Book Report – Inna Di Dancehall by Donna P. Hope.
The book Inna Di Dancehall- ‘Popular Culture and the Politics of Identity in Jamaica’ was published in 2006. ISBN # 976-640-168-3 and consist of 5 chapters, 168 pages, hard cover and was brought for $160.00TT. It was written by the scholar Ms. Donna P. Hope. The book is based on Jamaicans and how they use dancehall music as a way to express their identities and refined the way traditional Jamaican society once recognized them to be. It also looks at the evolution of dancehall culture and the music. Such may include violence, gender, crime, sexuality and personalities.
Donna Hope looks at the how the transformation of Jamaica (economically, politically and socially) has impacted on the evolution of music. The PNP government, when they came into power, had caused the Jamaican foreign reserve to become negative. This happened because they wanted to redistribute the finances that the country was gaining and by doing so they ended all ties and the dependency that Jamaica had on foreign countries. An attempt was made to rectify this when the TLP came into power, but all attempts were proved futile. It was during this period, D Hope explains how Jamaica had undergone changes with respect to the deterioration of services, over population which led to greater poverty levels and a lower standard of living as well as an increase in rent and mortgage. This frustration and stress faced by these Jamaicans in the late 1970’s and 1980’s was expressed through the medium of words in the form of dancehall music. This was the opening grounds for the evolution of dancehall music. This was the opening grounds for the evolution of dancehall music. D. Hope states that dancehall music can be defined as the genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the early 1980’s. Dancehall music was male dominated and it was a way for the poor black men to express themselves. It was a way of survival from the poverty lifestyle that was occurring. Deejays that came about at this time used dancehall music to define their identity and personality. These men (Yellowman, Shabba Ranks and Ninja man) sang about their life and the activities that took place in poorer cities like crime, sex and sexuality, poverty and domestic factors. With the development of Jamaica’s media, music and culture has become very noticeable and prominent in Jamaican society. D. Hope stated that also dancehall provided a way out of poverty, it also contributed to the high levels of crime and was one of the reasons why there was a high rate of teenage boys dropping out of school.
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D. Hope describes the space in which dancehall culture exists by the use of the words ‘Dis/place’ where these words may state the change and movement of dancehall culture, it can also mean disrespect and mistreatment and also a place where human rights have been denied. Terms such as ‘affectors and affectees’ are used to define the diverse behavior of the actors within dancehall culture. Song creators, promoters and song system operators were considered to be affectors, while the affectees and the consumers of dancehall culture which can be categorized into gendered groups.
Song creators are responsible for the composition of lyrics and rhythms that form the backbone of dancehall music. These lyrics may sometimes be explicit, violent and obscene and used to emphasize the vital issues that affect masculine and feminine identities. D.Hope tells us that the society was male dominant. She categorizes them as ‘don/shotta, don youth, freaky hype type and big man/dads/fadda/heavyman’. She goes on to explain that a real man is one that can provide for his family while being able to purchase expensive clothing and cars as well as able to have beautiful women which lays the foundation for his identity.
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Issues of sexuality and identity were closely related to the colour of your skin. Black men and women were revered as sex animals. D. Hope goes on to state that black women were considered to be strong like animals and the white women were perceived as being pure and had to be protected from black men. Hope went on to state that society was stratified based on colour. On the social ladder, blacks were at the base and whites were at the top. It is due to this obsession with skin colour, women tried bleaching their skin, and they may have taken pills and tablets to enhance their body in order to be accepted by society. This was done under the opinion that ‘when you are lighter skinned, yuh get more attention’.
Artists such as ‘Shabba ranks, Spragga benz and Red dragon’ in male dominated dancehall society, would often sing songs that would refer to female genitals which they called ‘punaany’. These lyrics degraded women and in their defense, females like ‘Lady saw and Tanya Stephens’ attacked the men verbally.
In these dancehall lyrics, violence was also evident. Artists such as ‘Front teeth, Supercat and Bounty Killer’ sung about violence because it is a part of society and reality. During the changes of political parties in the 1980’s, criminal activity increased most in the poor urban areas such as St. James and St. Catherine. The effects of being unemployed was different for each gender. For males, this led to an increase in gang related activity while for women; this led to an increase dependency on men. Overall this led to the use of different and more deadly weapons e.g. from knives to guns, which was an important part in the dancehall culture and was a part of male identity.
Dancehall artist such as ‘Ninja man and Supercat’ used terms such as ‘shotta and don’ which was used to define the men in Jamaican society. ‘Don’ is defined as being a man of high status while ‘Shotta’ is defined as a gunman in a criminal gang. Since dancehall artists use these terms in their lyrics, it became popular among the youth in Jamaican society. The media ensures that the language used in dancehall lyrics are moved about locally, regionally and internationally. Dancehall provides and economic foundation for those involved in the informal sector, it provides a medium to let out frustration verbally instead of physically. Economic/financial wealth promotes an upward social mobility, contributing to a higher level of respect and power. Dancehall provides more career opportunities for individuals rather than traditional careers such as lawyers and doctors.
The Essay on Impact of dancehall music on society
Dancehall, like most music, is a form of self-expression. It is an art form through which the artiste can relate to events and issues of their lives. Its popularity forces its involvement into most events with its pulsating rhythms and catchy lyrics. The influence of dancehall music on society has contributed heavily to the violent and sexual behaviour and increase in drug use among youth. ...
It can be said that dancehall music evolved during the 1980’s in the economic crisis where people wanted to express their stress and frustration which led to poverty and criminal activity. Lyrics of the dancehall songs identify the person and the surrounding that they exist in, where this book was based on a topic on Caribbean civilization called Caribbean identity. After reading this book I learnt additional information about Caribbean identity mainly in Jamaican society and was worth buying this book for the reasonable price of $160.00TT.
Bibliography
Book
* Donna P. Hope: Inna di Dancehall: Popular Culture and the Politics of Identity in Jamaica, University of the West Indies Press: Jamaica, 2006.
Internet articles
* Hagerman Brent, Donna P. Hope: Inna di Dancehall: Popular Culture and the Politics of Identity in Jamaica http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_6971/is_64_32/ai_n31001701/
* Norment Lynn, Black Women White Men, White Women Black Men – interracial relations http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_1_55/ai_57046411/
