SOUTH FLORIDA – This has been a most interesting week for reggae music across the diaspora. While Tuesday was the anniversary of bob Marley’s birthday, talk and debate about the movie based on his life, “One Love” made the news on a number of levels. And there were the GRAMMYS Sunday.
A caller to our open line offered the opinion that decades into the future, young people will be confused as to who the real Marley was; the real, historic Marley or the one depicted in the movie.
Then there has been the claim by a concert promoter that he not only coined the phrase dancehall in the mid-1980, but he goes further by claiming that a certain bottler and distiller changed some of its marketing practices because of what he was doing in promoting dancehall events.
While the use of terminology can be claimed under certain circumstances, causing a commercial entity to change marketing practices, from outside of the company, is a stretch.
It is inevitable these claims and opinions are expressed in a free society, in addition, among people who are sometimes tempted to make claims, sometimes outrageous, because the situation they find themselves in is still fluid and unsettled and informal.
Fears though about reggae music’s demise are totally unaware of what the Rastaman has been saying for decades; reggae music is too powerful to suffer anything close to death. Reggae music has stood the test of time and will continue to live itinually, or if you prefer, continually.
Photo Credit: Leroy “Dreamy” Riley
Voice your opinion on the “Open Line” with Winston Barnes daily on WAVS 1170AM or listen on-line http://wavs1170.com/
