Brighton record chains should stop sale of 'murder music'
10th September 2004
Record stores are acting irresponsibly, a city councillor claims, after they refused to take music off-sale which incites the murder of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
Cllr. Simon Williams displays CDs by murder music artists
Green City Councillor Simon Williams wrote to the three main record chains with outlets in Brighton and Hove HMV, Virgin Megastore and MVC to alert them to tracks by a minority of rap and reggae artists who incite hatred against and the murder of LGBT people.
He sent the stores a list of artists and their offending lyrics so that they could see the nature of the music they were selling in a city where LGBT people make up one in six of the population.
Artists include Buju Banton, Beenie Man, Elephant Man, T.O.K., Vybz Kartel and Bounty Killer. Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel were recently dropped from the forthcoming MOBO Music Awards after the Black Gay Mens' Advisory Group pointed out that both artists had refused to apologise for their lyrics.
Councillor Simon Williams who is gay and serves on Brighton and Hove City Council's Community Safety Forum said:
"It's wrong for a reputable record chain to sell music that incites the execution - including hanging and shooting - of gay people. If these artists incited the murder of black people, the record stores would never dream of putting the offending tracks on sale. The police would, quite rightly, be round in a flash."
He added: "All three chains acknowledged that they sell these tracks in albums and that the lyrics are offensive and unacceptable, but they all insist that it's not their role to decide what music buyers should and should not buy. Yet I'm only asking them to take a minority of albums off-sale which contain incitement-to-murder lyrics. The vast majority of rap and reggae music is not homophobic.
"In a city where one in six people identifies as LGBT, to refuse to stop the sale of music that incites the murder of LGBT people is rather insensitive to say the least. We have a serious problem with homophobic attacks in the city, with some streets verging on 'no-go' areas late at night. I'm not suggesting a direct link between this music and increased attacks but it encourages a climate where homophobia is seen as acceptable. These stores employ large numbers of LGBT people and a significant share of their customers are gay. It seems strange that they are happy to risk offending their customer base."
Simon Williams who is also the Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Brighton Kemp Town in the General Election points out that the real problem is that LGBT people are not protected from incitement to hatred in the same way as people from black or minority ethnic communities who enjoy race relations legislation:
"The big stores are basically saying: "We'll act when the Government forces us to through legislation but we won't take these tracks off sale until that happens." It's a shame they can't take a more responsible position. I understand that they don't want to become censors but we are not talking about mild homophobia - these lyrics are about murdering people. It may be that the LGBT community might have to consider a boycott to force them to act. It will be a big part of my election campaign, given that so many LGBT people live in the Kemp Town area."
--UPDATE--
Yesterday (9th September) following Simon Williams' initiative two chains MVC and Virgin Megastore claimed that the offending tracks listed below* are NOT currently ON THEIR SHELVES IN THEIR BRIGHTON STORES - with the implication that they may be on shelves in other stores. In any event it is possible to ORDER the offending tracks from any of their UK-wide outlets or through the stores' telephone and internet services. Meanwhile homophobic tracks including Elephant Man's 'Log On' are still ON THE SHELVES in HMV in Brighton as of 9th September.
Simon Williams said: "To claim that their Brighton branches do not currently stock the offending tracks ON THEIR SHELVES unfortunately misses the point. We need a clear statement of their position on whether they will take the offending tracks and artists off their sales list completely, everywhere which the chains refuse to offer. If you can still order the albums on the internet or walk into one of their stores in London and see an incitement-to-murder track on the shelf there, that really isn't good enough. The big chains are refusing to take a clear, honest stand to reassure the LGBT community that they will comprehensively stop the sale and promotion of murder music."
In contrast to the three national chains, two local independent record stores Rounder Records and Essential Records both based in Brighton Square say that they do not stock any homophobic rap or reggae.
Councillor Williams was also shocked to discover that Beanie Man CDs were on loan at Brighton & Hove City Council library services (although none with the incitement to murder lyrics). After he alerted library officials, they immediately suspended the CDs pending the outcome of a Crown Prosecution Service investigation into Beanie Man's lyrics.
"Brighton & Hove Council, as a public body, has an even higher duty than the record stores to ensure it does not stock artists in libraries who promote the murder of lesbians and gay men." he said.
Ends
Notes to editors:
After referral of the music by LGBT campaign group Outrage! to the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Crown Prosecution Service is investigating whether the offending artists can be prosecuted under incitement-to-murder laws although any prosecution would be fraught with legal difficulties given that many of the artists are based overseas.* The List of Offending Music and Letter to Stores
23 August 2004
The Manager
XXXX Record Store
Brighton
Dear Sir / Madam
RE: Homophobic lyrics in rap and reggae tracks
I am writing to you in my capacity as a city councillor on Brighton & Hove Council.
Like many, I am concerned about the sale of a minority of rap and reggae music which contains homophobic lyrics, some of which incite people to murder. I'm especially interested to learn whether your store stocks the following tracks:
* List
Buju Banton - Boom Bye Bye
Beenie Man - Han Up Deh
Beenie Man - Damn
Beenie Man - Batty Man Fi Dead
Beenie Man - Roll Deep
Bounty Killer (with Babycham) - Another Level
Elephant Man - A Nuh Fi Wi Fault
Elephant Man - We Nuh Like Gay
Elephant Man - Log On
T.O.K. - Chi Chi Man
Vybz Kartel - Slaughterisation
All these tracks contain homophobic lyrics (please see appended sheet) and as such I do not believe a responsible music store, once briefed about the content of the lyrics, would wish to stock this music, especially given that your store operates in a city with a very significant lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.
Some of the lyrics incite violence against LGBT people and, in a city where homophobic attacks are a serious problem, the sale of such tracks makes it more difficult to solve this problem.
The following artists have been implicated in homophobic lyrics: Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Buju Banton, Elephant Man, Sizzla, TOK, Capleton and Vybz Kartel.
So I would be very grateful if you could confirm whether your store sells any of the above tracks. If it does, now that you have been alerted to the content in these tracks please could you confirm whether your store will take a responsible position and take steps to cease their sale or the albums which contain them?
Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully
Councillor Simon Williams
Details of Vybz Kartel's and Elephant Man's lyrics follow below. Lyrics in Jamaican patois, with the standard English translation underneath in square brackets [ ].
VYBZ KARTEL - BEDROOM SLAUGHTERATION
Bow cat, sodomite, batty man fi gat assassination (Yeah)
[Oral sexer, lesbian and gay men must be assassinated (Yeah)]
VYBZ KARTEL - GUNS LIKE MINE
Kartel buss one inna batty bwoy spine
[Kartel puts one (a bullet) in a gay person's spine]
VYBZ KARTEL - PUSSY JAW
Faggot fi get copper to di heart
[Faggot must get copper (bullet) to the heart]
A wet yuh up wid di Maggy
[I shoot you with the Magnum (gun)]
From yuh funny, yuh a guh bury
[If you are funny (gay person), you get buried (as in killed)]
ELEPHANT MAN - A NUH FI WI FAULT
Battyman fi dead!
[Gay people must be killed!]
Please mark we word
[Please mark my words]
Gimme tha tec-nine
[Give me the Tec-9]
(Tec-9: semi-automatic assault pistol)
Shoot dem like bird
[Shoot them (gay people) like birds]
ELEPHANT MAN - WE NUH LIKE GAY
Battyman fi dead! Tek dem by surprise
[Gay persons must be killed! Take them by surprise]
Get a shot inna yu head, inna mi big gun collide.
[I am going to shoot you in the head, you are going to meet up with my
big gun]
Gimme me Tec-9 General B, wid de chrome wah a shine
[Give me the Tec-9 General B, the one with the chrome that shines]
(Tec-9: semi-automatic assault pisto)l
(General B: a music colleague of Elephant Man's)
Harry Toddler shot out ah bugger-man
[Harry Toddler: shoot all gay men]
(Harry Toddler: a music colleague of Elephant Man's)
ELEPHANT MAN - LOG ON
Log on and step pon chi chi man
[Log on and step on a gay man]
Log on is a type of dance using the right foot in a stepping motion as
if
to squash a cockroach - the lyrics boast about crushing gay people.
Dance wi a dance and a bun out a freaky man.
[Join our dance and let's burn out the gay man]
Step pon him like a old cloth
[Step on him like an old cloth]
A dance wi a dance and a crush out a bingi man .
[Join our dance and let's crush gay men]
Do di walk, mek mi see the light and di torch dem fast
[Do the walk, quickly let me see the lighter and torch]
(lighter and torch: makeshift aerosol flame thrower weapon)
[ENDS]
