I recently joined the app Clubh ouse and for my first chatroom session I named my room ‘Music Business Chat’ (or something similar), having no intention of having a serious conversation. By the end of the chat session I was reminded of the beauty of reggae, the depth of our history, the beauty that is our culture, the talent, the awesomeness from whence we came, and why I have been and always will be in awe of our music.

For me, reggae, and this includes dancehall, our music, is royalty.

When I hear things like, “Our music is too slack”; “Our music is not produced properly”; “Our music is leading the kids astray”; “Our music is hate music”; “Our music is encouraging criminal activities”; etc, I am kind of flabbergasted. Because our music is so much more.

More often than not I hear this rhetoric being tossed around by people who only know the music they critique after it goes viral; when something happens to make it so popular they have no choice but to hear it, or they can’t get away from it. More times than not these are the people complaining.

While there are undoubtedly valid points regarding some of the content of our music, some of the people who complain are not actual lovers of music. They don’t search for the type of music they wish to hear. They don’t read reviews on an artiste or an EP. They seldom take the time to check out the not-so-popular acts, or popular non-trending acts. And, they certainly do nothing to help bring the type of music they like to the forefront. In many instances they hear the music they don’t like being played by individuals who are simply playing music that they like and want to hear.

The fact is, for the artiste and their songs, that may be thought of as negative. But, the said artiste, more than likely, has had previous releases that you may appreciate had you taken the time to seek them out, called a radio station and requested it, or taken the time to to leave a positive comment on a YouTube or Instagram page — not to mention buy it, share it with a friend, post and talk about it. In other words, help to make this positive music a resounding success.

These people seldom watch an entertainment show then search for music based on an inspiring interview. They possibly only remember the more popular person who had the shock value, but not necessarily the kind of material they claim they want to hear. Shock value works because you, the consumers, like it. Artistes continue to shock you because they realise it works.

Too many people do not even consider supporting anything until it is trendy to do so. And, more times than not, to get to a stage of going viral an artiste may feel the need to switch and get creative with his/her lyrics or visuals in order to stand out, in order to be seen and heard, and, guess what? Yep… in order to make a living.

Despite all the calls for “cleaner, more positive music”, one cannot pay a bill with a conscious song. One cannot explain to a landlord that the properly produced, well-written, on key, uplifting song that you took your last dollar to make is not garnering any attention from the very same people complaining that good music does not exist. You can’t explain that, to be hired, to be seen as relevant, to be hailed as current, does not mean you must have awesome inspiring, uplifting, solid productions. It simply means you have to be hot and trending.

An artiste cannot trend without the consumers of music, without fans. We, the artistes, understand this. We do what we do to stay in the game, and when we must, some go in the direction of the popular trends if we have the stomach for it. Ask Fantan Mojah. (Trust me, there’s a story here.)

Some of you complain when the most negative songs we do are the ones that gets the most attention; we lament when the positive ones get lost or are forgotten quickly. Truth be told, you are the ones calling the shots, not us.

I remember some time ago Konshens released two songs and was sharing how he felt that no one paid attention to the “better” of the two, but were quick to bash and comment on the one they thought was negative — which only helped it receive more attention. These same people that helped push this so-called negative song by commenting and talking about it did not do the same with the more uplifting song. They never commented, never watched, never helped push it to stardom, because they were too busy focusing on something they claimed they didn’t like.

I can think of many amazing, well-produced, interesting, positive music that so many of our artistes have recorded and released and are available to the public. Paradoxically, the supply of this good music is far greater than the demand, it seems. Yet the cry for good music continues.

I see our music as poetry; therefore, the artistes are poets. I see our music as art; therefore, the artistes are artists. Life is being painted everyday, sometimes in magnificent hues, sometimes in subdued monochromes.

Like life, our music is made up of contrasts, contradictions, similarities, negatives, positives… There is music that edifies and elevates, music that empowers and uplifts, but there is also music that degrades, demeans, and belittles. This will always be the case.

Be more supportive of the music and artistes you say you want to hear. Ignore the noise of the market and do what you need to in order to send way more of the positive artistes and their songs “go road”.

Before you complain or bash someone you think is doing music you hate, go talk about music you love. Or just shut up.

Recording artiste Ce’Cile has consistently been making her unique style of reggae and dancehall music for well over 20 years. Affectionately known as “Bad Gyal”, she has released a raft of popular singles, eight albums, and is now working on her ninth studio album.

Some of her most popular tracks include Can You Do Di Wuk, a duet with Sean Paul featured on his Grammy winning, multi-platinum-selling album Dutty Rock. This track made it possible for her to join Sean in Europe during his Dutty Rock tour for several shows including the Europe MTV Awards pre-party and performances at Wembely Stadium in the UK.

Ce’Cile is also a music producer who has worked with artistes such as Beenie Man, Sizzla, Mr Vegas, Elephant Man and more. The Chiney Gal rhythm, which featured the song Changez and its subsequent counteractions by both Elephant Man and Beenie Man, was her first production alongside Cordel “Skatta” Burrell. Ce’Cile also ran numerous productions for Kings of Kings and Danger Zone Records. Over her career Ce’Cile has managed to secure collaborations and or worked with elite artistes and producers including Trina, Shaggy, FloRida, Beenie Man, Elephant Man, Agent Sasco, Sean Paul, Gavin Rossdale, Chronixx and Nina Sky.

Ce’Cile is the granddaughter of the former mayor of Mandeville the late Cecil Charlton, after whom she was named. In her spare time she likes to read, play scrabble and write poetry. She is currently creating children’s content based on ideas she gets from her eight-year-old daughter. She is working on the first black mermaid series based in the waters of the Caribbean and a coffee table book of poetry and songs.