Share Him?

Jamaican artiste are constantly  influenced by all kinds of suspect substances, some strive on melodies and lyrics of other artiste, some on heated call and response type of lyrics. And, usually influenced by excess of liquor, ganja smoking and peer pressure. Whatever it is that they strive on they need to understand that they have moral responsibilities to up hold (especially to the younger members of society). . . I was mulling over these thoughts some weeks ago as I sat in a karaoke bar and witnessed people committing a mini-murderation of their favourite songs. It was fun though.

The karaoke bar is situated in the middle of a well known Kingston "T" junction. The vibes in the bar was just right... talking and music could be heard from I stepped out of the car near the stairways. When I entered the room there was only one thing on my mind and that was to enjoy every bit of the night to the max. I love to sing so it was of no doubt that I would give a rendition of one of my favorite song... enjoying myself so much I was fully engulfed in the night, I guess I did not see this one coming... One lady sang oops I did it again in a way that made me say no please don't ever do it again. Another woman took Lady Gaga's Alejandro and rendered it not just off key, but off the island, I swear if Gaga heard her she would sue. 


The wonderment and weirdness climaxed for me though, when a pair of friends got up to sing a song called Share him  by Lukie D. That was the kicker! I'm not very familiar with the song and I couldn't discern even a vague sense of the melody until I used Ares to download the song to scrutinize its lyrics. And I found the lyrics interesting and troubling. I decided to pay keen attention to the lyrics of the song.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIUA6yusoJ0

A bit troubling

The lyrics  I heard were a bit troubling for me. I heard lyrics such as "share him if a good man yu want di wolla dem gone, yu better tek what yu get til yu get what yu want", "People might say yu recking good  homes, but if yu si a good man and him a give yu good talk, girl don't mess around". Something clicked. One side of my brain started to go into overdrive as I began to analyse and intellectualise. I was in the middle of interrogating the extent to which these  lyrics insidiously inscribe negative encouragement and help to trivialize and normalize bad influences on persons' relationships. 


One side of me said, Ker it just a song come on... but then the analysis side of me chipped in and scolded me saying there's a time and place for everything!  I did not start analyzing the song in depth  until the following day. I went on YouTube.com and found the song and these were the major lament of my mind...
 As our motto so speaks that "out of many one people", this helps me to express the fact that Karaoke was not originated in Jamaica but because of our rich and diverse cultural background and the diversity of people, we are influence in many ways and karaoke is one such way. 
Karaoke is a place where people go to sing songs (that is most times only suitable to be sang in one's bathroom), socialize and enjoy some stress free time. This allows one to reflect on our African ancestors in the 20th century who would go to clubs and  wrapped their rum soaked vocal chords around the notes of Jazz and blues music. Karaoke is an environment where individuals can go and show off their uniqueness and individual taste.