The "First Lady" is still after the last man

This is something I should have mentioned in a previous post when I was addressing my problems with dancehall artistes but it’s just as well as this is an issue that is present in other genres of music- typically urban male-dominated ones where hyper masculinity and bravado are celebrated. The topic of this post is the phenomenon of “The First Lady” in a crew or group of musicians. It’s a title that is supposedly to inspire thoughts and feelings of royalty and garner respect but I see it as a ploy to keep women out of real positions of dominance, to quell any real chances of a takeover or of there being a level playing field.

There’s the saying, if you can’t beat them, join them. Men in the music industry have remixed that and turned it to “To ensure we don’t have to beat them, include and insulate them.” Once a crew had a First Lady, that’s usually it- no more ladies are welcome unless she drops out. They make it seem like such a privilege to be deemed the first lady of their prestigious crew that the women given these titles don’t even realize the competitive and cantankerous attitudes that this practice fosters within the women themselves. Or maybe they realize and they just don’t give a damn. I get it, it’s hard to make it in dancehall and hip hop for a woman and any advantage that an aspiring female star can get, she’s likely to take especially if she has been working hard for long with no significant results. But is every helping hand offered to you THAT helpful in the long run, ladies?

My Problem(s) With Dancehall Artists

This post is an attempt to help dancehall artists build a better brand and hopefully become better entertainers. I will be writing as if speaking to the entertainers themselves up until the "P.S." section

Disclaimer: I will not be calling any names and singling any artists out as I do not wish to be attacked by any crazed or idle fans. Feel free to pass this on to some of your favourite dancehall artists.

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-          Physical appearance- Females: Exercise. Regardless of your body shape or size, this will help you out in the long run. More is required of women in general when it comes to entertaining and having a toned body and increased stamina can only help. Dress for your size. Stop stuffing yourself into your younger and much smaller sister’s clothes. Those “love” handles hate you for what you try to do to them. I get that we all want to look or feel sexy but if you were really honest with yourselves or had a team around you who really cared about your image, you would realize that what the camera captures most often are failed attempts at a contrived view of sexy. I get that dancehall is about extremes and expressing yourself with a lot of flare but sometimes simplicity can be a good friend to you. Practice proper grooming and get decent stylists. There are just too many fashion blogs out there for the mistakes that so many of you make. Spend some money on your look or try to look like you did.

-          Males: Exercise- women like eye candy as well. You already have a really low standard set in terms of how attractive you have to be to be able to become popular; there is no requirement to be handsome, cute or even “not frightening to small children and anyone with eyes that work”. This does not mean that you should look like you collide with a wall or blunt object every day. Honestly, too many of you look like death warmed over or like you recently had a dramatic bout with a chemical peel (Yes, this is directed at the bleachers- putting that much energy into something whose end product is reminiscent of a zombie clown makes absolutely no sense). Dress like you were not surprised that you would have to venture into a public place. At one point I had two theories: Some entity or organization was going around and dragging the men of dancehall out of their beds and forcing them to perform or some gang was robbing them of their decent wardrobe pieces- so much so that they decided to stop trying to acquire any sensible clothes altogether. The sloppiness with which most of you carry yourselves is truly disgraceful considering the fact that you are paid to be public figures and your own fans dress up to see you perform. At least try to match the efforts your fans make. Geez!

-          General Note: Stop looking like everyone else in dancehall or the latest musical pop culture “icon”. Try to present yourself in a manner that is unique and true to who you are, not who you see is “selling big” or who you think is likely to sell big;

-         Stop being so lazy. It’s part of why your fans are lazy to support your work on a larger scale.

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