SOUND CLASH: Jamaican Dancehall Culture from Lady Saw to Dancehall Queen
Carolyn Cooper, . . Palgrave, $22.95 (368pp) ISBN 978-1-4039-6425-0
Although Jamaican dance-hall music exists as a subculture in the U.S., its rhythms, its outrageous and funky performances and its brash DJs rule much of the musical culture in Jamaica. As Cooper demonstrates in this largely academic study, dance-hall culture resembles in many ways the hip-hop culture of America. Braggadocio DJs engage in sound clashes, trying to outdo each other in their battle for the supremacy of the dance hall. From a close reading of the lyrics, she argues that dance-hall music and culture is also largely political, giving voice to the oppressed as they struggle to maintain their humanity in situations of economic injustice. She also contends that while the lyrics are often misogynistic, they also celebrate and worship the female, permitting women a measure of liberation. Dance-hall culture, she observes, also allows women to play out roles they may not have available to them in ordinary life. Cooper devotes so much space to responding to critics of her first book,
Reviewed on: 06/07/2004
Genre: Nonfiction
Paperback - 348 pages - 978-1-4039-6424-3