Peter Phillips Hasn’t Heard The ‘Slack’ Version Of Dovey Magnum’s ‘Bawl Out’
As Jamaica draws closer to its September 3 General Election day, there is more ‘drama in the dancehall’. This time the furor surrounds Dovey Magnum’s explicit Bawl Out song, which she had repurposed into a dubplate for Opposition Leader and President of the People’s National Party (PNP) Dr. Peter Phillips’ campaign playlist.
The controversy unfolded on Wednesday night during Television Jamaica’s (TVJ) All Angles program, after straight-talking journalist Dionne Jackson-Miller asked Phillips whether or not he had listened to the original song before approving the dub.
The single which was released in 2017 by Dovey, who describes herself as “Dancehall’s Sweet, Horny Voice,” has two versions, a clean adaptation and a raw edition in which she, in detail, tells her lover how she delights in their love-making, and how her private parts respond accordingly.
In the All Angles video clip, which has been circulating on social media, Jackson, who is also an attorney-at-law placed the former university lecturer under interrogation: “That’s Dovey Magnum; you approve dat? The dub plate.”
PNP DUB🔥🔥🔥🔥 #DoveyMagnum pic.twitter.com/Li5Zdq7xDF
— Alkaline_Mirage 🦅🎭 (@Alkaline_Mirage) August 13, 2020
That’s an easy question though, Dr. Phillips. You approve that?” the journalist added, chuckling, after he sought to sidestep the question.
Phillips: “Yeah.”
Dionne: “You have heard the original?”
Phillips: “No.”
Dionne: “Nobody neva said to you, boy listen di original?”
Phillips: “No. I don’t know the original, but this, what does that say?”
Dionne: Seriously, You don’t know di original?
Phillips: “No. But I know this one.”
Dionne: “Did they tell you about the original?”
Phillips: “No we talking about this what is said now…”
Dionne: “But everybody who hears the song thinks of the original…. And the original is a slack if we using Jamaican terms we would say slack, so how dat fit with your brand and your image?”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEHC-4KjdiE/
Dr. Phillips insisted that he was oblivious to the lyrics of the hit song’s raw version, but a bemused, yet unrelenting Jackson-Miller persisted, reiterating that even her producer was of the view that “from everybody hear di riddim di slack song dem hear a play.”
“Your communications people no say ‘this is not a song dat wid di party leader’? Nobady neva pick up dat?” she asked, to which Phillips responded: “No, well, I don’t know the slack version…,” before adding: “Alright, I mus check it out.”
Dovey Responds
Meanwhile, today, Dovey, having gotten wind of the controversy, opted to hurl innuendoes at Jackson-Miller and throw insults at her arch-rival Ishawna, on her Instagram page before disabling commenting.
“I’m sure my dub is not the only one when we hear it we hear the other original songs from the artist them!” she declared.
“But wait the artist Wey just start Mek ppl know she s__k hood ney do one FE Andrew wid e suck p__y song Wey Shi sample? Ijs,” she added in reference to Ishawna’s controversial song Equal Rights, which had also been repurposed into a dubplate for Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
Reactions
The PNP-aligned Facebook page Comrades News Network, also derided Jackson-Miller’s line of questioning, arguing that it was unbecoming of her to ask about Bawl Out and that they took the matter ‘very seriously’.
“Dianne Jackson Miller. What kind of journalist are you, and what example are you setting as a veteran for the younger journalists looking on?” the authors wrote.
“You interviewed The Honorable Dr. Peter Phillips… a man who is running for the highest office of the land, to lead our nation, and one of the questions you asked was about a campaign song done by Dovey Magnum. Are you serious? With all the issues at stake, of all the questions you could have asked, you ask the Opposition Leader if he was aware that the original song was sexually explicit,” they added.
In further defending their leader, the Comrades News Network said it should come as no surprise to the journalist that, unlike her, Phillips had not listened to the lewd version, as not all Jamaicans follow dancehall music, so her apparent disbelief was pretentious.
They also pointed to Prime Minister Andrew Holness’ dubplates which were done by artistes with reputations of singing explicit and extremely violent songs.
“The dub was totally appropriate and the leader should have no concern with the original. Did you ever ask the prime minister about calling himself “Brogad” which suggests narcissism and thuggery?” they argued.
“Did you ask the PM about his dubs, done by people who sing violently explicit songs? We’ll bet you won’t do that because he would bar you again from asking questions at his press conference,” they added.
There were mixed views from Facebook followers, with some being critical of both Jackson Miller and Phillips, while others said it was much ado about nothing.
“My thoughts she was dwelling on the dubplate issue too long. Original song might be slack but the dubplate wasn’t. You have different songs compose off a single rhythm all the time and just about every dub being played by other candidates has a slack or violent version,” one woman contended.
“With all due respect, I was quite alarmed when that particular song was selected as the signature song for the Comrade Leader! There are far more appropriate songs which could have been used…Someone dropped the ball! That beat should remain in the literal dancehall where it belongs. Big up Dovey Magnum! Her tune wickeder than WAP!” another woman said.
One vexed PNP supporter said she was not happy with her leader being pressured to talk about the Dovey Magnum dub.
“She kept on repeating asking about song like she wanted him to get fed up and say yes me know it…smh,” she wrote.