30 years of Reggae Sumfest – Part II

On the first night of the 30th staging of Reggae Sumfest, one of dancehall’s newest breakout stars, Bayka, had his performance cut short. The 1Uptown artiste was then arrested and briefly detained. The reason – his use of profanity on stage.

The swearing in public cases is governed under Section 9c of the Towns and Communities Act. It states that “any person who shall make on any fence, wall or other building, any obscene figure, drawing, painting, or representation, or sing any profane, indecent, or obscene song or ballad, or write or draw any indecent or obscene word, figure, or representation, or use any profane, indecent or obscene language shall be guilty of an offence”.

Even though this was Bayka’s first performance at the iconic festival, he is not the first artiste to get himself in trouble for violating that law at Sumfest. In the festival’s 30 years, numerous artistes have cursed on stage and been fined. In 2001, Snoop Doog, Ja Rule and Beenie Man were all charged for swearing on stage. In 2003, Sean Paul was served with a summons for the use of profanity during his Sumfest set. In 2008, it was Bounty Killer. A year later, both Vybz Kartel and Mavado were charged for swearing and, in 2011, Nicki Minaj was charged $1,000 for swearing during her performance. In fact, leading up to the 2001 staging of the event, Lady Saw was banned from performing in Montego Bay because of a pattern of violating the law during previous live performances.

Over the years, there have been numerous calls in and outside of the Reggae Sumfest organisation to deal with the issue of artistes swearing. Back in 2001, the Montego Bay Parish Council proposed banning Dancehall Night of Sumfest. This, they say, was to prevent the “sexual gyration of children, the chanting of graphic lyrics, ganga and cocaine smoking and banned local and foreign acts known for outlandish behaviour”. During that year’s staging, eight performers were fined for indecent language and sponsors and sections of Jamaican society would publicly critique Sumfest organisers.

In response to this, the following year saw Sumfest organisers hold onto half of all performers’ fees until after the stage show. The organisers stated that anyone who brought the show into disrepute would not be paid in full. As such, the 2002 staging of Sumfest was the first time in the festival’s history where no expletive was uttered by any performer.

Then, in 2005, there were different arms of corporate Jamaica who spoke out against artistes who continue to curse on the stage. In a May 2005 article published in The Gleaner, the director of Summerfest Productions Limited, Walt Crooks, stated, “These guys need to realise that a microphone in their hands does not mean authority and power, it means responsibility and respect. I must congratulate corporate Jamaica because someone needs to stand up and tell these guys that this nonsense must stop”.

As the years continue, it seems the only way to monitor swearing at the festival is through the Towns and Communities Act.

Nevertheless, there has been activism by different persons in society to do away with the law or to create special expectations for dancehall musicians during live shows. In a 2006 interview with The Gleaner, Bounty Killer said, “They should have a rating system for these things. Why is it that, if there is a vulgar play or movie or something going on in a nightclub, it is OK, but dancehall is so international, more than cricket and dem ting deh? I have been advocating and lobbying for the longest time for a rating system, but no one not listening ... . Music is an expression of art and it is also the expression of self, which are two different things”.

In 2019, Popcaan, in a social media post, wrote, “Full time our police stop taking people off stage for saying [expletive] in Jamaica. Look how much people say [expletive] in Canada with no police escorting me off stage at a corporate stage. Soon after, Spice also appealed to Prime Minister Andrew Holness to legalise Jamaican “bad words” in dancehall as it was affecting the culture. Politicians have also joined the call to do away with the law. In August 2019, economics academic and opposition senator, Dr Andre Haughton stated that he intended to move a motion that will allow for the use of Jamaican expletives to be use in dancehall. In an interview with the Jamaica Observer, he said, “We want to make it like how you make X-rated movies that way people know what dem a sign up for”. It is a similar system to the one Bounty Killer advocated for almost a decade prior. “Jamaican people need to start focusing on substance over form. A lot of things here are just form with no real substance. People across the world a have how much festival and products with our culture an’ a profit off it while we vilify these harmless words,” added Haughton.

J.T. Davy is a member of the historical and political content collective, Tenement Yaad Media, where she co-produces their popular historical podcast, Lest We Forget. She is also a writer at the regional collective, Our Caribbean Figures. Send feedback to jordpilot@hotmail.com and entertainment@gleanerjm.com.