Lashonne Outten
Weekender Staff

One thing that I love to see is how almost everyone in The Bahamas gets excited when they hear the sound of Junkanoo music.However, outside of that I think many of us Bahamians have been treating our local musicians very poorly. Except for a small number of Bahamans who have always been fans of our local artists, the majority of us never even gave much thought to how much we were tearing up the fabric of our cultural music, by just blasting Reggae, Rap and R&B in our cars and at our parties. I know we as Bahamians were doing very poorly when it came to embracing our own music.
However, we have a lot to be thankful for, because it seems as though, by some unknown force, the tide is changing and Bahamian music is making a major comeback in its own home. Somehow there is a change in the atmosphere, as it relates to our music. I would say, as little as five or six years ago anytime I went out to public hangout spots, which include places like ..Fish fry.. and Potter..s Cay Dock, only reggae music would be playing in the background. However, these past few years, there has been a 180 degree turn. Maybe not 180 degrees, that was a bit over the top. Maybe there has been a 90 degree turn. But even that..s good, considering where we were.
In the past, I think a lot of us, especially, young Bahamians, took our Junkanoo, rake ..n.. scrape and Goombay music for granted. But, because we have realized that nations like Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica are showcasing their music to the world with pride, and because of music channels like ..Tempo.. I guess we are all starting to feel a little embarrassed that we had turned our backs on something that actually helps to define Bahamians as unique gems that can be singled out from other Caribbean people.
I can..t say for sure why things are making a turn for better as it relates to our music. But, we all have to give ..special props.. to stations like Island FM, who saw the need to promote our own homegrown artists.
Now, we can drive past cars on the streets and instead of hearing Sean Paul..s ..temperarure.. or Snoop Dog..s ..drop it like it..s hot.., we can hear some ..down home.. tunes with the likes of Ancient Man in ..I ain..t asking for much.. or the mega-popular Avvy with his ghost moves.
Boy! This comeback has been big. Our own KB is on the Tempo channel with his hangover and Landlord is also doing it big. Which brings me to my other point, although we are talking about Bahamian culture on a comeback we have to show love to a rise in Bahamian artists out there ..doing.. them, whether it..s Bahamian music, reggae or rap. We love you all and we support you, but when you make it big, can you do us a favor? Keep keeping it real!
In short, in order for us to make that 180 degree turn and start showing our local artists how important they are to the survival of our culture, we must realize that if we do not begin to embrace our own culture, we would have nothing to offer the world.