is in everything. We have revolutions going on all about us, today, in writing and music. You evolve in a revolution or rebellion.” The Panthers were acquitted. Several books have been written about the trial by members of the jury, and they have all been unanimous in their conclusion that Fox was an outstanding man.

Fox lived for many years in Harlem, the home of the Harlem Renaissance, and he had many influential friends, including Charles White, Betty Saar, and Romare Bearden.

Murray Kempton described him as a “multi-dimensional artist, and a man of great charity.”

Fox never lost his Guyanese roots. His speech retained the rhythms of Guyana. His love for Guyanese food and that legendary Guyanese hospitality remained part of his being. He loved and celebrated his African heritage and African musical creativity.

In his interview with Talise Moorer in 1998, Fox reflected, “Black music will add creativity and new dimension to any music you have... I would like to see all students of musicology travel to Africa to absorb these beats.”

Source

Contact Dr Cambridge.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Godly Vibes!


Guyana Gospel

Reggae Reggae Reggae!


Guyana Reggae





Natural Black Playlist


Natural Black

Listen to the Vibes!

I don't think the side bar works too well.
Songs number 1, 2, 3 are the top 3 for the 2009 Soca Monarch Competition.


Guyana Soca






A song for Mama

Songs all about Mamas. You can't separate a man form his mama. How come dads don't get such love?


A Song for Mama

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Made in Guyana!


When asked about her one-hot wonder status:
I don’t necessarily look at anyone as “player haters”, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I try my best and just focus on what I need to do. It hasn’t just been one song, I have a number of songs out there. I have also recorded many other songs, but we have not put all out there yet. It is not just about releasing for releasing sake, it is about improving the skill whether it is writing or being in the booth. We are basically waiting to release them at the right time too.

I think you're going to do well, you still only 20. Haters leave her alone...is we own! That's right Made in Guyana!

Photo Credits:
Taken by: Xclusive Photo Studio
Outfit: Facts-n-Roses
Makeup: Andrea McAdam.
Hair:Milady’s House of Beauty Assistant Sidney

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Things that I hate!!

Here is a video about Mash 2009...Mash, Guyanese Mash, in the year 2009 and these fools ILevelEnt put a video out there for the whole wide world to see and the background music is 2 old time TnT soca songs. This is 2009, we're not on the level of TnT with soca yet, but they could have at least used 2 soca songs by Guyanese artists. This makes my blood boil....

A change of heart!

After listening to Timeka's L.O.V.E again and again, I actually like it. It's different!

Monday, March 2, 2009

What our people say about daggering!

This daggerin business is serious business...I believe it much ado about nothing. This is from Stabroek News' What the people say about Daggering.


20090302lyndaLynda Jaundoo, Public Sector Employee:
‘Yes I’ve heard the word before. In fact I read it in an article where this local singer Shell G said that as far as she knew the word means to wind up and just dance more. I wasn’t so sure that the term in the usual Soca context really meant rough sex but I think I’ve heard that daggering is also a dancing in such a way as to imitate sexual positions. Children are listening to these songs which contain the word and they are definitely not getting a positive message. I think that the word daggering should be taken out of songs before they are released in Guyana.’

20090302crystalCrystal Vaughan, Student:
‘I’m not exactly sure what the word daggering means but I know it relates to sexual movements. I must admit that the word sounds cool in the songs because at the time you’re not really thinking about what it might possibly mean. However, I know that it doesn’t send a good message. If that’s the best thing to do then the word should indeed be edited from songs before they are released in Guyana.’

20090302doverA. Dover, Teacher:
‘I’m not aware of the word and that is probably because I am not a big fan of Soca or whatever type of music the slang is used in. I am very selective when it comes to the music I listen to and my entertainment in general. I tend to listen to the types of music that are soothing to the mind. I think the reason I’ve become so skeptical about my entertainment is because these days it is hard to find thing that are not abusive to women and which have absolutely no profanity and obscene contents. Children especially are bombarded with such entertainment on a daily basis. I remember last year for the Children’s Mash Competition my school’s dance group had chosen a song but were told by the Ministry of Education that it couldn’t be used because it contained profanity so it had to be changed. I think this was the right thing and if the word daggering promotes sex in a demeaning way then I think it should be taken out of the songs before they’re released here.’

20090302hazel1Hazel Patterson, Private Sector Employee:
‘I’m not aware of the meaning of the word but if when used in the Soca context it roughly translates to rough sex or refers to the imitation of sexual positions then I think that it should be completely banned. In fact daggering is not the only word that should be taken out of these modern day Soca songs. The messages in these songs are instilling bad morals in our young people. They are definitely not educating and they encourage promiscuity, and given the fact that sexual diseases are so rampant they put people at great risk. Now anything that promotes promiscuity obviously has the power to cause the destruction of families, there are just too many indirect effects of these songs for me to list.’

20090302timotyTimothy Millington, Student:
‘Daggering, as a matter of fact I do know what the word means; it refers to sexual movements and the act itself. Yes, I do agree that the word is too crude. I’m not big on Soca but the songs that contain the word daggering are very popular so it’s very hard not to have heard it. I noticed that some daggering was done at Mash this year as well. While many people may not believe that music can influence the decisions a person makes the fact remains unchanged that it can do exactly that. I agree that the word should be edited but there are many other words contained in many other genres of music which should also be taken out. In fact, there are many words that are worse than the new Caribbean slang daggering.’

20090302laurenLauren Dundas, Student:
‘I learnt of the word’s meaning from the media; basically listening to songs on radio and looking at the music videos on television. I mean from the lyrics of the songs it becomes pretty clear that daggering refers to something sexual but when you watch the music video you get a much more dramatic and vivid indication of what the word might actually mean. I don’t think the word should be taken out of Soca songs before they are released in Guyana though because I believe to have given the word such unique meaning displays creativity. It is someone’s expression of themselves and everyone should have freedom of expression. Further more, daggering is just a creative way to sing about sex and the word sex is used in many songs and yet it has not been banned. So why ban daggering? I think the word daggering is simple creativity which speaks of the boldness of our Caribbean culture.’

20090302randyRandy Harold, Private Sector Employee:
‘I don’t know what daggering means. I’ve never heard the word before. I’m not into Soca but if the word refers to sex in a demeaning way then I think it should be edited from songs before they’re let loose in our country. It is such frivolous words that tend to make an impact on the minds of young people and it draws them away from their purpose in life. Music is a form of art regardless of how vulgar it has gotten and as all art can it touches a deep part of people and can influence them. Modern day music takes its roots from the violence and immoral practices that have all but infested our society.’

20090302kareenKareen Williams, Self-employed:
‘Daggering talks about sex and if people are offended by the word itself then Lord deliver them from the music videos. I absolutely feel that the word daggering and many others like it should be taken out of songs. The world is getting worse and so is our generation. I am not sure what will happen with the generation after us. I think such words demean sex and turn it into something nasty. Besides why on earth would we want our teens, the majority of whom listen to such music, to view sex in such a light?’

20090302noelNoel Watson, Self-employed:
‘It’s a sexual innuendo basically. I know the meaning of the word yes because it is so popular among the younger generation. I am a man of the church and I often learn a lot about the going things among the youth from those that attend my church. I learnt of the word from the church youth but the actual meaning of the word I realized when I saw a music video for one of the songs that contains the word daggering. The body language alone of the dancers in the video tells you what the word is meant to indicate. The word should be taken out of these songs before they are released in Guyana. Otherwise, what are we telling our young people? This type of music breaks moral standards and I think the fact that there are people in our society who are not affected by its use just shows that there has been a moral drift in our country.’

20090302miltonMilton Kewley, Private Sector Employee:
‘No I don’t know the meaning of the word daggering. If indeed it refers to certain sexual practices then I think it’s very ridiculous. The word should be taken out of songs before they are released to the general public. What use is such shallow entertainment to society? Our songs aren’t the only thing that needs to be cleaned up.’