Dancehall Culture and its World: Synthesising competing discourses and interpretations of Jamaica’s controversial ghetto youth culture

Dancehall culture has caused controversy in Jamaica, being blamed for the country’s increased violence and believed to encourage vulgar behaviour and misogynistic attitudes among youth. This paper seeks to understand dancehall aside from moral judgment, in order that ghetto youth be understood in their own right. Conceptualizing culture as a fluid, rather than fixed phenomena, the methodological approach used privileges neither local nor outside knowledge, but rather synthesizes discourses of understanding in order to access the world of dancehall youth. Through dynamic creativity, this alternative space is maintained; allowing youth to express their agency by embodying vibrant, sexualized identities subversive to those denied them by the national political and economic system. Dancehall’s dialogue of survival is translated into raw, in-your-face lyrics written and performed by DJs. This paper argues that the realities and messages expressed by youth in these songs are being misjudged, misunderstood and stereotyped by outsiders; that the government’s act of banning songs is an act of injustice towards ghetto youth. Additionally, popular songs accused of containing misogynistic and violent content are analyzed using an approach that recognizes the political and economic context in which the songs were produced. Messages of social change are found including women’s empowerment and a bright future for Jamaica’s youth. This paper concludes by reiterating the need to move away from imported frameworks, towards inclusive frameworks that give justice to the world within dancehall, instead of silencing or moralistic judgment.