Screenshot from the video for the Chino’s single ‘Look A Gal’, released on July 28.
Dancehall deejay Chino McGregor says the kind of music being produced is influencing the violence that has kept Jamaica’s homicide rate among the highest in the world.
McGregor, the son of Reggae legend Freddie McGregor, has chalked up several hits in his career.
He says the violence and rampant criminality in Jamaica has caused many sons and daughters of the soil to flee to perceived safe havens abroad.
More in this report from Nora-Gaye Banton.
On Wednesday the Jamaica Constabulary Force published the latest crime figures which show that murders declined by almost 12-percent over the first seven months this year when compared to the corresponding period last year.
For the period January 1 to July 31 this year, 786 murders were recorded across the island.
While welcoming the decline, Chino McGregor thinks the tally is way too high.
Only once since the year 2000 has the annual homicide number fallen below the 1,000 mark. That was in 2003 when 976 people were killed.
Chino McGregor’s catalogue includes songs which glorify the kind of violence he’s now speaking out against. That catalogue also includes songs like the 2008 smash hit ‘From Mawning’, a song speaking about motivation and loyalty.
He says it’s a fact that dancehall music can influence the kind of behaviour that makes society unsafe.
Chino McGregor says artistes must take responsibility to clean up their act and help foster the creation of a peaceful society.
He says he’s practising what he’s preaching.
