Dancehall News And Articles

After moving his New York-based business to Jamaica, America-born David Kennedy said he is having great difficulty getting his music played on local airwaves, he noted that his music isn't Jamaican, per se, but in his estimation it appears that if the artistes are not known to the disc jocks they seem not to be interested.

Kennedy grew up in Kingston and left to attend university in the States in 1976. He said good music is not played on Jamaica's airwaves because what is pervailing now is an "ahtist" industry."What people want to hear is "junk content and catchy hooks," Kennedy said. "It's not about the music anymore; it's about the individual regardless of his talent."

Kennedy worked as an engineer on Mary J Blige's 1992 debut album What's the 411?; Super Cat's Don Dada (1992); Patra's Scent of Attraction (1995); Shabba Ranks' Xtra Naked (1992); Dru Hill's Dru Hill (1996); Heavy D and the Boyz's Peaceful Journey (1991); Mad Cobra's Milkman (1996); and, Keith Richards Talk is Cheap (1988).

He said his refusal to pay disc jockeys is another reason his music is not being played. But radio disc jockey Collin Hines says there is nothing wrong with refusing to play music that is not mainstream. "Radio's mandate is not to play obscure music or something that isn't commercially viable," Hines said.

"We have to balance what our audience wants to hear and what they will catch on to," he said. Hines believes there are unscrupulous people in the business who will not play a song without being paid whether it is good or bad.