MUSIC-JAMAICA: REGGAE STARS FALL FOUL OF LAW

KINGSTON, (June 9) IPS - From marijuana possession to domestic abuse, reggae
performers have been making more than just music in Jamaica. In fact, the
imprisonment last month of singer Mikey Spice on gun charges capped a year
when entertainers hit the wrong note with the law.

Besides Spice -- who was jailed for three-years for illegal possession of a
firearm -- other noted performers such as Gregory Isaacs, Shabba Ranks,
Sanchez, Ninja Man, Bounti Killa and Baby Wayne all had their day in court.
The bad vibes continued late May when singer Cocoa Tea was detained in
Barbados for smoking the illegal weed.

Reggae's dark side has become almost a carbon copy of the hostilities in the
United States where rap stars have repeatedly locked horns with the law.

The familiar charge of marijuana possession, and the growing scourge of
cocaine use, accounted for most of the arrests. But the controversial Killa
- -- a leading dancehall deejay -- and Sibbles, who made his name as singer
for the famed rocksteady group, The Heptones -- were both charged with
physically abusing their lovers.

Others, like Isaacs and Baby Wayne, have made several courtroom appearances
for possession of cocaine.

The trend has not gone unnoticed by the executive of the Jamaica Federation
of Musicians (JFM), the 60 year-old body that monitors developments in the
local music industry. According to Desmond Young, president of the JFM,
steps are being taken to reduce the level of incidents among entertainers.
"We are having more meetings now more than ever, if we see a problem we will
deal with it in an informal way," he said.

Young was quick to add that it has not been all negative on the part of
entertainers. He points to the recent spate of conversions to the Christian
faith by several top dancehall names, such as deejays Papa San and Lt Stitchie.

San, who was arrested on gun charges in 1994, is at present a fixture on
Jamaica's growing gospel circuit. Young uses his conversion as an example of
what sound advice can do. "He's doing God's work now, he's older and wiser."

Because most of the troubled performers are linked to the dancehall genre,
critics have pointed to the outrageous and oftentimes reckless behavior of
its stars as at the heart of the recent troubles. But history shows that the
reggae performer's run-in with the law is cyclical.

Before all the gun talk of contemporary dancehall, there were the "rude
boys" who ruled the ska-dominated sound system movement which embraced the
marijuana culture of the 1960s and 70s. Indeed, many early reggae stars like
Toots Hibbert and Bunny Wailer did "time" for possession of marijuana.

Hibbert's case is by far the more documented. He spent 18 months in prison
after a police officer reportedly discovered the weed in his luggage while
the singer was on his way to a show.

Marijuana possession is child's play compared to the incidents of the last
decade. Prominents among them were Isaacs' continual court appearances
because of a much-publicised cocaine habit, and dancehall's ties with the
crime scene, which claimed the lives of several promising performers such as
deejays Pan Head and Dirtsman, the older brother of Papa San.

Pioneer performers like Hibbert and Wailer were normally considered victims
of prejudiced times, but that is not the case with the new wave of
performers who are able to afford high-powered representation.

Most of these acts, unlike Hibbert in the 1960s, have a full-time manager
who not only ensures that the performer remains viable in a competitive
market, but who also guides the star-struck new performers unused to their
newly-found wealth and celebrity.

But, according to Copeland Forbes, who managed several big-name acts
including Peter Tosh, Third World and Dennis Brown, a manager is not
necessarily the answer to the problem.

"A lot of them are in it just for their 10 percent, they don't look out for
the artist's best interest," charged Forbes. "A manager also has to be a
guide because most of these guys need a father figure."

Some observers of the reggae scene, however, say this is what most companies
and managers have failed to provide since Jamaica's music industry became
more sophisticated and acts began commanding top dollar.

Forbes believes Jamaican managers need to follow the path of Motown founder
Berry Gordy who instituted several measures to improve the image of his acts
in the early days of that label.

Like most Jamaican entertainers, Motown's stars were from government
projects, but Gordy insisted that they attend grooming classes to fine-tune
their image. "If things like that are not in place a lot of them will find
themselves in trouble," Forbes warned.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett