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ENTITY · LAW / POLICY

Broadcasting Commission 2009 explicit-lyrics ban

Well supported

Directive issued by Jamaica's Broadcasting Commission in February 2009, following controversy over Vybz Kartel and Spice's 'Rampin Shop', barring from radio and television any music or video depicting 'daggering' or sexually explicit acts, or glorifying the gun, murder, rape or arson (including 'bleeped' edits of explicit tracks); a landmark and much-debated attempt to regulate dancehall content on the airwaves.

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At a glance

Confidence
Well supported
Sources
Global Voices, 'Jamaica: Explicit music banned'; CBC News coverage of the ban.

Coverage areas

Style, language, faith & wider culture

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Connections

Media & sources

Articles & sources

Open source ↗

Slack song ban — 'Rampin' Shop' among explicit lyrics outlawed (Gleaner, 7 Feb 2009)

WEB · rights discovery only · press source

Jamaica Gleaner archive reference.

Source link ↗

In stories

Story · ProbableControlled chaos: the gun salute, and what replaced it

Live rounds fired into the air were once the highest compliment a Jamaican dance could pay a record. Nobody ran. Then the ordinary man took the sound and left the gun at home.

Story · Well supportedThe airwaves on trial: dancehall and the Broadcasting Commission

Jamaica's 2009 broadcast directives turned a dance craze into a censorship debate.

Debate & reception

What people argued about this record — two documented positions each time, kept apart from verified fact. Browse every argument in the archive →

Debate

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.

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Commentary

Do broadcast bans backfire?

One side

Censorship as counter-productive publicity

The other

Necessary broadcast standards

A documented observation stated as contested interpretation: many commentators argue that banning a dancehall record from radio raises its street and sound-system profile, making censorship counter-productive publicity, while others maintain that broadcast standards remain necessary regardless of side effects.

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Compiled and researched by The Jamaica Music Atlas music desk. The sources that informed it are credited above.

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