Is it time for Spotify to shut down homophobic Jamaican dancehall?
The streaming giant has declined to remove threatening tracks by Sizzla and Capleton. Some LGBTQ+ campaigners say it’s time to reclaim the genre – but for others, it’s hard to listen past the hate
When Vybz Kartel was released from a Jamaican prison in August, I opened Spotify and started nostalgically playing dancehall classics. My enjoyment was short-lived after I stumbled on two violently homophobic songs by the reggae and dancehall artists Sizzla and Capleton. Didn’t we leave all this behind years ago? The songs were recorded in 2005 and 1993; both artists subsequently signed the Reggae Compassionate Act and renounced homophobia. So why are these songs on Spotify in 2024 – particularly when other infamously anti-gay songs are not?
Buggering, by Capleton, is an abrasive condemnation of sex between two men that seemingly calls – in lyrics published on Spotify – for public beheading and shooting as punishment. Sizzla’s Nah Apologize was a response to the Stop Murder Music campaign, which called for dancehall artists to apologise for their anti-gay anthems and cease playing them. Sizzla’s lyrics are not just unrepentant, but advocate the fatal stoning of “biblical days”.
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