Letters & Opinion

Lucian Kuduro: A Cry for Help

Image of Kensley Peter Charlemange
Image of Kensley Peter Charlemange
Independent Eye by Kensley Peter Charlemange

THE God of this world is Money. Point blank. Hands down. No argument. Only, Money has not made us a more congenial, civil habitation. In its pursuit, we have lost all sense of morals. Right and wrong vanishes into thin air and the world is in peril. We chase a finite, destructive commodity without abeyance.

I maintain that art, for it to be so called, must uplift the human standard. Many go about calling themselves artists. Art, good art, challenges the human imagination.

In the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, while the younger generation was in overwhelming adoration, the elders mourned. Who is praising Lucian Kuduro? Do not be too hard on the youth, we are cautioned. A world gone wrong, with human rights and before I am accused of conflation, let me get back to the gest of this article.

The only reason, Lucian Kuduro is making strides is because there is a market for it. People are consuming this garbage (and I do not care for political correctness here).

Several times I have defended my stance by stating that the lyrics are degrading to women. No need to quote any lines here. Our women are seen as nothing more than sexual objects. When I make that argument, thrown back in my face is, “but the same women you are defending are the ones twerking to the music en masse”.

So, when I say Lucian Kuduro is a cry for help, I am not just referring to the “artists”. Our young are lost — and I am not saying here that they are a lost cause. The youth are a resource to be harnessed. In this age of political correctness, you have to bite your tongue each time. People exalt evil over good by not re-proofing anyone, but our nation will be a lost cause if we don’t pull up our pants (pun intended).

Music as a commodity is fulfilling a need for inspiration or entertainment. The raunchy music, which relates so aptly to the situation of our youth, is trying to fill a void. That void is a deficit in self-esteem and self-identity. As a black race, we do not have a fundamental knowledge of our roots. We spit in our own faces, consciously and subconsciously. We practice self-hate.

There is a need for us to reorient ourselves. We need to be grounded as a people. This wild river needs to be tamed. Its destruction is devastating.

A civilization that did not know itself revolted against its own — the Rastafari movement. Time has a way of justifying itself as is being made evident right before our very eyes.

History — but definitely not that narrated by our captors — has to become mandatory in our school system.

Dr. Gregor Williams, please develop that curriculum on Saint Lucian history, even if you do not get paid for it. Some things money just cannot buy.

We are perpetuating an African beat — all well and good. But what about what we have left behind?

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