The Voice Of The Jamaican Ghetto: Incarcerated but not Silenced

by Adidja Palmer

not smart enough to see right through you. You see, it’s perplexing, that you don’t even know what Dancehall is yet you want to set the rules. You’ve never spoken to the chicken man to have him tell you what Dancehall means to him. You’ve never ask the hairdresser how many of her clients did their hair on the weekend because they were attending some Dancehall event. Did you stop the Japanese that you saw at the airport coming down with a sick amount of yen to spend pon wi dance dem and ask them why they are coming to Jamaica? Do you know about Front Line, House of Leo or Four Roads street dance where police invaded the dance like they just landed in enemy territory? Have you ever stood up in a corner dancing with your girl only to see Operation Ardent arrive on the scene telling all men in merina, suede shoes and dark glasses to go up in the truck and everybody else to go home fast? Have you ever paid your money, walked into a dance, bought a round of Guinness and police come bruck di selector needle? Remember they used to raid Front Line on Red Hills Road in the 80s when Exodus was playing on a Tuesday night. Then they pressured Super D out by Harbour View on Sundays, Lees in St. Thomas, Bodyguard in Clarendon and Dancehall everywhere else. So please, do not make it seem as if all of a sudden Vybz Kartel’s music is the reason you have decided to raid dancehall. If it was so, why did Buju Banton sing “Operation Ardent” in the 1990s? Just to clarify, it is not always in the...