[Glice]

I've said this before, but there are those out there in Dancehall who aren't homophobes, at least not explicitly. Beenie Man hasn't said anything (that I've heard) that is directly homophobic - there's a lot of, "You're a bit gay" posturing, but I don't think that's as offensive as encouraging people to burn gays (or Babylon, or whatever). Ward21 are great (silly), Mr Vegas is a better one-hit wonder (over here) than Shaggy (always shite) and for my money Bounty Killer is one of the better conscious-political lyricists of modern times. Bear in mind that I can't stand political lyrics with that last one.

I understand entirely your concerns, porkie. I think it's slightly dubious to tar everyone making music in Jamaica with the same brush (not that you're doing that) but there's also the problem that it can be incredibly difficult to pick the good chaps out from the wrong 'uns.

The biggest shame is that so many people are frightened away from dancehall because of its lyrical content - this is, of course, entirely understandable - but you get less and less people buying Jamaican music these days - or if they do they buy the 'roots' bollocks or the classics from mento through to the early 80's. Fair enough, but there's a lot more to Jamaican music than Bob 'fucking shite' Marley.

Oooh, does anyone remember Linton Kwesi Johnson? Fucking diamond.