There is a tragedy occurring in West Kingston, Jamaica. Some have compared it to Genocide in Rwanda. On Wednesday night I observed some heartfelt words expressed via Twitter from Reggae Dancehall icon Tony CD Kelly. I have posted Tony's words below with his permission.
My heart has finally exploded & I'm just shedding a constant stream of tears, not only because my LiL Bro Oneil is now gone, but because WE JAMAICANS still don't get it. We have good police & soldiers in our country, & we have good people living in Tivoli also.
We were praying for Oneil, then cursing out & passing judgment on the people of Tivoli, now back to praying & mourning for Oneil again. But are we learning anything from all this constant bickering & blame game? I wonder if we realize that, if Oneil lived in Tivoli chances of this happening would have been very slim. So please, we all need to step back, look in the mirror & ask GOD & ourselves what can we do to help? If you never lived & or don't know about garrison/ghetto life, don't pass judgment on them, & you're only adding to & being a part of the problem. Instead strive to be a part of the solution. All who made it out of the ghetto, please reach back & help. Please help somebody else out. Teach them how you did it, & how Oneil did it. Because they're living under slavery, mentally & economically.
You can't change the thinking process of a person whose parents & grandparents born into the system overnight. Same way you can't change a crackhead overnight. I AM A PRODUCT OF THE GHETTO, TONY KELLY IS A PRODUCT OF THE GHETTO, so I know what I am talking about, no gold spoon here. I've been there, done that, shot people, get shot, graze several times, stabbed several times, while my mom did her best to shun us away from it all. She prayed with us almost every night, & the next morning peer pressure take control. The light went on in my thick skull twice, when I was facing prison & jail, for shooting & stealing. Twice the police gave me a chance. So I chose a better way because of my mom's actions & my ability to dream, yes dream.
A lot of ghetto people don't have dreams to make it. So for all you producers who shun Voicemail when they wanted to voice for you, think about Oneil. When the next yute approach you, you could be helping the next star who's just looking for a chance to make a difference inna him community. TUFF GONG gave me that chance alongside Mad Scientist, Errol Brown. All the Marley's gave me a chance & I bet they're proud right now. I myself gave my brother, Garth (from Top Range) Paul (from McGregor Gully) the first chance I got to help them make a difference, sharing my $240JA per wk so we all could eat. I've helped about 9 others become engineers (Gary Sutherland, Rookie, Weakhand, Stumpy, Gary Jackson etc.) & I'm still helping countless artistes from the ghetto. Tumpa Lion, who's mom was sleeping in a church & he was sleeping on desk at Dunoon Tech, Daddy Screw, Likkle Lenny, Voicemail, ARP (Daville), Beenie Man. You name them I was always helping. So Oneil & Tivoli deaths should be a lesson to us that we can't sit back & blame, but must stretch out our hands, help, even if it's just love we have to offer, because that's what's needed first. Then try & understand the livity, mind set, at the same time thinking of ways to help. One can dream but many can move mountains.
You people uptown do your part & knock on your next door neighbor's door, stop their car, even when you're partying with them & ask them when are they gonna stop hiding the truth & start help to fix the situation. Because ghetto people don't see them until there's an election. Slavery & suppression never work, nowhere, so it's only natural for it to be pushing back, & it'll reach you on the hill or where ever.
If ya'll think it's ghetto people come up with this drug trade, you'd be sadly mistaken. They're calling Dudus drug dealer & gun runner, but if it's true, you'd be surprised how much of ya'll families involved in the same line of biz, & have a legal biz as a front same way. They might even be sharing the same container/vessel transporting the drugs, while ah yell say "dem down there fi dead".
How many of you ever meet Dudus? And how many of you ever talk with him? Wouldn't you die for your Mother/Father who's been there for you always?How many of you ever go down there & sit down, buy some food for the yutes, support the community & listen to the yutes & their dreams? I'm wondering how many of you know that he's probably the one responsible for your area being quiet before this operation? How many of you know he's always thinking peace first? Do you know how much good & successful people are from these garrison?
So I'm going to use Oneil's & Tivoli deaths as a motivation to help more yutes. What are YOU going to do? When things calm down, I'll be releasing a Voicemail song with Oneil actually leading a verse, so please buy & support it, because 100% of all profit will be going to his daughter, & she'll be getting 100% of my publishing pertaining to that song.
All who live in the USA, UK, Canada, etc, who's been sending guns & guns & more guns to Jamaica, was this a part of your vision? What was your thought process? Did you ever think for a minute that they would be used to kill 7yrs old, 5yrs old & 7MTHS OLD KIDS????
Producers, can you do something for Oneil? Every time you put out a riddim can you reason & voice a new kid from the ghetto? Don't stop until he has the capability to stand & earn on his own. And let him/her know it comes with stipulations. They have to strive to become a better person & improve the imagery of ghetto & help others even if it's only one other artist, road manager, manager engineer, or producer. I said I wasn't going to do anymore riddims, but after all this, I really feel like I have to do more on my part to help more yutes. So back to the the riddims & artist(s) I'm going to challenge ya'll to think outside the box & be very creative with your songs....LET'S GO!!! And if any Reggae/Dancehall producer out there need some words of advice, mixing tip & or encouragement, I'll happily help. Strive for the best.
JAMAICA IS A BLESSED COUNTRY THAT HAS PRODUCED SOME GREAT PEOPLE, so do your best to make sure the world remembers us for that. Which other little country has such a profound effect on the world like Jamaica? We always turn up somewhere somehow?
We rose above adversity before!!! AND WE WILL DO IT AGAIN!!!
Tony "CD" Kelly has produced monster hits like Sean Paul's chart topper "Like Glue" for which he won a BMI Award. He also co-wrote and produced "Deport Dem" which was a major crossover hit for Sean Paul. In the history of dancehall, Kelly has had the most crossover hits of any dancehall/reggae producer.
You can follow him on Twitter http://twitter.com/TonyCDKelly
A personal note from Miss Goodas:
I'm feeling this song right now. Anyone would easily draw for a Sizzla, Buju, or Bob tune.
But this song speaks to me & my ancestral roots Sweet Cry Freedom
Truly admire TonyKelly's accomplishment,contributions and efforts to help the less fortuantes. Most importanty, for him to shed light on the Tivoli unrest... however i think more needs to be done than voicing a ghetto youth/s that have an interest in the music business. Therefore, i think all the ppl in the music business need to form an organization to create a youth community center for instance, a center that offers; computer lab, an after school program where children can come to the center to learn about a number of things;to play a musical instrument, get help with homework, get counseling, ect. ect. Secondly, artists and others who can give back to Jamaica need to create scholarships programs for the youths, I think each entertainer, artists,and producers should sponsor an under privilged child from jamaica.
ReplyDeleteThus, offering a ghetto youth an opportunity to be voice on a producer's riddim, or to shadow other producers isnt suffice to help the hundreds and thousands of other youths who may not have an interest to become Dancehall/Reggae artists or have any other interest in the music business. Most importantly,many youths have different dreams such as: to be doctors,nurses, pilots, captains of ships,lawyers, civil engineers, teachers ect...Unfortuantely many arent able to dream beyond what they live b./c there is no role models,no escape for them; hence thats where the youth community centers, mentorships, big brother/big sister programs , sponsorship will be a support for them.
****It will be costly of course, and many of you guys probably saying its the government job to do all a that, but its not. its your job also you live there you are successful enough to help the country by making a better place for the youths.THe children are the future indeed. Above all, artists are the people in the spotlight who can make that change and awareness. Philanthropy mi sey.
IT CAN BE DONE.