Almost a week after dancehall superstar Popcaan made a public appeal to Andrew Holness to invest in the genre, it seems the prime minister has heard the plea and is now ready to take action.

Speaking during Tuesday’s (April 13) sitting of Parliament, the prime minister said that as the country seeks to transition into life after the pandemic, “this Government will invest in dancehall”.

“We will invest in the music, and we will invest in the hall,” said Holness.

Holness’s comments in support of investing in dancehall, come just days after he suffered backlash from dancehall entertainers and lovers of the genre, for stating that violent dancehall music was a contributing factor to the country’s increasing crime rate.

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In answer to persons who suggested that the prime minister was unaware of the economic opportunities that dancehall could bring to the country, he said: “Nobody can tell me about dancehall and making the investment to create a hip strip where there is an economy around dancehall”.

He added: “Because what is happening is that dancehall is being hijacked, other people are taking our music and making more money off it because the people who are carrying the music are not seeing the economic value in the music.”

For this reason, Holness said the Government would be taking the time to speak with leaders within the industry, “because we see our music and our culture as a part of the country’s economic recovery”.