Alfred Dawes | Trap music, chop music

For those of you born when you had to use an ICAS code to call foreign, Trap music is a genre of hip hop music from the southern United States with a particular style of beat and of a general theme surrounding drug use. The name Trap refers to trap houses that are dens for drug use and in those locals. Trap music has spread its influence from Hip Hop to as far as Korean Pop music, dominating charts in the US and across the world.

Some lament the simplicity of the beats and the lack of lyrical poetry that defined classic Hip Hop music in the sub-genre. Unflattering comparisons are often made between the legendary storytellers of Hip Hop and the modern-day Trap stars, with even Snoop Dogg weighing in on how all their music sounds alike. Yet some unseen force propels the controversial form of music to even higher heights as sales and streaming records are shattered by original and crossover Trap songs.

If controversy surrounds Trap music, then our local version, dubbed Trap Dancehall by some, is even more polarising. Not only has our traditional bass heavy dancehall beat evolved over the years, but the lyrical content as well. From the “slackness” of Shabba Ranks and Yellowman, through the matey versus wifey era, to arguably the peak of dancehall in the late nineteen nineties early 2000s’ party and dancing phase that took the international markets by storm, change is the story of Jamaica’s music. What we now call Jamaican music is, however, bewildering and even painful to some dancehall purists.

The beats have changed, yes, but it is the glorification of un-Jamaican drugs, obeah and scamming that is of greatest concern. Take a listen:

“(Expletive) dem a chop but the whole a dem a chop small, crypto currency yuh nuh see seh me stacks tall”.

money naave estimate guard up wid oil ring, load up wid nuff duppy, leads deh yah, banga deh ya nuff so we dawg dem a dial ah choppa nuh debate”.

CHOPPING

For the uninitiated, chopping is the slang for lottery scamming done by the choppas who make calls on cheap, untraceable banger phones to potential victims whose names appear on a lead sheet. Described as the greatest security threat to the Jamaican state, the scammers have used the billions of dollars fleeced from unsuspecting victims to stockpile high-powered weapons and wage war on their rivals. It is no surprise, then, that the most brazen and brutal incidents of gun violence are concentrated in the western parishes where lottery scamming is ingrained in the culture. Embraced by the business community who eagerly funnel the ill-gotten gains into the mainstream economy, the choppas are looked up to by the youth who see their lavish lifestyles funded only by phone calls and trips to collect stacks of cash.

The choppas are immortalised in the songs that are currently ruling the dancehall. “A true di lottery, mi charge like battery, me got bricks, big house and fat whip…”. The numerous odes to their lifestyle of scamming, murder, partying non-stop, expensive cars and mansions, are essentially recruitment ads for the next generation of choppas. The social interventions and community-based policing that are supposed to be pillars of a comprehensive crime plan stand no chance to this subculture that is rapidly becoming what is considered to be our Jamaican culture. We cannot solve crime until our culture changes for the better. Yet every year we slip further into anarchy while immortalising those who fund our demise.

Across the world, the question is asked as to why Jamaican athletes are consistently world class. Our exploits in track and field are vastly out of proportion to our small size and economic conditions. A major contributor is that we have a track culture. The culture of a country determines where the most talented will most likely deploy their skills. It is why Brazil has exceptional footballers and New Zealand world-class rugby players. A culture change explains why the West Indies cricket team is no longer as formidable as when boys played cricket in the streets with a coconut bough bat and tennis ball. It is a culture change why our murder rate is frustratingly high despite ZOSOs and states of emergencies.

We have a culture of violence and scamming. It is not the music that caused this. The artistes are merely producing what the people want to hear. They want the murder, badness, chopping and braffing more than the dancing and feeling good vibes. The money pull ups and paid requests are for the chopping tunes in the dances and clubs. The dance movements are not created as fast as before and are not as popular as when Elephant Man, Ding Dong, Bogle and John Hype ruled the dance floors. The ladies had better learn to dance to chop music or go home. It is the new dancehall culture.

As we descend into further chaos, I foresee a straw man being built out of chop music in order to deflect blame from the biggest choppas in our society who were bilking our coffers long before the first lead sheet was created. They continue to con and steal from the local taxpayers while paying lip service to addressing the crime rate in front of the cameras. They launder more money than they earn legitimately and cry out when the murders hit close to home. Maybe the next chop tune should immortalise them as well.

- Dr Alfred Dawes is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, CEO of Windsor Wellness Centre. Follow him on Twitter @dr_aldawes. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and adawes@ilapmedical.com.