ENTITY · CULTURAL PRACTICE
Clean-and-slack double cut
Well supported
The dancehall industry practice of recording two versions of a song, a 'clean' cut for radio and a 'slack' or 'raw' cut for the dance and sound systems, a pragmatic response to airplay standards that itself fuels debates about hypocrisy and censorship.
At a glance
- Confidence
- Well supported
- Sources
- Beth Lesser, Dancehall; Jamaica Gleaner archive; Broadcasting Commission rulings.
Coverage areas
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Connections
Debate & reception
What people argued about this record — two documented positions each time, kept apart from verified fact. Browse every argument in the archive →
Banning the 'bleep': clean airwaves or absurd over-reach?
One side
Consistent clean-airwaves standard
The other
Over-reach that pushes content underground
The 2009 rule barring even bleeped edits of explicit lyrics is stated neutrally from both sides: proponents saw a consistent clean-airwaves standard, while opponents saw an over-reach that pushed content underground and encouraged double versions. No verdict.
Read the argument →Double-entendre versus explicitness: craft or crudeness?
One side
Witty coded double-meaning as folk artistry
The other
Explicit content as crude
A neutral account of a craft debate within slackness: coded double-meaning wordplay is praised as witty folk artistry that outwits censors, while explicit content is criticised as crude and gratuitous. Contested taste, no verdict.
Read the argument →Share this record
Compiled and researched by The Jamaica Music Atlas music desk. The sources that informed it are credited above.
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