Hip hop and reggae dancehall music is really helping to raise HIV and AIDS awareness among young people. At the Youth Pavilion performers from the School of Mayhem Entertainment Dance Group spoke about how communities can use music as a tool when attempting the spread a message. They point out that most young people have access to music and have a real interest in it. Lyrics can help spread the word.
Moderating the session was Farley Felix, a Canadian music promoter and manager of various hip hop artists. He opened the session by encouraging the youth to use the hip hop message in an effective way. Most of the songs touch the daily lives of young people.
He says, “The hip hop and reggae dance music genres have a great impact on young people and have contributed to raising awareness in the war against AIDS.” He continues, “Even celebrities such as Alicia Keys and P Diddy have been used effectively on various high profile occasions – young people want to listen to what these musicians have to say – they will follow them and in the end, create an impact.”
Taking part in the session is Miranda Ward who works with hip hop music and women in Canada. She says that the community must understand that hip hop and reggae have contributed a lot in the process of helping society on the war against HIV and AIDS. She believes that more education is required - and if this can be done through music, then that’s a great thing. She thinks, firstly though, that we need to understand their issues and how different cultures will receive messages. She explains, “You can see some of the music that we are doing is targeted at the youth, but we need to learn more about them. We try to use friendly words to make them more mutually understandable.”
Another speaker, Rose-Ann Bailey, also addressed the topic. She tell us, “Our music has an impact, we reach many young people and a lot of society through our live shows.”
Others who made presentations addressed the topic were Nikki Redman who addressed the issues for DJs in the Gay and Lesbian communities in Toronto. Mark Bialworkski,, a production co-ordinator who has worked with various high profile musicians such as Beeny Man, spoke of his experience of how it can be successful in getting the message out there to young people. Wesley Crichlow talked about psychological issues relating to homophobic lyrics in the hip hop music genre.
