Ghetto youths or Guyana’s sons and daughters?

Mar 02, 2025 Letters

Dear Editor,

After seeing the President sitting with dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel at State House, I decided to listen to some of his music and watch his videos. Something which many youngsters in Guyana will also do.

It is not every day that you see the President helping to promote the music industry with a high-profile artiste from the Region, but to my surprise the content of the videos was very different from the image I had of our president’s administration. It left me wandering if the current administration was into the fast life of crime, wild women and drugs.

As a previous reggae radio show host in New York and a previous head of its Pan African music department I have met and promoted numerous top artistes over my years at the radio station. This goes as far back as to when Jay-Z was unsigned, so the music scene isn’t something new to me.

However, where I see a contradiction is in the messages of Kartel’s songs and the social improvement initiatives of the current administration. If the President is serious about reducing the consumption of alcohol and drugs in our society, then it is important that the Office of the President promotes that message to our country’s children.

Vybz has some positive tunes, but we must also caution our younger generation against damaging their lungs and their liver. We must also caution the impressionable young girls in our society against thinking that their bodies are for sexual exploitation. The reggae music scene in Jamaica is strongly influenced by the realities in the ghettos of the island and that reality is very different from the reality in the communities in Guyana. As attractive as the music and its illusion of fast living may be, our younger generations must be given more examples that promote a self-empowering lifestyle that is healthy and uplifting.

Vybz Kartel has been through a lot over the years, from a murder conviction to a serious health problem. His way of life is uniquely his and he is trying to bring more positivity in his message to Guyana. This is applaudable. The children of Guyana should place the anti-bullying message above the other messages in his music that could entice them towards that dangerous Jamaican ghetto hustling lifestyle. There are also many examples of music artists who are very successful while using their music to promote a more positive vibe and lifestyle. This is what our country’s children should seek out and embrace. After all, we are uniquely Guyanese and so are our experiences.

“Onward, upward may we ever go

Day by day in strength and beauty grow,

Till at length we each of us may show,

What Guyana’s sons and daughters can be”.

Stay positive.

Best regards,

Mr. Jamil Changlee

Chairman

The Cooperative Republicans of Guyana

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