“Lyrical Gun”

Abstract

Constant references to guns in Jamaican dancehall lyrics have resulted in an increasing tendency to criminalize the idiom and demonize the culture both locally and in the international marketplace. For example, in a sensational 2002 newspaper article, with the inflammatory headline, “How Dancehall Promotes Violence,” Ian Boyne asserts, “There is no way this country can successfully change the culture of violence in the inner cities without changing the culture of the dancehall. We underestimate to our peril the threat of Jamaican dancehall culture to peace.”¹ In the equally incendiary follow-up article, “How Dancehall Holds Us Back,” Boyne quietly concedes, “It is hard to empirically establish a causal link between murders committed in the inner cities and negative dancehall lyrics.”² Nevertheless, he finds it quite easy to make the following leap of faith: “But it is not hard to show that these lyrics do not help those people who need to learn how to manage their conflicts and bring about reconciliation.”³ Without offering a shred of evidence, Boyne smugly asserts the validity of his speculations, to his singular satisfaction.