Tweet
Reading Assasin’s comments just now on the status of Jamaican recording artists Cherine Anderson and sisters Tami and Tessanne Chin immediately got me thinking about a discussion I had read somewhere. I believe that discussion was on Reggaedancehall.com or some other music board, but the primary thesis of that threaded discussion was that, as far as Jamaican artists are concerned, “brownings” stand a better chance at success in the music business than dark complexioned singers. The success of Shaggy and Sean Paul was used by one or two posters there as references.
Nothing could be further from the truth, but since I have never posted on those music boards, I did not seek to enter that discussion.
Whether we choose to like it or not, the fact is that the modern music industry demands a certain, modern “mass appeal” look from artists. The international music industry and the mass media demand nothing less! One example that immediately comes to mind is Jah Bami, the Trinidadian host on Tempo music channel’s “Cross Caribbean Countdown.” Jah Bami joined Tempo during the days when Tempo was owned by Viacom and was a branch of MTV. (Tempo was sold to a group of private investors a year ago.) Within days of joining the MTV-Tempo staff, Jah Bami had become a new “rasta,” complete with a new slick, urbane persona.
Looking at the Jamaican music scene, it becomes obvious that some artists have made a conscious decision to stay true to the original “roots” appearance, whether or not they are rastafarians. Artists like Tony Rebel, Queen Ifrica, Beres Hammond, Luciana, Morgan Heritage, and a host of others would fall in this category. Some, for example Buju Banton in his video for the recording, “Driva,” make temporary changes to their appearance.
Others, in particular the women (for example Alaine, Ce’Cile, Cherine Anderson, Tessanne and Tami Chin, Danielle, D’Angel, etc.) go for the modern, pop-star look so easily digestible to North American music consumers (and, of course, other consumers as well).
The 1970s, the era of the anti-apartheid struggle, is long gone, and with that era essentially went the urge by European and African audiences to accept the “rootsy” dreadlocked “freedom fighter” look. (North American audiences, particularly African-Americans, never accepted this roots appearance, and this is one reason for Marley’s comparable lack of success on that continent.) A primary reason for Bob Marley’s success worldwide, and that of the others that followed in his wake, was that those artists emerged at the right time in history while championing a pertinent and high profile problem: the struggles in Africa.
That era has given way to increased globalization, a phenomenon which brings with it a greater spread of sophistication and international mass appeal.
Nothing could be further from the truth, but since I have never posted on those music boards, I did not seek to enter that discussion.
Whether we choose to like it or not, the fact is that the modern music industry demands a certain, modern “mass appeal” look from artists. The international music industry and the mass media demand nothing less! One example that immediately comes to mind is Jah Bami, the Trinidadian host on Tempo music channel’s “Cross Caribbean Countdown.” Jah Bami joined Tempo during the days when Tempo was owned by Viacom and was a branch of MTV. (Tempo was sold to a group of private investors a year ago.) Within days of joining the MTV-Tempo staff, Jah Bami had become a new “rasta,” complete with a new slick, urbane persona.
Looking at the Jamaican music scene, it becomes obvious that some artists have made a conscious decision to stay true to the original “roots” appearance, whether or not they are rastafarians. Artists like Tony Rebel, Queen Ifrica, Beres Hammond, Luciana, Morgan Heritage, and a host of others would fall in this category. Some, for example Buju Banton in his video for the recording, “Driva,” make temporary changes to their appearance.
Others, in particular the women (for example Alaine, Ce’Cile, Cherine Anderson, Tessanne and Tami Chin, Danielle, D’Angel, etc.) go for the modern, pop-star look so easily digestible to North American music consumers (and, of course, other consumers as well).
The 1970s, the era of the anti-apartheid struggle, is long gone, and with that era essentially went the urge by European and African audiences to accept the “rootsy” dreadlocked “freedom fighter” look. (North American audiences, particularly African-Americans, never accepted this roots appearance, and this is one reason for Marley’s comparable lack of success on that continent.) A primary reason for Bob Marley’s success worldwide, and that of the others that followed in his wake, was that those artists emerged at the right time in history while championing a pertinent and high profile problem: the struggles in Africa.
That era has given way to increased globalization, a phenomenon which brings with it a greater spread of sophistication and international mass appeal.
Comment