Sean Paul Wants Full Development Of Kingston As A Music Tourism City

Dancehall superstar Sean Paul has outlined parts of his vision for Kingston which would help the city to fully capitalize on its status as a UNESCO Creative City of Music, a designation with which it was bestowed, in 2015.

Among the Get Busy artist’s ideas is the development of Music Tourism, which has been benefitting other designated Creative Cities of Music, globally to the tune of billions of United States dollars each year.

Kingston was declared by the UNESCO as “a world renowned centre of musical excellence, with a unique sound system culture; the largest number of music recording studios per capita in the world; the birthplace of six distinct musical genres: Mento, Ska, Reggae, Rocksteady, Dub and Dancehall and the careers of the legendary Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff”, the importance of which has not been missed by the Grammy-winning artist.

“When mi mention Dancehall/Reggae mi haffi guh back and big up di people dem weh was Rocksteady and Ska, Mento because wi not paying attention to dat,” Sean Paul said in a recent interview on Radio Jamaica Radiffusion (RJR).

“An I keep saying, what I want from this Government is a Mento Yard Boulevard, Ska Corner; wi waan si wen yuh go round deh pure Ska Bar and people guh round deh wid dem afro an dem bell foot pants and tourists can come off on a boat weh dem have inna di harbor (Port Royal) deh and come ova, and guh to Reggae Road an Dancehall Drive and those things,” the Temperature artist declared.

He added: “We have a great tourist industry; we have a great tourist product, but we don’t see it happening in certain parts of Kingston and that would bring a lot more money, a lot more attention and people would learn more really about the culture and not just di ‘yeah mon’”.

He also reiterated his stance during an interview with Billboard songwriter and producer Kirk ‘Koolface’ Ford during an Instagram live session.

Sean Paul is on the right trajectory as Kingston’s counterparts, country capitals such as Bogota and Amsterdam, which have been similarly designated as Creative Cities of Music, have capitalized on the designation and boosted their music tourism offerings.

The five essential elements of a Creative City of Music which would boost its global appeal as a music tourism destination, as outlined by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry’s (IFPI) are: Artistes and musicians; a thriving music scene; a receptive and engaged audience and record labels and other music-related businesses and access to spaces and places.

Since Kingston was designated a Creative City of Music by UNESCO in December 2015, the attention paid to creating and making venues available in Jamaica’s capital, more than five years on, has been nothing short of sluggish.

While Kingston city fulfills four of the Music Cities criteria, even up to the COVID-19 outbreak, musicians, artistes, promoters and other players in the music industry were complaining that they were struggling with ‘access to spaces and places’ for staging musical events.

In 2019, complaints had resurfaced about the woeful lack of entertainment zones, as entertainers including Bounty Killer and Foota Hype, argued that the music and its earning potential, including its impact on Kingston as a tourism destination, was not being taken seriously.

Bounty Killer at the time argued that nighttime entertainment is virtually dead in Kingston, with only three nightclubs considered truly active.

He had also expressed dissatisfaction with the level of treatment Dancehall music in particular had been getting from the Tourism Ministry, arguing that tourists who visit the traditional resort towns on the North Coast are seen as more ‘respectable’ compared to the adventurous visitors who visit Kingston to experience its nightlife and musical offerings such as street parties.

The Warlord also said the adventurers, in his estimation were not regarded by the Government as tourists, but as ‘careless people’.

Foota Hype also took Minister of Entertainment Olivia Grange to task in September that year, for not seeing to the creation of “Creative Oases,” with all the amenities of modern entertainment venues and where Reggae and Dancehall events would be able to be held 24 hours per day, as Prime Minister Andrew Holness had instructed her to do, two years prior.

The Calabar High School old boy had lashed the Minister after viewing video posts of the Prime Minister commenting on the state of Dancehall.  In the clips Holness had said that as far back as 2017, he had discussions with Grange regarding the creation of the entertainment zones, which would help to alleviate the myriad of woes with which the Dancehall music industry was grappling.

Foota had also criticized the Prime Minister, stating that he too, had failed the music fraternity as he had not followed up with Grange even after two years, nor had asked for a progress report on the subject.  Like Bounty, he had also gone into details of the industry’s contribution to tourism in Kingston.

The development of Music Tourism was highlighted by the IFPI, as among the key strategies for being a successful Creative City of Music.  It also identified tourism assets as including a city’s ‘year-round live music scene, music festivals and historical music landmarks’ and noted that ‘music tourism benefits cities to the tune of billions of dollars each year’.

The IFPI also said that in terms of live performances, “a full range of venues is essential to support artistes” and this should range from “everything from small basement venues to stadiums and all points in between”.

“Music needs a home; in fact, it needs many homes.  From education to rehearsal to recording to performance, Music Cities require a variety of quality spaces and places to succeed,” the IFPI researchers said in its global study titled The Mastering of a Music City.

The Network, says Jamaica’s objectives proposed for Kingston as a Creative City of Music includes, among other things, using the creativity of Kingstonians as a driver for sustainable urban development and using music and the arts to redevelop and revitalize its inner city communities, through the “conversion of derelict buildings, for use as creative incubators and performance venues to promote appreciation for creativity and provide outlets for creative expression”.

In a 2016 article titled Music Cities: Why music is a tool for urban development, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) referenced the headway made by cities such as Amsterdam, which was the first to choose a night-time mayor, who was responsible for coordinating and strengthening the Dutch capital’s nightlife and music scene.

Columbia’s capital Bogota, the IDB said, used its Creative City status to stimulate “an active and prosperous music scene and promote the creation of policies dedicated to make music the epicenter of city life”.

Bogotá it said, developed and implemented a series of public policies to foster greater intercultural dialogue by using music as a tool for social transformation and to overcome some of the city’s main challenges.   The policies even included a joint public-private Music Plan used to address matters such as training and the protection of spaces dedicated to live music.