Guyana’s Irfaan Ali-led government is being accused of “feeding our young people a diet of lawlessness” through, among others, its provision of a platform to Jamaican artistes Spice and Skillibeng, who Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton considers “the worst of Dancehall music”.

Norton’s comments follow the recent government-sponsored super-concert event Guyana Cricket Carnival, which saw regional artistes such as Spice, Skellibeng, Beres Hammond, Ravi B, Machel Montano and Patrice Roberts performing.

Norton referred to Spice and Skillibeng as the “worst of Dancehall music” while suggesting Beenie Man and Buju Banton ought to have been booked instead, reported Guyanese newspaper Stabroek News.

At his weekly press conference on Wednesday (October 12), Norton doubled down on the initial statements he had made on Saturday during a youth rally, pointing out that, while his party is not against music or concerts, it would continue to oppose the promotion of entertainment and entertainers who “promote disrespect of women, lawlessness and violence”.

Norton said that “it’s not a question of music [dancehall] per se. If we are selective in the artistes, then we will promote a culture that instils certain values in young people, but if you bring the worst of the Dancehall music, if you bring those that are degrading and not focused on developing young people with dignity, then we have to oppose it”.

On Saturday, while addressing the Guyana Youth and Student Movement (GYSM) – People’s National Congress Reform’s (PNCR) youth corps, Norton said most of the Dancehall music was not even popular in Jamaica, while adding that the Government’s sole intention was to “reduce young people to just entertainment”.

“They [government] are feeding our young people a diet of lawlessness – when that is done they are destroying your moral fabric – when that is done, they are creating conditions for the men to be abusive to women because a lot of it [dancehall music] is derogatory about women – when that is done, they are removing your critical thinking capabilities,” he told his audience.

He went on to describe the country’s culture minister, Charles Ramson, as being “visionless”, with no plans for the development of Guyanese culture and making no attempts to pump resources into developing the country’s indigenous music.

On Wednesday (October 12), Kwame McCoy, minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, responded in a Facebook video statement where he condemned Norton’s statements as “hypocritical, false and malicious”, calling it a “nasty, racism campaign aimed at poisoning the minds of his supporters and keeping them from embracing the One Guyana movement”.

Watch the video statement below:

He made note of what he considered Norton’s failure to have ever demonstrated similar concerns during his five-year tenure in youth empowerment, and that in the 2020 presidential election campaign, the PNC “used the same types of music by some of the very same artistes he is now condemning”.

“Youths and all Guyanese alike must reject his shameless, unpatriotic rhetoric and position yourself to benefit from the numerous social and economic programmes designed by the Peoples Progressive Party’s civic administration to empower you and bring prosperity to your families and communities, regardless of your ethnicity or political persuasion,” the minister added.