Tony Matterhorn Talks COVID-19 And War Between Chronic Law & Jahmiel
Dancehall stalwart Tony Matterhorn believes that the one week war between Chronic Law and Jahmiel had entertainment value but it was unnecessary for both artistes to engage in such actions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Every aspect of the entertainment fraternity is worthy and is good but I never believe they needed to do that war at this current time,” he said while being interviewed on Onstage with Winford Williams last Saturday.
He added that even though the war had some buzz to it he just thinks that the timing is wrong. He believes that the war is over and that it ended so quickly because of how off the timing was. Matterhorn, like another veteran Beenie Man, believes that artistes should be putting out inspirational and light music that would help people feel relieved and happy during this time.
“Nothing nah wrong with the war inno. We love our war and we love our tribal and all these things but at the time when you guys choose to a war, we nah wanna hear that”, he said. Matterhorn added that the focus of new music during this time should really be seeking to help people deal with their mental stress as dealing with COVID-19 is psychologically difficult. The deejay said many people are discovering that they have new enemies during this time and that music should not be glorifying violence.
“Yuh affi come with something smiley, something laughter, something uplifting. You see tha war dey, me rate the artiste and everything but weh war ago?” Such actions are distracting in a time when people need to remain focus on fighting the coronavirus, he continued.
Tony also called on Jamaicans to take the COVID-19 virus more seriously as he believes that the average Jamaican is not aware of the real dangers of the deadly virus. “This is a wrong time for war. The people in Jamaica, my fellow Jamaicans them nah understand the seriousness of this thing because the typical Jamaican gone like them have no sense to it. Dem say dem ah dead yuh know.”
Matterhorn went on to say that he thinks Jamaicans are being too flippant and not even respecting the quarantine laws. He said they had nothing to do but still insisted on going out and this type of behaviour would only lead to the spread of the disease. He said business owners had a better handle on the situation because they were not taking any unnecessary risks.
He described those who are flaunting the laws as “waste people.” He was adamant that people should heed the warning and stay home because he believes that the situation is much direr than is being reported. He said the media needed to do better in educating people about how deadly the virus truly is. “It nah respect nobody. Yuh money no mean nothing.”
He also praised Jamaican PM Andrew Holness for how he’s handled the situation so far even though he thinks that he’s made a few mistakes along the way like not locking down Portmore when they had a spike in cases from a call center there. The government should also start consulting with intelligent people who can help them come with new ideas to better deal with the pandemic.
Matterhorn said he’s also doing his part to help out by raising funds with different charities and distributing the money every week to help people deal with economic fall out.
Watch the May 9th Onstage episode.