Lyrics must be within the law - Culture stakeholders caution entertainers about their song content

Chairman of the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA), Ewan Simpson, says the charges laid against dancehall artiste KipRich, once again proved that there's a thin line between freedom of expression and legal boundaries.

Simpson shared that the organisation has been lobbying for the 2014 amended Jamaica Criminal Justice Act - which prohibits "promoting or circulating" songs with violent content - to be revisited.

"We at JaRIA have been very vocal about the wording of the legislation from the consultation stages and have been very careful to say that a balance needs to be struck between deterrent against overt support for criminal activities and regard for artistic or creative licence. [However] artistes have a duty to ensure that their utterances fall within the reasonable provisions of the law and any freedom for which we advocate, comes with responsibility," Simpson told THE STAR. Simpson urged entertainers to trod their musical paths "carefully".

"Artistes need to be mindful of the responsibility they have in their creative utterances and publications. This need for mindfulness is not unique to Jamaica nor is this freedom and responsibility peculiar to creative practitioners. The laws of defamation and laws relating to cybercrimes, for example, equally apply. We need to be as careful as we are creative," Simpson opined.

Last Friday, KipRich was named a person of interest by the St Catherine North police. The artiste said that this was in relation to a dubplate he recorded for an overseas-based sound system. However, KipRich told THE STAR that his recording was "spliced" to get a "fawud". He denied any wrongdoing. On Monday, the entertainer, along with his lawyer, Patrick Peterkin, reported to the Spanish Town Criminal Investigations Branch, and following an interrogation session, he was later charged for use of audio and audiovisual communication to promote criminal activity. The Constabulary Communication Network said the charges stemmed from a song that KipRich had recorded and played across media platforms, endorsing criminal activity. KipRich is scheduled to appear in the St Catherine Parish Court later this month.

Some members of the entertainment fraternity and supporters of the artistes have questioned that a law amended 11 years ago seems to be just taking its course, while pointing to several songs with equally violent lyrics being done by other artistes. Some fans have questioned whether lawmen are trying to use KipRich to make an example. In response to these assumptions, Dr Deborah Hickling Gordon, lecturer in culture and creative industries at The University of the West Indies, Mona, said everyone has a responsibility to their own freedom.

"Legislation exists that speaks to performance or publication advocating violence against a person or group of persons being an offence. [It] encourages all artistes to maintain a positive profile and posture and refrain from any activity or utterance that causes them to run afoul of the law," she noted.

"As an academic, I also acknowledge that there are many issues that are more complex than 'black and white' and maintain that cultural expressions are, by their very nature, representations and reflections of social, economic and political realities. However, I accept that the job of the members and leadership of the JCF is to enforce the law," Hickling Gordon stated.

Similarly, Simpson shared that while there is no clear indication that this is an act of "an example is being made of KipRich", he trusts that "the law is being and will be fairly and evenly applied to all".