IT IS said that being a mother is a full-time job. With the effort required to effectively nurture children, the time needed to spend with them, and the money needed to care for them, this task is no walk through the park.
Similarly, succeeding as a dancehall artiste is no easy feat. Especially as a female, this becomes even more difficult in the male-dominated genre. Scores of female dancehall artistes have always stated how hard it is as females to break into the dancehall business. When not snubbed by some producers, they recommend what type of tunes they should record, some promoters try to pay them less for stage shows, and the list goes on.
As it stands now, there are only a handful of established female dancehall acts. Of this small number, there are a few who have made it as both mothers and artistes, despite the rigours of both 'professions'.
MOTHERS AMONG MANY
The short list of practising female dancehall deejays includes Lady G, Macka Diamond, Queen Paula, CeCile, Tanya Stevens, Miss Thing, Lady Saw, and Spice. Although their careers may be at different levels, they are more or less the core of the practising female deejay family. Of this eight, Queen Paula, Lady Saw, Tanya Stephens, Macka Diamond and Lady G are mothers.
Some argue that mothers in dancehall are doomed from the beginning, as the image of a woman showing up at the studio with baby in hand, or toddler strolling beside her is not exactly what a producer wants to see.
Added to this, by society's conventions, apart from forking out money when necessary, their male counterpart is not called on to provide the same amount of nurturing and attention as the mothers. This means that the male deejays have more time to hang out at studios, 'bleach' at stage shows, and take extended trips overseas when necessary.
In Tanya Stephens's view, the image should not matter as seriously as the talent of the mother. For her, the priority in the music business should be on what the artiste is able to do. "You see as long as a woman, or any artiste for that matter has talent, the tunes should speak for themselves and go places," she told The Sunday Gleaner.
Tanya is one act with hectic schedules, and has stated that it is not easy balancing them. Sometimes, to compensate for missed time, she takes her daughter with her overseas at shows depending on the time of year.
Lady G is one of the mothers who has managed to balance her dancehall career along with motherhood. Although she began her career way back in the 80s, she has touched the limelight intermittently over the years, and more recently stamped her presence as a producer. With three children to care for, she has constantly stated that managing both 'jobs' can be a headache, but she has strategised her approach to the tasks to make her life easier.
"...if you notice my career, sometimes I'm in the limelight and sometimes I'm not," she stated in a previous interview carried in THE STAR on April 4, 2002. "I don't feel anyway about that, because I take the time out to take care of my kids. I will sacrifice the time off to be with my kids; I rather to take the time off. You see, sometime in the musicbiz you have a high tide, another time low tide, so I use the low points to take care of my kids."
Lady Saw, who has adopted five children, surrounds herself with a network of family members who take care of them when she is not around. Even though her physical presence may not be there, she still has a hand in their behaviour. She will tell them what not to listen to, and what not to do while she is away, and her word stands. Although she is more known for her raunchy PG-18 lyrics, she says she does not allow them to listen to these lyrics, as they are only for entertainment purposes.
A JUGGLING ACT
For Charmaine 'Macka Diamond' Munroe, who has a three-year-old son, balancing both is not impossible, but it is like a juggling act. "It is kind of hard but it can be done." she admits. "Sometimes I don't see him for quite a while, but I schedule studio time so I can take him there with me some of the times. That time he can stay around me and catch up on the lost time."
For her, being a mother was no hindrance to getting into the business either. "It does not matter if you have a child or not. Your talent will speak for you and take you places."
Perhaps dancehall cannot be separated from other professions in terms of the demands it makes on the mothers involved. The experiences of these 'dancehall mothers' is similar to those of women in just about every other career. No matter what the profession is, being a good mother requires the same ingredients in moulding the child into what she wants him/her to become.
