Kabaka Pyramid
WHILE he is not impressed with the current cast of Jamaican politicians, roots artiste Kabaka Pyramid believes young people should be given more opportunities in how the country is run.
The 29-year-old singjay takes on politicians in Well Done, a song dealing with current affairs such as the Government’s relationship with the International Monetary Fund, the Goat Island issue and the influx of Spanish-owned hotels in resort areas.
But in an interview with the Jamaica Observer Tuesday, Kabaka Pyramid also commented on the ageing political class in Jamaica.
“What we see in Jamaica are parties whose main intent is retaining power. There are young people with good ideas, solid ideas, but there is a structure an’ a system in place, an’ until that is broken down there will be no change,” he said.
Kabaka Pyramid (Keron Salmon) is part of a neo roots-reggae movement inspired by Rastafari. He noted a level of intolerance for youth in his own religion.
“Even among Rasta, we see it within Twelve Tribes (of Israel) an’ Nyahbinghi organisations I have interacted with,” he stressed. “Yuh have youths who have no role in governing an’ I have a problem with that…It’s a microcosm of what’s going in Jamaica.”
Figures from the Electoral Office of Jamaica show low voter turnout among young adults in the last three general and local government elections. Persons are eligible to vote in Jamaica at age 18.
Since 1990 with the establishment of Rock The Vote, the youth vote has had a major influence on national polls in the United States.
That bloc is driven by hip hop moguls such as Russell Simmons and P Diddy. It helped Bill Clinton retain the presidency in 1993 and made an unknown Illinois senator named Barack Obama president in 2008.
In 1972, disenchanted Jamaican youth were inspired by a musical bandwagon of young artistes to vote for socialist Michael Manley, who became prime minister that year.
Kabaka Pyramid is not ruling out a similar drive in contemporary Jamaica “once we see someone with attractive ideas”.