So earlier this week I was receiving messages non stop that popular dancehall artist Oneil Edwards of the group Voicemail was shot and was in the hospital recovering from his injuries. The message also called for a word of prayer for a speedy recovery. One day later I got a message from my friend telling me that he had heard rumours that another dancehall artist Mad Cobra, real name Ewart Everton was also shot. I nearly disregarded this as a rumor (as I haven't even heard it on the radio) but then I thought back on recent trend of news media falling way behind word of mouth. Needless to say, the next morning the news had finally caught up and had confirmed that Cobra was in fact shot.

The entertainment fraternity and the public were all surprised... I was not.

Now I am not trying to beat down on Dancehall artists and follow the crowd and say that the artists deserve this because they were always glorifying the gun through their music and their lyrics. While I have stated that music has immense power over the masses I still do hold some amount of belief that good parenting is also an important factor and so will not completely agree with this school of thought... though there are some merits to the argument. After all it seems that most of the dancehall artists do sing about the gangster life, and I guess getting shot and having near death experiences is a part of it. However this is not necessarily the intention of dancehall artists and they only aim to be a form of entertainment.

However thats not the reason why I am not surprised, I am simply not surprised because of the high rate of murder that is taking place in Jamaica currently. In case everybody has forgotten since the gleaner stopped publishing the murder numbers last week (or maybe about 2 weeks ago, I am not that sure), there are nearly 6 people being murdered everyday, we arent that big a country, its bound to reach all levels of society, artists are no exception.

**Taken from Jamaica Observer

I do find myself greatly disappointed that suddenly because a dancehall artist has been shot the following happened:

1) Artists suddenly see a good reason to stop glorifying the gangster life and gun violence:

It has been said for years now, that dancehall artists are doing too much to make violence look good and nobody wanted to heed the call - Or I should say none of the popular artists saw the need to heed the call.  However all of a sudden because two artists were attacked I can guarantee that within the next month or two there will be alot of songs preaching a positive message, and then Jamaican artists will return to the status quo of gun lyrics.

**Taken from Jamaica Observer

2) People are suddenly realizing that the crime rate in Jamaica is too high:

Despite all that the Gleaner has been doing to publicise just how sickening crime and violence has become to Jamaica, it seems that all of a sudden people are realizing that its gotten out of hand. Not because you cant turn on the news on any media without hearing that somebody has been killed, or because the statistics are showing that, or even because its now scary to be out in the early hours of the morning. But because a popular personality was shot. This. Is. Rubbish! What kind of mindset do Jamaicans currently have?

3) Suddenly I'm being asked to say a prayer for two people out of 600 victims

Ok this may sound a little harsh, after all this is somebody's life we are talking about here, this is somebody's brother, somebody's father, somebody's uncle, somebody's cousin, and somebody's friend. An attack on anybody is something that should be something that shocks and appalls all people. However I refuse to believe that because a popular person was attacked, I must now pay special attention to that person instead of the great many number of persons. Instead of praying for just two people I instead say we should pray for everybody. Pray for Jamaica, Pray that all the other people who have been attacked will also recover, Pray that the people who have passed before us are in a better place... and not only pray but also start doing some action. After all it has been stated that God helps those that help themselves, and we do need to become active in stopping crime, by whatever way we can.

I'm sorry if I sound cold, I believe that every life is precious and every person has a possibility to be productive in some way and help the human race to strive and survive... However I do also believe that many Jamaicans are simply being stupid, and if this is what it requires to get people to realize the kind of society that we live in, then I believe that we really need to wake up and stop being stupid. Instead of saying get will soon to only Oneil Edwards, say get well soon to every Oneil that is also in the hospital, and every Andre, and every Susan and, to everybody.