Dancehall Music Essay

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DANCEHALL AND HIP-HOP: YOUTH PERCEPTIONS OF SEXUALITY AND VIOLENCE W Marc Jackman Background (HJ ~,.;, -, Trim'" and Jamaica have brought the debate about the merits or demerits of hiphop and dancehall music back into the public space. A situation surrounding the performance of a top female hip-hop artist of Trinidadian heritage, Nicki Minaj (real name, Onika Tanya Maraj), created a public furor between the country's government and opposition in the Trinidad parliament (Lord 2010). The brouhaha developed over the appropriateness of a song she sang in which it was alleged that she used expletives to an audience that included minors (Douglas 20 I 0). The Parliamentary opposition also charged the govemment minister concerned with a 'misuse of public funds 'in sponso ring the event because the values communicated in the songs were not healthy in the that they promoted alcohol abuse and sexual laxity (Alexander 20 J0). At the end of the heated debate, the Opposition charged that the govemmentminister responsible for the show had misled parliament concerning Ms. Minaj 's use ofobscene language and called for the minister concerned to be brought before the Privilege's committee of Parliament for the offense. The Speaker of the House of Parliament upheld the charge and the ~d Tooogo minister was sent before the said committee to defend himself (Douglas 20 10). These events serve to demonstrate the far-reaching impact of hip-hop music in Trinidad. Additionally, there has been a significant and worrisome increase in the murder rate in Trinidad in the last decade. The large majority of victims are those identified as Afro-Trinidadian youth from ghetto areas who subscribe to the gangland culture and lifestyle promoted by hip-hop and more recently some Dancehall music. This has also gotten the attention of the authorities and numerous attempts have been made
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