Morgan Heritage speaks on Vybz Kartel
Nigel Pfunde
Visiting iconic roots reggae band Morgan Heritage’s Gramps Morgan has prayed that jailed Jamaican star Vybz Kartel comes out of jail a changed man.
Gramps was addressing journalists at a Harare hotel Thursday evening and he made the statement while dismissing the notion that dancehall music fuelled notoriety.
He said people differed in character in any sphere of life be it music or sport and that could not be used as a yardstick to judge all dancehall and reggae artistes.
He also spoke on the confusion pertaining to classification of genres where as well as a purported conflict between the two.
“I think there is confusion in the media that don’t understand the difference between reggae music and dancehall. We say reggae music is news. Reggae tells you things that you don’t see on TV. In the same way that people talk about things in Africa and they put it on their TV in the western hemisphere; they don’t report accurately. So there is no way that you could be out here in Zimbabwe and you look at You Tube and Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and know what is going on in Jamaica between reggae and dancehall. But you notice that there is some kind of difference,” he said.
Vybz Kartel pic lyricalspot.com
“So there is no tension but there is just a difference in that in dancehall it is the testimony of the inner city ghetto youths. That is what dancehall is. It is a beat that make you move. When you hear it you cannot resist. I don’t care who it is. Even pastors. You can’t stand still when you hear the beat of dancehall…it is the beat of Africa. The lyrical content has got to be conscious, so tell the dancehall artistes in Zimbabwe to keep it conscious. So if you want to talk about girls tell her she is nice and sexy; nothing wrong with that.
“If you want to talk about your struggle that you are coming from the ghetto and say God has blessed you …but we are against violent lyrics against women and lyrics that incite violence against humanity, the police, anything that deals with that we are not a part of that. So we love dancehall because the beat and the lyrical content.”
He said in as far as the incarcerated Vybz Cartel and Buju Banton were concerned it had nothing to do with dancehall and reggae but they were just people just as was Tupac who is viewed a s freedom fighter when he went to prison twice.
”They are people just like you and me that have a life that just did something bad and then they have to pay for it. We pray for Vybz Kartel that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob can liberate his mind and his ways and make him a changed man when he comes from his incarceration. So these are just people. We don’t want to blame it on RnB and Dancehall and reggae. They are just people that have made mistakes in life and we pray that they fix them,” said Gramps.
Coincidentally, his call for conscious lyrics comes hot on the heels of local singer Seh Calaz who was reportedly summoned by the police for a song that contained explicit and vulgar lyrics.
This was after some concerned citizens had protested to the Censorship Board who vowed to investigate and act accordingly at law.
Morgan Heritage who jetted into the country Thursday morning are billed to perform tomorrow at the Harare International Conference Centre at a much hyped concert.
The family band are Grammy award winners and they have extensively toured all parts of the world leaving indelible marks.
They promised a 10 times better performance in Zimbabwe where they will share the stage with Zimbabwean icon Oliver Mtukudzi, dancehall star Winky D and inform hit maker Freeman.
The decorated line up is likely to fill up the giant venue with each act boasting of its fair share in a mature audiences.
