Eve Mann: »Chi Chi Badman« Pt. 2
posted on December 27th, 2010 by Eve in Article, Mann´s World
Clearly, Jamaica has a growing culture of latent homosexuals of both male and female. They outwardly seek the company of the same sex, however, due to fear of societal rejection and or the promise of violence they never fully embark in an out of the closet gay relationship. Instead they opt for a more socially accepted version. Therefore, women embark in relationships with men who act and dress in a more female manner. Outwardly the »men« are very in-tuned with their femininity (in the wrong way), they display very »delicate« mannerisms and do everything from bleaching, eyebrow arching and even forgoing male scents opting instead for a flowery perfume instead of a woody male cologne. To fill the void women tend to take a more dominant role and while they may still dress like females their roles have now become that of protector and provider in the relationship. Financially, emotionally and at times physically they do everything in the relationship that the quintessential male figure should do, including but not limited to providing money, directly or indirectly to buy bleaching cream and Clarks and/or walking on the outside during their strolls a position usually only occupied by a true gentleman. Essentially perpetuating a »Mine mi fe wine mi« culture. Something once only a certain class of females would have the audacity to admit to. But instead now in songs like Clarks II Vybz Kartel proudly states
Gal a mine mi fi wine me she love me off,
She say she a go a town she mi say bring mi Clarks,
She say wah kinda style yu wah,
Me say bring it inna suede, leather every material fi de Boss.
No doubt women play a destructively encouraging roll in the Chi Chi Bad man phenomena. When before the effeminate boy especially in inner-city communities would be ridiculed and at times ostracized for acting/talking like a sissy now he now has a place in the company of older women who enjoy the company of a young Shebada. They cajole and encourage these boys to act more outrageously, they discuss in the presence of these children their adult/sexual relationships and instead of a functioning adult-child relationship the boys are treated as girlfriends and provide comic relief for these older women, providing the punch line for very explicit situations. Eventually they learn to beg, either implicitly by imitating actions of the elder female or explicitly being told to do so. Thus, begins the erosion as without a real male figure to instill such values as real men work, they protect and provide for their families, these boys eventually learn the hard way there is no such thing as a free ride when they beg the wrong men.
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Recently I had a lively discussion on what makes an artist different from want of a better word a Tool. Given the state of the music clearly there is an abundance of Tools around. Firstly one should establish a working example of whom or what an artist is.
In my view an artist/musician is a person with a deep and full understanding of his/her chosen craft, in this case music. He/she should be trained or at some point expanded academically, be it formal or informally in the subject of music and should be able to write music. This, is vastly different from writing rhymes on paper as that is what poets do. An artist/musician should be able to effectively communicate to any musician around the world regardless of language their specific vision/ideas. Therefore the ability to write music is a must. They should possess a working musical vocabulary. It should be evident that this person loves music and is familiar with not only his/her genre but listens widely and is influenced by other artists. Therefore when the host of Gaza dunce bats (among other new artists) state that their major influence begins and ends in the early 90’s there is much cause for concern. In Jamaica’s short yet vibrant musical history where you can only see Kartel, Bounty Killa as role models then something is gravely wrong. And it is no wonder the pool of crossover artists are so small let alone the ones who positively impact the world now.
It is infinitely sad that in a country so young when many of the actual architect of the music still lives and breathes, it feels like no one seeks advice, and guidance from these walking vestibules of knowledge. They are honestly not that hard to find. They still go to the same studios as the newer supposed replacements. They own bars and restaurants that bear their names or the names of the songs that made them famous. However, instead of respect there is contempt and the superficial “big up de elda dem!” Any opportunity they get while they trample and poison any foundation and scaffolding built by them. As Charles de Gaulle said:
What is even harder to believe is that the same institutions such as the Alpha Boys Home, church, school choirs and marching bands are still available. Added to this is the wonderful invention called the internet and better access to books of which the predecessors didn’t have. All these options and more are available to this crop of so called budding talent. However one gets the feeling that instead of doing the obvious and putting in the work needed to be “great”, forget that good or even just a little above average musicians, instead do a Milli Vanilli and concentrate on everything except the music especially the image and the money.
So much drama in the industry today it just feels like never ending waves of negative energy seems poised to destroy what so many worked so hard to built. The thing about energy is you get back what you give. That much one would think is common knowledge. 
