Stop stereotyping artistes - Music professionals say some fans don’t want ‘positive’ songs

Dancehall deejay Spice is the latest Jamaican artiste to call out fans for gravitating to her lewd catalogue instead of her "good" songs.

In a recent Instagram Live post, the Black Hypocrisy artiste said, "Anuh bare p**-p** song mi sing, unno just love the p**-p** song dem...but when mi sing di nice, good song dem gi unno, unno nuh waan hear dat from me."

Her peer Pamputtae, who has often spoken about being boxed-in because of the popularity of her raunchy songs, agrees.

"Right yah now mi sing gospel, God and Time [featuring Taneisha Shaw], and nuff a di Christian dem weh seh dem a Christian not even dem a promote it," Pamputtae told THE STAR. "A just so the people dem stay and when yuh sing bout certain things, dem bun it out."

"Mi just tell artistes sing weh yuh waan sing, sing to how you feel. If mi feel fi sing slack song now, a dat mi a do. If mi feel fi sing a gospel, a dat mi a do. It depends pon how mi feel cause no matter what you do, yuh cya please dem people yah."

Grammy-winning producer Comar 'Frankie Music' Campbell said the issue persists because of the "stereotyping" of artistes which he said limits their creativity.

"We put them in a box so when they do try something that's gimmicks or some stupidness and it works, it allows the person to say, 'Oh but if foolishness a work, better we just do foolishness', but everybody has a part to play to create good music," he said.

Campbell has created songs for artistes like Koffee who has attained success without doing slack or gimmickry music. But he has also made light music, even managing one of the genre's biggest captains of fun lyrics, Laa Lee. Campbell said there is a space for every kind of music, but charged producers, DJs and the media to also take responsibility for material that gets highlighted to foster a "level playing field".

"I wouldn't tell an artiste seh foolishness work. I wouldn't tell an artiste seh is only serious music they should do because you create from how you feel and you can't force creativity. I create from a real place so if you see me create a song and it has gimmicks in it, it's because I was feeling that mood that day. If I go out and I want to enjoy myself, probably I want to hear all of these songs that people criticise. That don't mean that you must only make that type of music or that what's working," he said.