Is Sexxy Red Staining the Youth?
It all begins with an idea.
How a video of Sexxy Red and young fans singing together sparked controversy.
Photograph 1:Sexxy Red; AARON J. THORNTON/GETTY IMAGES
Blasting in the speakers of clubs and speeding cars is the song that makes girls move, Sexxy Red’s “Skeeyee”. It was the song of the summer, as Red raps about fast cars, sex and guns while divulging her sexual desires.
Skeeyee by Sexxy Red Lyrics provided by Genius.com.
The eccentric rapper describes the phrase “Skeeyee” to Montreality: “You see a cute girl or somebody with a big booty, or you’re tryin’ to holler at somebody.”
So, is this truly an appropriate song for kids? X users chastised Red following a video of her and young fans screaming “Skeeyee” in a park. @RomezWrld reacted to the video:
Is Red to blame for children’s exposure to her music, or should we be blaming the parents? I spoke to Huma Reid, a child & adolescent counselling psychotherapist, about the effects of explicit music on children’s development and behaviour.
In your field, are you seeing a correlation between indulgence in explicit music and inappropriate behaviour in children and adolescents?
“More so with the primary children because they have access to YouTube and quite a lot of them now have access to mobile phones & iPads. So, they can get on to anything and everything explicit & non-explicit by accidentally tapping onto sites that are irrelevant to them, but then they get pulled in and start watching. There has also been grandiose behaviour of a sexualised nature, which they’ve seen and then think it’s OK to do.”
She continues,
“The effect is more than just music; it’s also the culture. They start to think, I need caps on my teeth or this jacket. I’ll fight you for it. Gang-related stuff. Drugs. It’s just snowballing.”
X user @ohrelly_, stated:
Rel is not wrong; inappropriate music has constantly been exposed to children, especially during the 2000s, when songs were laced with sexual innuendos and metaphors. Milkshake and In Da Club from the 2000s explored similar themes to Red’s song.
However, it seems children are more affected by music than previous generations. Reid states that lyrics have changed over the years from sexual innuendos to straight, explicit sexual lyrics.
“Now they’re just saying it. You take Nicki Minaj, and you’ve got these young children who then potentially have older siblings that are describing it or just know what junk in your trunk means.”.
The problem is not simply that lyrics have become excessively more explicit; they are also highly accessible to children.
“Music videos in the 90s were banned because they were so graphic, but now you don’t need to have MTV to see these. You can get it from anywhere like Instagram or YouTube”
With the advancements of technology and the consistent reliability of technology to entertain children, we have isolated our children to be able to see this type of content. We cannot control what they can view online.
“You’ll have some of those children that are louder and more powerful that maybe have parents that are not the most active in their lives, and due to that, they’re then given time to sit and occupy themselves. It’s like the iPad is the new babysitter. Go and play with the worms. Go back outside, but there is a fear that if they go outside, they will be kidnapped, taken, or hurt, but using an iPad is hurting their development and growth.”
“Voters Are My Boss”Natalie Campbell on Running for London Mayor
Natalie Campbell is standing as an independent candidate in the capital.
For Natalie Campbell, sitting on the sidelines was not an option when it came to the state of UK politics. The CEO of Belu felt disgusted by the handling of the case of “Child Q” in 2023, when a 15-year-old girl was strip-searched at school after her teacher claimed she smelt marijuana on her .
The lack of consequences for the Met Police and the Prime Minister’s silence fuelled Campbell’s desire to take action by running for Mayor of London.
“We have the PM burying his head in the sand, the fury within me was peak, and I couldn’t let a whole election cycle pass and be frustrated with the outcome, knowing that I could do something about it, so I decided to run for mayor,” she told me.
Her candidacy headline, “Good Homes, Safer Streets and Better Lives”, is indicative of what a Londoner wants to hear from a politician, with housing shortages, the cost of living crisis and increasing crime in London. However, are these aims even plausible?
Natalie states that her zero-bullshit politics is “reminding people that there are people out there that want to do this and do it well; be honest, transparent and bring integrity back to the offices that we hold.”
I sat down with Natalie in Wembley to discuss her candidacy and Team Campbell London. Her energy was warm and inviting, and her heart was in this election. From our conversation, it’s clear that she has always been keen on serving others and helping communities. Growing up in Willesden with Jamaican grandparents, she attributes her humanitarian qualities to her family.
One of Natalie Campbell’s (40) campaign t-shirts, an independent mayoral candidate, taken at her residence
“My grandparents raised me, and that element of service comes from them, and they went to church regularly. My grandma was a key figure in the church community, and we would go to Sunday school every week and as much as I’m not religious now, that element of service has never left me and so I don’t know how to do anything other than serve.”
Running independently significantly reduces her chances of winning; however, Campbell does not doubt herself and her capabilities.
“My grandparents always said you can do whatever you want and be whoever you want to be and never let anyone tell you otherwise. Imposter’s syndrome is not an affliction Jamaicans have. We don’t talk about being imposters; I know where I am is where I am supposed to be”.
The 40-year-old sought to be a “big fish in a small pond”. As a teen, she knew she wanted to be a CEO and started planning how to start a business.
“I decided to go to Lancaster University. It was one of the only universities at the time that did an undergraduate degree in entrepreneurship. Lancaster is tiny, so I knew that I could start a business when I got there.”
Her business mind plus her humanitarian traits combine in her role as CEO of BELU since 2020. BELU is a drinks business and social enterprise, providing British mineral water and filtered still and sparkling with the “lowest carbon footprint possible” and donates 100% of its net profits to WaterAid.
Likewise, her role as chancellor at the University of Westminster has influenced her political agenda as “there is absolutely no party or candidate that’s speaking to the 400,000 students across London”.
In her role, she has created a “chancellors circle”, which allows businesses to “give varying degrees of support to students from shadowing days to mentoring to funding.”
Despite having an affirmative thought that she wanted to be an independent candidate, Natalie met with the three main parties to determine if she could find herself running for one of them. Through meeting with the Labour, she asked “Does Labour have a problem with black women? And the fact that the people I spoke to couldn’t tell me ‘no’ said a lot.”
She was similarly unimpressed by the Liberal Democrats and adds: “I spoke to the Conservative Party, who at the time were doing batshit crazy things, but they were the only party that said if you want to try and run, run.”
Campbell does not disagree that running under the Conservatives would have be controversial, but she saw it as a strategic move rather than aligning with their ideals.
“You have to understand the system to change it. So, as much as I understand that running under a Tory ticket is unforgivable, I had to think about the bigger picture.”
Natalie Campbell (40), an independent mayoral candidate, during the interview with Savannah Robinson
In the long run, this decision wasn’t detrimental to her campaign. “Going through that process, I did have to sit down and ask myself whether I wanted to run as an independent. It’s expensive. You have to raise a lot of funds, and the people who generally want to give funds to politics have an agenda. Yeah. So, are you truly independent?
“I’m independent because I’m also self-funding, so I am not holding to anyone’s agenda other than my own, and my own is to serve people. So, the reality is that people are my boss; the people that vote for me would be my boss as mayor not any organisation or institution.”
Photography by Tom Fagg Sweet
Land of Wood, but Jamaicans Cant Access Their Sea Water
How residents of Bob Marley Beach are being asked to leave due to the increasing privatisation of Jamaican beaches.
Bob Marley Beach, St Thomas
The crystal blue waters breaking at shore, the feeling of the sun warming your body, and suddenly being cooled down when diving into the water is a cherished feeling for an islander. The tranquillity and stillness of being at the beach breaks all qualms within themselves and society; for some, this is a way for them to rejuvenate. The beach, being so easily accessible by distance, holds such a beautiful luxury for recreation, dietary and economic needs. However, this accessibility is only a figment of our imagination as it was never available to Jamaicans.
Under Section 3(4) of the Beach Control Act (BCA) of 1956, it states,
Jamaican citizens have no fundamental rights to accessing beaches on the island. Not only was this Act built to restrict and exclude the public, but it also favours those with the money to own a beachfront property or stay in a hotel. Coincidentally, most people in this demographic also fall under a particular race category.
All beach land is owned by “The Crown” (King Charles III) unless it is “acquired under or by virtue of the Registration of Titles Act”. Therefore, the beach is only deemed open to the public by the person who gained ownership of the beach land. Otherwise, no beach is inherently accessible to Jamaican citizens.
When the law was written in 1956, Jamaica was not an independent nation but under colonial rule. All the properties on the foreshore were owned by rich white people. They gave themselves that entitlement while the masses of the country don’t.
-DR DEVON TAYLOR
The colonial rule has left a stain on the Jamaican Government. It has particularly affected the decision-making, allowing Jamaican citizens’ inherited birthright to be used as a commodity for trade with foreign investors for money under the guise of “bringing more jobs for Jamaicans”.
Bob Marley Beach is the next victim to the Government’s greediness, as it was sold to Woof Group in 2019 to build a $200 million beachfront Regis Hotel on the land, although families are occupying it. The plan follows suit as the Government announced that St Thomas was set to “benefit from a nearly 1 billion US dollar Tourism Development Programme.”
The beach is on the south-eastern coast, in St Thomas. This beach has grown in popularity in recent years because of its proximity to Kingston, approximately 25-minutes away, and has a deep-rooted history in the Rastafarian culture in Jamaica. It is also one of Jamaica’s last beaches, which the public can access with no fee or privatisation from hotels or beachfront properties.
Beachgoers enjoying Bob Marley Beach
Two families occupy the beach and have lived there for over 50 years: The Thomas’s and The Stephenson’s. They are both at risk of losing their homes due to the Government’s negligence and are in court to regain their land.
Camala Thomas, one of the residents of Bob Marley Beach, spoke to me, stating, “I’ve lived here all my life. I live in the space, and I also earn my living here”. Thomas owns and is a chef at Sugarloaf Beach Vibes Restaurant on the beach.
It is a tumultuous situation to threaten your home, but having your source of income and your livelihood on the line is a horrendous cumulation of events for a family.
Her parents moved to the area when her father was 16 and her mother was 15.
“When they came, they had nothing, not even a tarpaulin.”
Camala’s family, the Stephenson’s, and the Rastafarian community have devoted years to maintaining the beach.
“You know, so we’re coming from nothing, and to see, we have taken care of this space and are keeping care so people can come, find out about the place, and enjoy.”
Not only is Camala at risk of losing all she knows, but she also acknowledges that Jamaica would be losing a piece of history. The space is historic to Rastafarianism, as many Rastas fled to Bull Bay and Bob Marley Beach from Inner City Kingston in the 1940s for refuge after facing persecution.
Members of Jah LLoyd’s Orthodox Movement of Rastafari, beating the drums in Bull Bay at one of the largest ever Nyabingi ever to be held in Jamaica. Photograph by LinkupLindsay
“Rastas had to flee from dem place deh, come out here, find refuge and form the first Nyabinghi Centre. The first priest was here, right on this sand, and after that, I think in the 1960s, His Majesty came here because of Bingy, how the Rasta assemble, you know.”
“So, there’s a lot of things going on in this little space. We want to be here so we can share this bit of history with Jamaica because they are always curious. Bob Marley used to live across the scheme from here. He used to come down with his family and purchase fish. He played football and went back home.”
Camala wishes the Government would invest time in turning the beach into protected land. “I think this place that needs more development, you know and have it as a destination site. They come and learn about Rastafarianism.”
The late singer used the beach as a spiritual haven, so it was dubbed “Bob Marley Beach”.
Bob Marley Movie is coming out February 14, 2024. They shot scenes at Bob Marley Beach with Camala and her family. IMDb
“I think this place that needs more development, you know and have it as a destination site where they come and learn about Rastafarianism.”
The Jamaica Beach Birthright Environmental Movement (JABBEM) is at the forefront of this conflict, assisting with court cases and public protests to show grievances against the Government.
Dr Devon Taylor, President of JABBEM, founded the movement in 2022 in response to beach access loss in Jamaica and push back against the colonial-era law that allows the government and private interests to shut down beach access.
He voices, “I asked the question, how is this possible? Jamaica is an island. How could it be that for 50 years, I’ve been using a beach, and then I suddenly can’t use it anymore”?
Dr Devon Taylor; The Voice Jamaica
After many warnings from police, politicians, and the developer, saying the property would be pushed down, Taylor, alongside Dr Marcus Goff, a lawyer, assisted in bringing forth an injunction in the Supreme Court against the Woof Group and Commissioners of Land to stop any proceedings of development at the beach and protects the families living there.
“There was a ruling by the judge that said the injunction can be moved and the developer can proceed with their action, but we filed an appeal that it can be re-examined at a higher level in the judicial system”.
Taylor says, “The Prime Minister is the head of (BCA), and it gives him excessive power. He can tomorrow morning determine that everybody can access this beach, and that’s the law of the land.”
He emphasises that “the fundamental objective is to see Jamaicans have an unfettered right of access, but that will require the removal of this act, which requires a legislative solution.”
“Jamaicans need to express openly their disgust with our political leaders that this needs to change. They need to become politically involved”.
Jamaican Flag at Bob Marley Beach
Taylor also urges tourists to assist in the fight by boycotting the resorts that “do not allow Jamaicans to traverse those lands and get to the beaches.” As the entities know, money suppresses people; we must “take money away from them.”
Like Bob, many other beaches are being closed to the public. JABBEM is currently in court with Urban Development Corporation over access to Little Dunn’s River in St. Ann and is asking for it to be reopened and not be privatised.
Jamaica is not free, free only within certain contexts, because the laws imposed on us from colonial rule still loom over the island, restricting our rights to our natural resources and freedom, which is a birthright.
Did you notice that there were no Jamaicans on the beach? You go to a 96% black country, and you don’t see us on the beach. Do you not think that’s a problem? If you go to a country that is predominantly white and when you go there, you only see black people enjoying the beaches; I think your good sense will come alive to say that there is something wrong here. So do not be complicit in discrimination.
-DR DEVON TAYLOR
https://www.change.org/p/protect-beach-access-for-all-jamaicans-keep-bob-marley-beach-public: This is a link to the petition to fight for beach access rights in Jamaica.
At the Hands of Outsiders
How Brixton’s vibrant culture is dwindling as it becomes THE place to live
Rising rent prices and gentrification are running local businesses out of Brixton. How will the district maintain their rich multicultural environment while its culture is altered?
Scents of ground provisions, Caribbean paraphernalia plastered across the walls and accents that sound foreign to the naked British ear dominate in the Brixton district of the London borough of Lambeth. Brixton is known for its vibrance and atmosphere, dubbed “Little Jamaica”.
However, the multicultural district is under threat as local businesses who have been in the area for decades, serving the district with traditional Caribbean and West African produce and goods, fear being displaced and replaced with contemporary restaurants and redevelopment. Developers are stripping Brixton of its unique culture and committing cultural homogenization.
New "Trendy" Shops inside renovated Brixton Market
In July, Brixton locals fought off Hondo Enterprises, a development management company that owns Brixton Market, from building a 22-story tower for office and multi-use accommodation on Pope Road. They protested on the high street with #NOHONDOTOWER as well as the disapproval from the Greater London Authority Officers, stating the building would “harm the character and appearance of the area” and led Hondo to have no choice but to withdraw their proposed building application.
It has never been clearer that locals in Brixton are uncomfortable with the recent changes in the district, as they extensively work to maintain the multicultural atmosphere. However, many outsiders view their actions as gatekeeping and not wanting to welcome persons to move to the district, but this could be further from the truth.
Solomon Wallace, the owner of Solquench, a start-up providing a range of health products outside of Brixton station, stated “there isn’t an issue with people coming in, there’s an issue with people going out who were here in the first place. The welcoming of the people is not the same no more, it's like the people that come in does not want to mix or integrate with locals. It's like they do not want Brixton to operate like a town but more like a city. As you can see and look around, Brixton is changing every day.”
Solomon Wallace, Owner of Solquench, with his range of organic products, including Ital fresh juices, herbal teas, and sea moss.
Solomon has been selling juices in the Brixton area since August 2022. Coming from Jamaican descent, he has seen the changes happening in the area. “Gentrification causes more segregation between the people that come inside from being outsiders and push the insiders outside.”
Many persons in Brixton have had to move out of Brixton due to rising rent prices, closing of social homes, and, particularly, businesses being shut down or evicted. Hondo Enterprises tried to evict their tenant, Nour Cash and Carry, a local grocery supermarket that supplies goods from the Caribbean and West Africa, from Brixton Market in 2020, but were unsuccessful as there were virtual protests with #SAVENOUR were being spread, London Eater reported.
Brixton locals fear losing their melting pot community, which many of their descendants built from the ground up. The area of Brixton began being heavily populated by Caribbean immigrants as the Windrush boat set sail to the UK between 1948 and 1960. These migrants, known as the Windrush Generation, particularly the men, helped to build back Britain and particularly London after being bombed during the Second World War. The land in Brixton was cheaper than the rest of London, and the jobs newly arrived Caribbean immigrants could acquire were in these areas, so they started settling in Brixton. Naturally, the area became diverse, especially with an influx of Caribbean and African goods being sold and invited an influx of people to shop there.
Windrush 75th Anniversary Mural in Brixton Market
Diverse Storefront on Coldharbour Lane in Brixton
Windrush second-generation Anita Thorpe, owner of Diverse, an independent gift shop in Brixton, has been open in the district for over 24 years and previously was in the market for four years. The changes are substantial for her, stating, “It has developed in the last 10 to 15 years from being a largely multicultural, working-class environment to increasingly middle class, wealthier, whiter”.
Data has also concluded that the ethnic population is shifting in Brixton. The Office of National Statistics reported approximately 27,737 persons of White descent in Brixton in 2021, a significant increase from 9273 in 2011. However, many people forget Brixton has always had a diverse community, including a large population of white people, Anita states. “People don’t realise that because the narrative has always been about Caribbean settlement in Brixton.”
Data of Brixton Ethnic Background between 2011 and 2021
In the future, there is hope for Brixton to embrace the technological advancements of urbanisation, but particularly, the issue being faced is trying to maintain the root culture of Brixton in these plans.
Coldharbour Lane in Brixton
The Hypocrisy of Track and Field Fans
With the Tokyo Summer Olympics finally ending, the situation of Sha’carri Richardson has not left my mind. Perhaps it’s the excessive commentary on the topic online, as users debate the fairness of her suspension while constantly belittling and dismissing the achievements of Jamaican athletes. As a Jamaican, track and field is a massive sport in our culture, similar to America’s obsession with football. The pre-game parties and anxiously waiting to watch the Super Bowl in the living room are the same way we are about Champs – an annual track and field school students in Jamaica where we are introduced to schools’ best athletes who have the potential to go to the Olympics. Champs is the breeding ground for top world athletes as our notable Olympians like Usain Bolt, Michael Frater, Elaine Thompson-Herah and many more have passed through the meet. The widespread coverage and continuous debates about Richardson’s suspension have ultimately attracted millions of new eyes to the sport that would otherwise not be watching. Nevertheless, these new eyes constantly prove their lack of knowledge of track and field. They failed to do sufficient research about athletes’ ranking and have ultimately caused widespread misinformation that negatively impacts Jamaican female athletes.
The Inter-Secondary Schools Boys and Girls Champs is an annual track and field meet for youth, where school athletes ages 10 through 19 compete in a five-day competition. Just as Americans aimlessly and loyally represent and support their favorite football teams, Jamaicans watch and support schools across the country made famous by their successful youth athletes. These deep ties are usually generational or simply supporting talent. Champs introduces us to young athletes who compete in world championships and, subsequently, the Olympics.
The fastest runners in the world, such as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Usain Bolt, rose up from Champs to break global records at the Olympics, making a name for themselves and claiming constant dominance for Jamaica in track and field.
With Jamaica being at the forefront of track and field, it was no surprise to see that the Jamaican Gleaner was the first to break the news about Richardson’s suspension after failing her drug test and testing positive for marijuana. Once the news came out, I was exposed to two opposing reactions. I heard utter frustration from Americans, who called for an overruling of the suspension, while Jamaicans thought it was a fair consequence of their actions. The split reaction ultimately leads to the classic African-American versus Caribbean debate, which happens on Twitter every so often. During this specific debate, I felt as though some African Americans perpetuated utter ignorance about nationality versus race and the history of track and field.
During this Twitter battle, there was a lot of misinformation being thrown around, particularly about Richardson’s ranking and the effects of marijuana. On July 2, a Twitter user said, “[Sha’carri Richardson] is THE FASTEST WOMAN ON EARTH” despite her use of cannabis. To confirm, this information is false. While Richardson did run an impressive 10.72 in the 100m final in April and holds the title of the fastest woman in the United States, she is actually the third fastest in the world, with Jamaicans holding the first and second positions. I consistently saw the narrative that the Olympics didn’t allow the fastest woman in the world to run, which completely disregarded the years of effort and work done by Jamaican runners.
Another Twitter thread that completely baffled me began with a user who said that the Olympics didn’t want to see a Black woman compete in Tokyo, which was quickly corrected by another user,“[Shelly-Ann] is a black woman, and she will win.” The exchange ended with a misinformed reply by another user, “Blackness is an American social concept and ethnic culture of African Americans. [Shelly-Ann] ain’t a black American.” This Twitter user, and everyone who agreed with him, has removed Fraser-Pryce, Jamaicans and anyone outside of America from being Black. This tweet has completely confused me for some time now because of how this individual was able to mix race with nationality, all in two sentences. My simple response is this: Black women dominate track and field. Fraser-Pryce and Thompson-Herah represent not just Jamaica but all Black people, regardless of nationality. I want to note that during these debates, there was also an alarming number of insults about Jamaica. It is very powerful to see Black women across the world-dominating track and field, and Richardson adding to the list of powerful Black racers is the icing on the cake. But while I respect her love for the sport, it’s hard to ignore her blatant disregard for rules.
While this controversy has opened up conversations about racism and sexism within the Olympics, our energy is being used in the wrong places. Sexism and racism are heavily prominent amongst Black women in track and field, facing true inequalities and disqualifications for “imbalances” in hormones and other issues. Jamaicans hold track and field near and dear to their heart, which other countries may not understand. Jamaican athletes have faced heavy criticism and constant speculation of doping and unjust suspensions that are not easily comparable to Richardson’s suspension.
I believe that Richardson is talented and holds impressive times, but people calling her quicker than the fastest woman in the world does not make sense. On Aug. 21, she was definitely humbled at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon as she finished last while Jamaica had a clean sweep.
(Originally posted on Yale Daily News 2021)