wireless
It's never to late to graduate to a different level, & never too old to make any changes from what you have learned from your past. Focus on the background, those who are writing these songs and giving them to the top stars to put out there. Now its up to the crowd to allow stars like Beenie to remove that 'so called' violent wall and make a change. And yeah what song was it?

DJ. Baddness
beenie man is a lyrical artist, a jamaican & the dr. of all dj's. what he writes on paper is meant for one's entertainment, not to be judgemental. it is meant for it to be seen how the fans want to seen it.

High Priest
I know people who r gay and none of Beenie Man's songs have offended them. If the gay campaigners want some media coverage, I think they should be a little more original. All sorts of song with all sorts of lyrics have been released and if the man is so original to write his lyrics the gay promoters should look for ideas to promote their thing and not criticise the lyrics... Be strong Bennie, u r a star.

Rich
Im against prejudice of any kind, and I think street music today should take freedom as its driving force, but it seems to be getting more and more negative at the moment, and for me this is a classic example of it.
But so what if I dont like it? Let the guy spit what he wants - it's his music after all, and whoever isn't offended can buy it. I just hope he'd be able to cope if someone spat some racist lyrics, cos if they did he'd be a hypocrite to moan about it.
I think a negative song loses the vibe that makes street music so raw.

Paul
Its ironic do you not think, that Beenie has modelled for Dolce & Gabbana - two openly gay designers?

'Dude'
Any kind of discrimination like that is out of order. The person saying Eminem wanted to kill his wife [far below] has got it out of context. sayin u wanna kill one person is one thing, saying you want to wipe out a whole demographic is different.
And all that bull bout it's just how jamaican ppl think and he should be able to express it, fair enough, so we will let hardliners release tracks about killing all other religions, or extremist israelis come out chattin bout wiping out muslims.

elisha
I think that he is wanting a bigger audience and because the reggae and bashment is so hot right now he is trying to apologise so he can make more money!!!!

fflood
As a straight Jamaican man, i must say that i lament this divisive aspect of our culture. it is dizzying to hear dancehall artists sing about "saving the youth" and pleading for violence to stop in the streets and calling themselves "conscious"... then calling down fire on their gay brothers and sisters.
"dem a cut cut cut 'gainst dem one anodda...tho they teach to love one anodda.." - "Hypocrites" by the Honorable Robert Nesta Marley ...i also sincerely wonder why someone would put so much energy into this issue, album after album, song after song. i would not be suprised if it was really issues of internalized oppression that fuel these songs.
Kinda like Biggie (RIP) singing about himself being "black and ugly as ever"...feelin me? cuz man... the internalized oppression must be unparalleled. i pray for this split to heal. bless.

Neil from Birmingham
As a gay man myself I have not heard any of these "kill the homosexuals" lyrics. Gay people do not respect each other themselves, so why on Earth should others? Everybody is hard-done by in this life, and people will always say something that will affect someone else in their life time. Simply: do not buy the music then you cannot be offended. I don't like Eminem so when he comes on I turn over. There. Easy. Peace to you all. Life is only happens to us the once.

Nik M
Its a start, I mean everyone has their opinions & sometimes u hav 2 zip ur mouth up out of consideration. Ok so every1 has a right 4 free speech but it's easy to judge some1 else when u dont walk in their shoes. Lots of us have encountered some kind of discrimination so maybe we should learn from it & b more tolerant to others (unless they do something to us to cause us bad feelings)...just cos ur different doesnt make u a bad person & the bible says lots of things are wrong but people still go ahead & do them so the bible thing is no excuse.

Chica
in this day and age we are taught we have to respect everyones views but we are all prejudiced about something or other. much love xxxxxxxx

Phil
If he meant it he shouldn't apologise. Get strong Beenie Man, if you don't believe it don't say it. If you do believe it don't deny it.

P Kane
What's the point rapping about hating gay people? It's 2004. Beenie Man needs to realise that people have become bored with that rubbish. Why incite prejudice? Has he ever felt hatred from people for being who he is? Hmm? He needs to grow up and if he needs to talk about gay people in his lyrics then it's obvious he's running out of material. I don't think these artists deserve to be given a music contract.

Noel
Of course it's not a sincere apology in relation to Jamaican culture. Shabba Ranks was one of the best deejays ever, but a few choice words ended his career. Sean Paul isn't the best of deejays in my opinion but he is an international star - also Shaggy. They are careful in their lyrical content, so dancehall acts take heed.

Messy One
No he shouldn't have apologised - but it sounds like it weren't him - it was the record label, probably worried about his record sales. How is apologising going to change any attitudes anyway? And he's making records for the Jamaican public, where homosexuality is still illegal. If you go there and see how deep these beliefs run, you'll realise that the apology is an empty one, for Western ears only.
In fact people there have rallied round him now in support and he's somewhat of a national hero because of these lyrics. If he turns his back on his Jamaican fans and sincerely apologises, he may win favour with Tatchell and his cause, but will have NO FANS left - and his record label would drop him anyway. Look what happened to Shabba's career after he apologised. So if you were Beenie, believing what he believes, what would you do?

Tanya
I kind of understand how Beenie's songs might offend gays but let me say this. Gay people do not run the world. Just because someone makes fun of you or says something you don't like doesn't give you the right to start a protest. Music is freedom - if you don't like it then you can make a song dissing Beenie.
If you can't come up with one, then deal Wid it. Jamaican music is not going to change because some of the songs hurt gay people's feelings. They hurt MPs' feelings, they hurt policemen's feelings. It is the expression of Jamaicans and we are free to feel however so don't listen if you don't like it. I will keep on buying it.

Johnny
You can go on about free speech. if you don't like it don't listen to it, let him express his feelings, and all that, but if this were a white guy sayin 'lets kill all the blacks' would we have the same feelings about free speech? Beenie's music is cool, his prejudices aren't. Its OK for him not to agree with homosexuals, but not to talk about killing them in his songs yeah.

mike
beenie should be careful, money is the root of all evil, there is a reason for everything, you and i know he is only doing this because of his new album coming out. beenie what out and dont sell your pride.

M
I don't think he is sorry, maybe he should keep them kind of lyrics to himself, there are other things he could be speaking about, other than killing gays.

shawna
i suppose people should be allowed to have an opinion but beenie mans lyrics werent an opinion, he said kill all gays. if you ppl think that should be condoned then ure wrong. we are livin in da 21st century, he should keep his opinions to himself. i dont care if he is jamaican and dats wot they believe in or woteva excuses there are, sexuality is not an issue and shouldnt be an issue same goes for religion race and everything else.

KANE
I DONT SEE THE PROBLEMS REALLY, RAP MUSIC TALKS ABOUT KILLING PEEPS ALL THE TIME BUT JUST COS THIS GUT SAYS GAY PEEPS THEN ALL THIS COMOTION...HIS OPINION...IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT THEN DON'T BUY HIS CD'S SIMPLE INIT...PEACE OUT RABBIT!

S
The guy needs to shut his mouth. He's obviously ignorant. I can't understand how the record label let him sing lyrics like that in the first place. What is wrong with these people???!!!!!! Who cares if people are gay - it is the 21st century!!!!!!!! I can't understand Beenie man's lyrics anywho - his songs all sound the same.

Richard from Peckham
No, Beenie Man is probably not sorry. This well-worded apology was probably drafted by a solicitor. Homosexuality was once illegal in Britain and Britain made it illegal in the colonies too.
Now the UK has legalised sodomy and gay men and women are flouting their identity, you can't expect Jamaica to follow suit. Lyrics are written to please small Jamaican audiences and in Jamaica gay people are still regarded as unnatural.

Tara
If people dont like what beenie man is sayin then dont listen to his musiq its simple as that. if ur offended dont listen to it. I love his musiq and hes a great artist and u need to stop takin things so seriously. ppl have different views and right let them be. - im outz wuNz Tara

Craig
Its just a song...let the man express his feelings eh?

Jay
i have lost all respect for beenie man as a person, i think MOST of his music is heavy and will carry on listening, but as for him - 4get it. the way he voiced his opinions is wrong. what if a white man said 'kill all blacks' or a black man said 'kill all whites'..? its not different.

Dizzle
I don't think the apology is sincere, but i don't think he should have to apologise. Whatever happened to free speech? I'm not condoning homophobic behaviour in anyway, but as Beenie Man said, his lyrics are personal and reflect his emotions.
The funny thing is, look at all the people now talking about Beenie Man now that he said these words. Controversy sells and Beenie Man has just created himself a whole load of controversy, it quite easily have been a marketing ploy, albeit not the best. And for anyone who doesn't believe me...50 Cent?

L.D
discrimination is on the rise and an apology wont stop kids who look up to beenie copying him.

Charlie
Homophobia has been a problem before beenie man, so why make the fella say sorry? if he doesn't mean it, it's pointless right?

kez
wats his problem wid gays? instead of making songs about dem, he should keep it to himself init?

cj
what song was it?

black knight
well he aint sorry really because it's his lyrics so that's a representaion of how he feels. Although when it's a black artist says stuff like this there's a lot more hype around it yet when slim shady spoke bout killing his wife it was considered great creativity.

Kev
I fink dat peeps shood old dere own, wen it cumz 2 tingz lyke diss. Da man az iz own voyce yeh get meh' ... let da man speek ennit. Coz in da end fingz like dis will be hard too say and dat like my man is baaad, man, you get me' blood.

de Vinyl
Of course he doesn't mean it - why would his opinions do a u-turn just because his record label had words with him? The fact is homophobia is unpalatable for a lot of the Western market and understandably so. And Da Truth - i think the issue goes a little further than 'taking the mickey' out of gay mans...

A strong black
There is no need to promote any kind of violence in lyrics - there are enough words in the english language to say what you want. We black people have to start doing without the slackness and nastiness that is destroying our black people.
live and let live, it's the idiots that run the studios who allow crap to be made, then its us the greater idiots who buy rubbish. We dont buy they dont make, then the world is happy. Peace and love to all humans.

Da Truth
It speaks 4 itself. The industry is controlled by these people, so as an artist you better mind what you say. Thats real!! Look how many artists - especially Jamaican ones - have been snagged by this trap.
My question is this: Is it ok to kill a person in a song, just as long as they aint gay? Or is it ok to comment on people in a song, just as long as they aint gay? I thought gay peeps wanted equal rights. To me that mean you get the mickey taken out of ya just like everyone else. Thats equality!!!

Kitty
my best m8 has recently told me hes gay nd wen he herd dat song it rely got him down - if sum1 started singing a song about killing black ppl den dat person wud get killed. dere is not enough understanding about gays.