So the debate on the state of Jamaican music rages on. My friend Jon Baker has now joined the discussion, recently stating that Reggae has been in a state of funk for the last five years. A number of persons have taken issue with John’s remarks which incidentally (if the quote is indeed accurate) are not singular to him. Many are saying that our music has seen better days and is perhaps entering a phase of steep decline.

How valid is such an assessment? The answer is not at all simple. In order for us to advance the debate it is important for us to establish some metrics as a point of departure for such discussions, and to ensure that we are using the same measuring devices, as without this we will only descend further into speculations and data-free pronouncements which have characterised much of what passes for analysis of Jamaican music.

What, for example, is John’s benchmark of success? Many Jamaicans like to cite Bob Marley as the standard by which Jamaican musicians are judged. The fact is that Bob Marley is an outlier, the likes of which we may never see for another millennium. The same could be said of a Usain Bolt or an Albert Einstein. Anyone familiar with the basics of statistics will know that the achievements of Marley, Bolt, Tiger and Federer are not normal. It therefore means that one should not be seen as a failure if he does not measure up to the phenomenal standards set by these exceptional examples of human achievement.

So let us look at a popularly used index for success in music — record sales. How reliable is this as a metric of success in an era of illegal digital downloads? One could argue that even in an era when record sales provided a more reliable measure of popularity one still encountered problems in trying to make definitive determinations on the relative appeal of artistes and their works. There are many acts who have outsold Bob Marley, yet how many of them would we consider to be in his league in terms of sheer significance? Sales and appeal are not always coterminous.

In fact, some appeal is transient based on the topicality, perhaps of a particular song, while others are durable like the following for the Grateful Dead. Some artistes enjoy wide but shallow appeal while the reverse is true for others.

Shaggy and Sean Paul are certainly well known amongst music lovers the world over but do not have the kind of rabid core constituency that a Vybz Kartel or Mavado can boast. The difference in appeal has nothing to do with the talents of the artistes under discussion. What is interesting is that older artistes are now in a better position to sell more albums than their younger counterparts because of major demographic shifts in some of the mainstream markets. Older people are constituting bigger portions of the populations in many developed societies due primarily to longer life expectancies and lower birth rates. The fact is that fans of U2 and the Rolling Stones will be more likely to purchase their music than will be those of Miley Cyrus or Justin Bieber.

What this means is that the young acts can be immensely popular without chalking up significant sales. We in Jamaica have long understood this. Khago and I Octane are arguably the two most in-demand artistes among certain segments of the local music market at the time of writing, yet how many units have they sold in Jamaica? My guess would be close to zero. There are many different indices with which to assess musical success.

Recently I was the guest of Devon Hunter on his morning talk programme aired on Hot 102. Hunter posed the question as to whether Jamaica has fully exploited the benefits of its musical potential. My answer was a resounding “no”. Yet, as I pointed out, we need to make a distinction between the success of Jamaican music and the financial benefits which attend our economy through its exploitation. In fact, ironically, the success of Jamaican music might well be working against Jamaican artistes. What do I mean by this? Well, on his return from Denmark earlier this year, Charles Campbell wrote about the vibrant Reggae music market in a number of European territories. Left without qualification, this observation would have suggested that there is a great demand for Jamaican artistes in these territories. Yet the demand for Reggae music is being satisfied by domestic acts. Reggae has become so successful that it is no longer dependent on Jamaican exponents of the craft others have taken the music and made it their own. See the different measurements for success here?

We must also bear in mind that international recognition is not the primary determinant of the success of any cultural form. Cultural products are designed primarily for a domestic audience. International success is usually a bonus.

No generation has a monopoly on creativity. The fact is that many of the great Rock Steady classics which draw our admiration are not originals. Everything I Own, a masterpiece from Ken Boothe, and Willow Tree, an anthem of the Rocksteady era from Alton Ellis, are not originals.

Queen Ifrica and Tarrus Riley are performers and songwriters who could stand their ground in any generation or genre and come out with distinction. Would anyone have thought that Yellow Man would still be touring and would from time to time be dispensing advice on wholesome lyrics. Sometimes we cannot make meaningful commentary on the value of an artiste or a genre without the benefit of historical distance. Think on these things.

clyde.mckenzie@gmail.com