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New York, 7:47 AM
Fri Dec 11
59 posts in the last 24 hours
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12/08/09
And I personally am of the belief that we can judge and impugn an "artists" for his politics when he puts them out there with the express purpose of inciting crimes against humanity. Crimes in which HE HIMSELF is alleged to have participated.
This is not the guy to have a higher-brow conversation about. At all. Jesus.
Then there's this:
"One of Jamaica's most famous dancehall singers, Buju Banton, is being sought by police in Jamaica in connection with a homophobic attack on a group of gay men.
Mr Banton was allegedly one of a group of about a dozen armed men who forced their way into a house in Kingston on the morning of June 24 and beat up the occupants while shouting homophobic insults, according to the victims.
At least two people were taken to the hospital. Mr Banton - whose song Boom Boom Bye Bye threatens gay men with a "gunshot in ah head" - was identified by several witnesses and is wanted for questioning.
"There is a pattern of police indifference to attacks on gay men in Jamaica that goes far beyond what Buju Banton is alleged to have done in this case," said Rebecca Schleiser of Human Rights Watch, who has spoken to several of the victims. "Neither his fame nor the stigma attached to the victims should stand in the way of a full, fair and complete police investigation."
Peter Tatchell, of Outrage, said: "This substantiates our claims of the links between murder music and actual physical violence against gays and lesbians. Critics of the campaign [to stop murder music] have said that the homophobic content of his lyrics is 'ironic' or just 'fantasy'.
"Now the star is wanted for a very real violent incident."
Last month, concern that a concert in London by another dancehall favourite, Beenie Man, could incite violence against gays led to its cancellation. One of Beenie Man's songs contains the lyrics: "I'm a dreaming of a new Jamaica, come to execute all the gays."
Concern at the climate of homophobia in Jamaica has intensified in recent months following the murder of the country's most prominent gay activist, Brian Williamson.
Mr Williamson, a co-founder of Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, All-sexuals and Gays (J-Flag), was found with his throat cut and multiple stab wounds to his neck and face.
Jamaican law makes any act of physical intimacy between men punishable by jail, with the possibility of hard labour. A recent poll found 96% of Jamaicans were opposed to moves to legalise homosexual relations. Several gay Jamaicans have successfully claimed asylum in Britain on grounds of homophobia."
[www.guardian.co.uk]
12/08/09
If beating up gays is the secret to making such wondrous dancehall bangers, isn't that a small price to pay? That somebody would sully such beautiful music with their armchair moralizing, that is the real crime here.
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12/08/09
I’m not comfortable giving money and cultural capital to people who preach hate and violence.
12/08/09
12/08/09
But I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt on this one, Hamilton, and assume that this is some sort of meta-ironic Gawker thing with layers of humor that I am not sophisticated enough to understand, because "jammin" is such a stupid, piss-poor excuse for liking SOMEONE WHO ACTIVELY USES HIS CELEBRITY TO ADVOCATE THE MURDER OF HOMOSEXUALS.
I mean, seriously, wtf? Please tell me this is a joke I don't understand. Because I honestly thought you were more intelligent than this.
This is the first, and hopefully last time that I find caps-lock necessary on this site.
12/08/09
The man isn't just using the occasional homophobic slur, and he isn't voicing understandable rage against people who oppress him -- he wants to kill faggots the same way the Klan wanted to kill niggers, because he's hateful. It's sad that this is what he's devoting his undeniable talent to, but if you're telling me that because of the existence of that talent I should turn a deaf ear to the substance of what he's saying, you've lost me. Because you see faggots actually get killed. If you want to ignore that, that's your karma, but don't expect me to go along with you. And don't expect me not to be disgusted by the idea of celebrating the music and giving it prizes. No matter how "jammin'" it may be.
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12/08/09
Mr. Banton has rights to both free speech and artistic license, but the price of those rights is that he also has to recognize the countervaling right to vigorously protest what he says.
Personally, I'm disgusted by the sentiments displayed towards gays and women in dancehall culture. But I also have every right to put out a mixtape in which I lay out the numerous and detailed humiliations Mr. Banton will suffer at the hands of the Hell's Angels, Halsted Street chapter.
12/08/09
Also, there is a long history of minorities suffering at the hands of police abuse. This is just a guy who hates gays for no apparent reason other than they are gay. I think both have the right to sing about these things if they want, but the former seems like a worthier form of expression.
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12/08/09
EDIT: If you care, it's in my reply to Atilla below.
12/08/09
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12/08/09
Do you have any idea of the violence and repression that gays in Jamaica suffer at the hands of the police and the courts and everyday scumbags? This is no joke. This asshole incites people to kill. Friends of mine, a gay couple, lived in Jamaica for a few years and only because one of them had a diplomatic passport were they able to get about without problems. I'm stunned at your insensitivity and ignorance of what's really happening there.
Can't wait till the Klan comes up with a jammin' beat. Oh, wait, they already have. They've beaten a lot of people to death.
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(Sorry... I couldn't think of a good homophobic filmmaker off the top of my head so I had to opt for racism. Hmmm maybe Vincente Minnelli?)
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12/08/09
Considering that Uganda right now is trying to pass a law that would make homosexuality a crime eligible for the death penalty, and would also send people to jail for years who don't "report" homosexual behavior (oh--and the law allegedly has support from some right-wing politicians in the U.S.), it seems downright disgusting to award this kind of music and sentiment a Grammy.
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12/08/09
But I'll be honest, once more and more about Rose's actual personality came out in interviews (particularly the way he liked to beat up women), I had trouble listening to Guns 'N Roses the same way again. I still like Appetite for Destruction, but I can't listen to it with the naivety that I could when I was 15 (yes, I'm old). Sweet Child O' Mine loses some of its romance when you know Rose wrote it for a girl that he beat up on a regular basis. (Still love Rocket Queen, though!)
12/09/09
12/09/09
Immigrants and faggots
They make no sense to me
They come to our country
And think they'll do as they please
Like start some mini Iran
Or spread some fucking disease
They talk so many goddamn ways
It's all greek to me
etc, etc.
(there's also the verse about police and niggers.)
there's nothing in that song to suggest that the narrator is anyone other than axl himself. whereas when ice t claims to be a cop killer, a person who actually guns down cops en masse, that's literal. i've never been comfortable with that double standard.
also, i call bullshit on the political cartoon analogy. yall are missing the point. the separation that hamno is asking you to think about is the idea that art can be good in spite of some of the questionable ideas advanced by its practitioners. a political cartoonist isn't a picasso that just happens to maybe espouse some bad ideas from time to time. by definition, he's someone who (often clumsily) uses a graphic format to make political commentary. if delonas' work was really interesting formally, i'd maybe grudgingly grant him that. but it is both formally and ideologically loathsome. so, fail. not the case with buju banton, guns n roses, wagner, etc, etc.
12/08/09
12/06/09
ETA: ...or maybe it's fascinating?
12/05/09
12/05/09
I doubt his shiny star will last very long in any case.
12/05/09
He's not acting as a group advocate but as a group member. Instead of message points, he wants the freedom to express himself however he wants. Of course, that's the stated goal of gay equality, so in the long-term, he's doing more for gays than GLAAD. But now, he seems politically awkward and embarrassing.
12/05/09
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12/06/09
Agreed. On this point, we are in complete harmony.