"Mama she a sufferah, Papa I'm a sufferah, Can't mek mi children grow up turn sufferah."Island Jamaica: Dunn's River Falls, Ocho Rios, Negril, MoBay, Port Antonio, Kingston, Trench Town, Bob Marley. One love, irie, blessed, Selassie I, Jah Rastafari. Roots, rock, reggae. Sunsplash. Sumfest. Sting.
Jamaica: Yardies, dons, criminals, two-timing politicians, guns, drugs. Fundamentalist Christians and juvenile DJs mouthing hateful blood-and-fire lyrics of damnation. These seemingly contradictory images of Jamaica suggest the 'mix up and blender' complexity of the society.
More than a beach
In the 1970s the Jamaica Tourist Board branded the island in this optimistic way: "We're more than a beach. We're a country." It was an attempt to market the island as much more than a conventional tourist destination offering generic sun, sand, sea and sex on the side.
The rent-a-dread Rastitute (fake Rasta prostitute) is the classic example of the 'native' turned into a fast-food commodity, packaged for quick consumption by the greedy tourist in the name of cultural authenticity.
Nation in crisis
Jamaica in the twenty-first century is a nation in crisis. Globalization has completely destroyed the economic viability of the island's productive sectors. Stephanie Black's chilling documentary Life and Debt exposes what's happening to Jamaica.
The IMF and the World Bank are holding out for their pound of flesh. Debt repayment accounts for more than sixty per cent of the national budget. And there's very little that can be done with what's left.
Artists strike back
In these dread circumstances it's not surprising that Jamaican musicians are chanting down the oppressive social systems that perpetuate poverty.
As Bounty Killer puts it so lucidly in Sufferah on his 2002 Ghetto Dictionary CD, "Mama she a sufferah, Papa I'm a sufferah, Can't mek mi children grow up turn sufferah." The best of today's dancehall lyrics, like Bob Marley's, is a riddim resisting against the system.
Carolyn Cooper31 March 05Carolyn is professor of literary and cultural studies and co-ordinator of the reggae studies unit at the University of West Indies and the author of Sound clash: Jamaican dancehall culture at large.
