Alpha Rowen wants dancehall to have ‘manners’

Roots-reggae artiste Alpha Rowen believes that dancehall needs a rebirth and a realignment because of the proliferation of gun songs and slackness in the marketplace.

He believes that some form of censorship is needed to stem the flow of unhealthy lyrics.

"There's a law on the books that is not being enforced, which is incitement. These things are allowed for a particular reason and those artistes who have been poorly cultured have run into the trap," he said. "People are allowed to say these things and become popular. Measures must be put in place to curtail them. If that is censorship, then so be it."

Noting that artistes such as Vybz Kartel, Ninjaman, and most recently Laden, have all been convicted of serious crimes, the roots reggae singer believes that civility and common sense are exceedingly rare entities in the public sphere, which has a negative impact on the populace.

"If folly suppresses wisdom, then we are lost. Certain dancehall songs use folly to suppress wisdom. The voice of fools is allowed to be too loud, drowning out the good sense of wisdom and logic. I am here to correct that," he said. This 'corrective' move is in the form of a new album, Dancehall Manners Book, which he released last month.

"This album is perpetually relevant in our society. The notion of having the wise being led by the fool should go through the window. Leaders were born to lead, we need them to step up and do something. That's what the album is about, urging action," Alpha Rowen said. "The album comes with a physical manners book, titled The Headmaster's Edition. We need it because the manners-less people need to be taught."

The 13-track album consists of trap beats, original dancehall, mixed genres of Afro and Jamaican dancehall beats.