The music industry in Barbados has reached a satisfactory level of growth and it continues to expand.
This is the assessment of a number of local and regional artistes who noted that local reggae music was gaining acceptance but there was still room for improvement.
Buggy Nhakente, one of the island’s increasingly popular reggae artistes, told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY he believed “Bajan reggae” music was widely accepted but they had to compete with soca “because Barbados is dominantly a soca country”.
“So any time you are doing a genre outside of soca, it is not really seen as authentic. It is always seen as ‘this artiste is trying to mimic the Jamaicans or he is trying to mimic the Americans’. So for Bajan reggae to get to this level, this is a serious thing. It is commendable,” he said.
Nhakente said some artistes who had left the genre were now returning because of the renewed interest from the population, especially the young people.
“I think actually now a level foundation is being formed for the music industry in Barbados. There are more people in terms of people looking to manage, people looking to promote and those looking to get into style and design. People are looking to get more involved. I think it is going good and it is a step in the right direction”.
He said his main advice was that artistes should pay closer attention to the messages that they were sending through their songs.
“I think artistes need to understand that what they do and sing influence the people around them. A lot of things we sing influence the younger generation and if we keep feeding them one thing all the time, they will come up one way,” he cautioned.
Soca Queen Alison Hinds said while the music industry on the island was growing, “it can always be better. If you are satisfied then it means that no growth is going to happen. So there is always room for growth and there is always room for improvement”.
She believed Soca artistes should not only release music for the annual Crop Over Festival if they really wanted to stay relevant and competitive.
“That is what reggae artistes do; every month you are getting fresh music coming out and that is what we need to do. It doesn’t always have to be carnival-oriented; it could be about anything as long as it is something that people can identify with,” she said.
Award-winning singer and DJ Kirk Brown has been seriously practising his art for the past seven years. He told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY there was a growing demand for Bajan reggae music and it was now up to artistes to supply.
“The music industry in Barbados is a lot more aggressive now than when I first started . . . . Now the focus is mostly on original music, which is a good thing,” he said.
Brown said the industry was expanding and there was a lot more international focus on the island, which he believed was creating more opportunities for local talent to be recognized worldwide.
“People are eating up Bajan music, whether it is from me, Buggy Nhakente, Crimeson or a whole heap more reggae artistes. I think we should really embrace that and run with it and give them what they need. They are craving this type of music now,” he said.
However, Brown said he believed there was still a lot more work to be done in order for people in the rest of the region to warm up to Bajan reggae.
“Locally it is about 200 per cent better but in the region I think we need to get it out there more; get it to the deejays, get it to the radio stations, get it online. There is no excuse now, the world is smaller with all the online accessibility,” he said.
Mad Dog, whose given name is Donovan Lawrence, is a dancehall artiste out of Jamaica who frequently visits Barbados. He said with the emergence of new artistes in the reggae genre, “it is never going to be easy but you have to do your homework and know what you have to do to keep yourself in this business”.
“There have been a lot of changes because the music itself has even changed. Over the years it shifted from people loving mostly the conscious lyrics from Luciano (Jepther McClymont) and Sizzla (Miguel Collins).
“There is the new generation of Movado and Kartel so as an artiste it is up to you to get fit in this business,” he said.
“I love what is going on right now in Barbados in the music industry. You have Buggy Nhakente – he can perform, he has the whole package. He is well set,” he said.
Popular Jamaican reggae artistes Everton Blender and Capleton (Clifton Bailey III) told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY they were pleased with the growing interest in reggae music among some Barbadian musicians.
Noting that music was a powerful tool, Capleton cautioned that it was important for upcoming artistes to consider the lyrics and the message they were sending.
“We have to believe in the music and do it from the heart, not for the money or the hype or the popularity or publicity but for the love of the people, because it is the people who make it happen for us,” he said.
Blender said: “Right now Barbados’ music industry has developed a lot. Barbados is growing”.
Minister of Family, Culture, Sport and Youth Stephen Lashley said his ministry was currently working on the necessary support systems to transform the various industries in the creative sector.
“I think we are doing quite well. But of course we can always do more. We are working now on creating the kind of legislative framework through the Cultural Industries Bill, which is going to give the music industry, to my mind, a tremendous boost. It is going to give all the cultural practitioners access to funding, to concessions similar to any other industry,” said Lashley.
He said in terms of reggae music, Barbados was doing “quite well” and performing should no longer be seen as “a part-time enterprise”.
