Beat it Like Ike

With the exception of the venue being muddy, Reggae Sumfest 2010 came and went without much incident. The ironic thing is the time leading up to the event there was much ado about nothing regarding Chris Brown performing on the Sumfest 2010 bill. Online there were even groups formed to voice their outrage and yes even a facebook page; “Drop Chris Brown for Sumfest”. The impression you got was Chris Brown was going to come to Jamaica and slap every girl publicly in the face with his penis. On second thought that might not have been such a bad thing for most of his fans.

Many of us should be happy that our lives are not constantly under public scrutiny because we would more than crumble under the weight of our own mistakes. I am not a fan of Rhianna and even less of Chris Brown, just to put that out in the universe. I can see how the average moron without a life who lives vicariously through the tabloids would take it very personally the ‘assing’ that Chris Brown gave to poor Re Re in the car that night. While I don’t condone any person abusing another in any way you get the feeling that more and more people get caught up in the business of watching and minding other people’s business while their own sits and rot.



Maybe I missed something because while Jamaica is known for its very strong and beautiful women. It is also still a very male dominated society. And as male dominated societies go women do get exploited at varying degrees. One has to wonder how genuine the so-called boycotts were and whether the motive really was the protection of women’s rights and not riding the coat tails of a scandal for the publicity. Its simple, if you call for the boycott of Chris Brown because he is/was abusive to women, why not call for a boycott of Bounty Killa, Vybz Kartel, Beenie Man and all the other acts that were on Reggae sumfest 2010 who has a very long history of being both physically and verbally abusive to women?

It is an over used statement but people need to look at the bright side of all of this. If Chris Brown wasn’t an idiot and gave an epic ass-whopping to America’s black sweetheart in a more female friendly society then his schedule would be so full that he wouldn’t even have time to ignore an invitation from the promoters of Reggae Sumfest. If Chris Brown was still 'Bubble Gum Boy Wonder" then Jamaicans could only wish to see a great performer like Chris grace the stage of Reggae Sumfest as we would not be able to afford him. And no one who actually attended Reggae Sumfest 2010 can say he didn’t perform his ass off. Be glad he is a little dirty now and not just from the Mo Bay mud, be less quick to judge for everyone at some point has made mistakes and acted foolishly. However, what is important is what you do AFTER you have fallen from grace its whether you get up and how you move forward, it is what you do to earn the forgiveness and respect of those you have wronged. And for those who only have negative energies to offer the only thing Chris Brown and you needs to say to them is
Dueces!