One of Beres Hammond’s more popular tunes, Rock Away (a celebratory anthem “bigging up” the golden days of Jamaican music), was soundly critiqued by Professor Carolyn Cooper at a symposium in celebration of International Reggae Day (IRD) recently.

As one of the panalists on the forum held at the Neville Hall Lecture Theatre at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Cooper took opposition to what was the prevailing sentiment and mood of the discourse under the theme Going Forward to our Rootz: Reclaiming the Healing Power of Reggae Music.

One of the aims of the symposium was to explore and reflect on the positive aspects of Jamaican popular music, which is embodied largely in the vintage reggae, rocksteady and ska music, as well as consciously oriented reggae music. Against that background the professor in the department of literature and English, took the stance that there is a continuity between reggae and dancehall that is so complicated it is often forgotten.

Although expressing her love for Hammond’s Rock Away, she took issue with it because “it tells a lie”.

In challenging the notion that roots and culture reggae represents the “golden era” of Jamaican popular music over dancehall, Dr Cooper also questioned the purity of some of Bob Marley’s songs. “I have a dissenting voice at this forum which is really celebrating our roots, going back to the roots of reggae. And I am arguing that the roots of reggae may be more complicated than we sometimes like to remember,” was the preamble to her presentation.

Starting with a quote from a British journalist in the 1990s, she added, “Not that ragga (which is the term use in the UK for dancehall) or the violent dancehall of the late 1980s’ Kingston bears much relations to Marley’s tilting love songs of the decade before….vocalist toasting in high speed burst, patwah lyrics are often celebrating misogyny, homophobia, gangsta ridim and gun……I don’t know if that is true or a fairly accurate characterisation of a lot of dancehall.

Starting with a quote from a British journalist in the 1990s, she added, “Not that ragga (which is the term use in the UK for dancehall) or the violent dancehall of the late 1980s’ Kingston bears much relations to Marley’s tilting love songs of the decade before….vocalist toasting in high speed burst, patwah lyrics are often celebrating misogyny, homophobia, gangsta ridim and gun……I don’t know if that is true or a fairly accurate characterisation of a lot of dancehall.

In turning to the song Rock Away, Dr Cooper stated, “I think for example, that this song by Beres Hammond is a way of repeating the same kind of conventional notion that reggae was the good old days when everything used to run right and dancehall now everything mash up. I really like the song Rock Away, it’s a nice song, It’s really is very sweet, but I think it’s telling a lie.”

Having said that, she then recited a few lines of the song which is a lyrical salute to all the old school greats including not just reggae and lovers rock singers, but also R&B and soul crooners.

I miss those days yes, I miss those days. Remember the songs used to make you rock away. Those were the days, when love used to reign, hey we danced all night to the songs they played……Now I feel it to my heart such a golden time had to part….

However, Dr Cooper argued that in contemporary dancehall, all of the music of the past “golden era,” continue to be played alongside current hit tunes. She also noted that, Hammond, himself is a prerennial hit-maker.

“So I don’t think it’s fair to just think of the good old days of reggae vs wicked days of dancehall. Within dancehall itself we have conscious reggae that is celebrating love … is celebrating creativity … that is celebrating peace … is asking us to step up and live right. So, it’s not just simply about going back to the roots. Maybe if we go back to the roots we’ll find that a lot of the roots penalise the present time,” Dr Cooper concluded.