Kavelle Anglin-Christie, Staff Reporter
FANS, FANATICS, entourages, 'lumpets', puppets, groupies. Whatever you choose to call them, they exist and oftentimes, they are the overlooked culprits in some of dancehall's famous feuds and show-stoppers.
Let's reflect on a few incidents: a few years ago, Capleton's followers boxed Beenie Man; another saw Supercat clashing with Ninja Man and he was bottled by a patron and he returned the blow; Sizzla and Capleton's entourages had a blow-out at Rebel Salute and the ever present battles between Beenie Man and Bounty Killer's fans, and countless others.
Not many may readily, if at all, understand why someone who has never been near enough to an artiste to get a whiff of his cologne would be so devoted to them. According to Dr. Leachim Semaj, psychologist, these ultra-devoted fans, quite simply need to get a life.
"You've heard the expression, 'get a life', that's exactly it, because most of these people are living vicariously through someone else's life ... Many of the artistes literally share the same culture as the fans, so if someone else is singing about somewhere you know and telling a story, it will have an effect on you. That's what entertainment is supposed to do, that's why when you immerse yourself into a book you start to live your dreams and aspirations through the author," he said.
FAN IS SHORT FOR FANATIC
Dr. Semaj continued by speaking about why some people are so drawn to artistes: "Fan is short for fanatic. The typical artiste helps to shape your identity in dancehall culture and it appeals mostly to adolescent type. You live vicariously through your artiste, so if your artiste is doing well, you feel you are doing well."
"So if anyone did something to your artiste you get upset because this type of thing helps to give your life meaning and it enhances your self-esteem and anyone who threatens that, threatens your self-esteem ... More people listen to what the artistes are saying than what they read. Even with the tracing matches between artistes like Beenie Man and Bounty Killer, people get so involved and feel they can participate," he said.
Extreme analysis? Maybe not. Dr. Semaj's comments seem to be confirmed by the actions of these fans', which he said is constantly fuelled by the media.
"The media is also a part of it. The artistes get onstage making innuendoes and the media help to fuel that. All the nasty songs that Beenie and Bounty sing about and it's being played on [these stations]. On one station a disc jock was playing one of their songs like seven times and then after a while he came on saying that he wouldn't be playing it again because it was madness. In dancehall culture, if there is a rift between artistes, it makes the headlines in the paper and they try to encourage it," he said.
Clashes have always been a feature of dancehall music, starting with the sound systems of Sir Coxone Dodd and Duke Reid in the 1950s and anyone who grew up in this era will always have colourful tales about them. The problem, therefore, does not seem to be the clash, which makes for good entertainment, but the fans' violent response to it.
SOCIAL CONTROL
Dr. Semaj said the types of people who usually exhibit this kind of fanaticism are usually adolescents, those with a "lower level of education and those with less social control. You won't find certain people going and blocking roads and throwing stones and getting involved in artiste's lives and that sort of thing. They might enjoy the artiste's music, but that's it. It all comes back down to getting a life. If you have one, you really don't have the time to think about these things and do certain things that some of these fans do".
He also said artistes who say their songs do not influence people shy away from the truth: "That's a cop out. Artistes are more influential than parents in many instances, because when you listen to the music you get a feeling and an opinion and that gives rise to a particular behaviour."
Dr. Kingsley 'Ragashanti' Stewart, anthropologist, said while the fans should be held responsible for their actions, dancehall is a microcosm of what happens in the rest of the country.
"Whatever happens in the Jamaican worldview, dancehall will reflect it as a ritualistic space. Dancehall will present it through song, dance and behaviour. So the tension perceived in dancehall is not just in dancehall, but is a Jamaican phenomenon," he said.
Dancehall artiste, Capleton, who has been involved in some feuds is now singing a different tune. He said he is a firm believer in unity among artistes and their fans.
ARTISTES MUST UNITE
"Unity is strength and the artiste dem need fi know seh the youth dem a emulate we and the energy that we give off, a motivate the I dem ... The artistes just have to set the example in terms of unity. There isn't enough unity in the country already, so we have to try to unite the fans. Music is life and governs the people so we need to do more conscious songs. The lyrics nuh haffi be so degrading," he said.
As far as he and Sizzla are
concerned, Capleton said: "That
wasn't no clash. Me go pon stage fi represent nothing else and me did want to work for three years straight and me always a get some daylight thing. Me wah perform when me can see me torch dem a light and me did just want please myself."
Unity isn't only important to Capleton, but it is also necessary to the victims of the fanatics of artistes.
One victim, is selector Shaun 'Hotta Ball' Lennon, who says he was attacked some months ago by followers of Bounty Killer. He said the incident was sparked by a dub he played, which was not in favour of Bounty. It is also important to note, that Lennon has been labelled Beenie Man's selector.
Lennon spoke of the pitfalls he faced as a result of the divide in the industry. "The only thing that I really hate is not getting a special (dub plate) from particular artistes and some shows wha me wha do, me cyaan. Some of the people that me cyaan get dubs from is people like Bounty, Mavado and Busy, but man like Kartel and Bling give me, all recently."
Clyde McKenzie, director of Shocking Vibes, had much to say on clashes and the resulting separation in Jamaican music.
"I think the public is becoming tired of their (artistes') behaviour. I think people want to be entertained and are tired of their 'bangarang' and 'cass cass'. While some of these artistes are quibbling about crumbs, other artistes are out there eating the cake," said McKenzie.
"I think it is counter-productive and backward and people are tired of this 'cass cass' between artistes. I am not identifying any particular artiste, I am just saying that I think Jamaicans deserve better," he said.
He said the fans who incite the violence are "just hangers-on. In the main, these are just idlers, lumpets, and they are the ones who initiate the 'boo' and really initiate the violence. They do these things to try and get into the good graces of the artiste so they go and look fights on behalf of the artistes and some of them keep going from place to place carrying information with nothing to do."
Winston 'Merritone' Blake, musicologist, said while clashes have always been a part of our culture, it diminishes the quality of the show.
BATTLEGROUND FOR CLASHES
"It's our phenomenon because it seems to be consistent and Sting became a battleground for these clashes ... It's good for entertainment, but not for music standards. Because instead of getting better music quality and pushing the music forward, they focus on tracing and cursing out each other. It's like a tenement yard brawl. For music lovers, those who
genuinely love music, they are
cheated because of this clash thing, because the creative energy of the performer you came to see has been sapped because he is involved in a tracing match with another artiste."
Blake said as a result of how personally some fans take what is perceived to be a verbal attack against 'their artiste' it is in the
promoter's best interest to ensure proper security is provided.
"Many of these fans are not thinking about the end product. They are thinking about having a good time at someone else's expense ... So as far as the promoter goes, people are going to start looking at your fan base behaviour to say whether or not they want to come to your show. That's why at one point people started calling 'Sting, Fling'. They lost a lot of their core fans because of that."
"The promoters need to be sensitive to the needs of their patrons. You can't depend on people not to misbehave. You can't rely on 10,000 people not to misbehave, because out of that, 50 people will do something to disrupt the show and then the other 9,000 people have no choice but to run, even though they were not in agreement. The promoters need to have a zero policy rule and let the patrons know that if they do something, that's it, they're out. If they don't want bottles being thrown, then they shouldn't serve drinks in bottles and enforce a code of conduct for their show," said Blake.
