Jamaica, the land of reggae

ID: INTERACTIVE DIALOGUE

David Mullings

Sunday, February 19, 2012

MY column last week focused on Jamaica not being an island in the economic, political or cultural sense. I said that the country was not insular and had a major impact on the world; it was a brand, a destination and more.

Jamaica is a global brand that has influenced many things, notably music. This month is supposed to be Reggae Month in Jamaica, but it often seems to me that Jamaica has somehow lost its place as the home of reggae music.

The Grammy Awards nominate reggae albums that are not big sellers in Jamaica, local radio is far more preoccupied with dancehall, the biggest reggae festivals are in Europe, foreign reggae acts are capitalising even better on our sounds, and an entire generation of Jamaicans is possibly missing out on our reggae heritage because of all this.

Jamaica is synonymous with Marley (and now Bolt) and reggae music, yet we have barely scratched the surface of what that could be leveraged for. Our tourism has yet to really tap into reggae lovers worldwide and present them with numerous attractions to feed their desires to see where the music comes from and where the biggest stars were born or lived.

On the local side, the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston gets far more visitors from overseas than locals, despite the local rate offered. How many schools visit the Bob Marley Museum each year to expose our children to our heritage and the sound that our country gave to the world?

Most countries show off their local music or instruments and fiercely defend their heritage. We, however, have merely reduced our support for reggae music and the musicians that produce something that help put Jamaica on the world map.

It is my sincere hope that reggae music regains its rightful place in Jamaica as the leading musical export, because at this rate some other country will become the home of modern-day reggae. An entire generation now has very little appreciation for reggae music, where it came from and the impact it has had on the world.

We must ensure that we teach Jamaicans what they are supposed to be proud of and what we have contributed to the world so that they will have a better appreciation. I recently listened to a BBC Radio story on the violence in Syria and the reporter was riding in a taxi cab. Not so surprisingly, a Bob Marley song was playing in the background. This rebel music, our music, has consistently appeared in areas of strife, war and oppression. From the fall of the Berlin Wall to South Africa during Apartheid. From Tiananmen Square in China to Zimbabwe freedom fighters, reggae has been involved in all those critical junctures in history. Do we as Jamaicans really appreciate this music that we created and shared with the world? Do we really want to continue to be the land of reggae?

Jamaica is not an island, it is a global brand, and reggae is part of that brand. We must embrace that wholeheartedly or risk no longer being the land of reggae.

David Mullings was the first Future Leaders representative for the USA on the Jamaican Diaspora Advisory Board. He can be found on Twitter at twitter.com/davidmullings and Facebook at facebook.com/InteractiveDialogue

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Jamaica, the land of reggae