Pitchfork

Last month I, perhaps rather hastily promised a review of a forthcoming concert by Jah Cure at the Carling Brixton Academy, scheduled for Saturday October 21. Having spent a not inconsiderable amount of time writing about reggae and a lot longer buying and listening to it, I probably should have known better. Unfortunately the show was cancelled after the British government refused Cure a visa thanks to his conviction for rape, robbery and gun charges in Jamaica seven years ago. Call it a case of wishful thinking, if you like, but I had genuinely hoped that this performance would go ahead as planned, especially after having read reports on the singer's incendiary performance at a recent festival in Holland.

Learning the news by flicking through the London Evening Standard while on the tube home from work a couple of weeks ago, I was, at first disappointed-- after all, I'd paid for tickets-- then wholly unsurprised. More than anything, though, this course of action raised a number of questions that I've been struggling with recently. As addressed in a series of vox pop interviews featured in The Voice, Britain's leading black newspaper, a few days before the Home Office's decision was made public, it's worth considering when a criminal's debt to society is paid. Do the messages of love and unity in Cure's music stand up when this conviction is taken into account, or is it impossible to ever truly separate the artist from the art? Is serving a jail sentence penalty enough for an act as brutal and life-destroying as rape, or should offenders continue to be sanctioned in later life? Despite The Voice's interviewees' verdict that the concert should go ahead and as much as I love Cure's songs and wanted to see him play live for the first time, I'm still inclined to say that no amount of time behind bars can ever give back a woman's dignity and security.

After all, if we were talking about a person with the same dubious record and without one of the most beautiful voices in Jamaican music, most people would agree wholeheartedly with the measures taken. Of course, none of this takes into account the controversial nature of the case against Cure, but the immediate assumption that all overseas convictions are worthless is paternalistic at best and deeply problematic at worst. As I'm also unaware of an explicit proclamation of innocence by Cure himself, it's probably just as well to leave this complex and conflicting matter here. Don't be surprised if this isn't the last you hear of it, though. The Brixton Academy's website shows that the two planned performances by Cure have been rescheduled for next March. If they go ahead, I'll probably still go, but it won't be with a completely spotless conscience.

As also outlined recently, music production in Jamaica is at a relative snail's pace right now. I've had an interesting month, talking to broadcaster and selector David Rodigan, Greensleeves' head of A&R Dan Kuster and Jamaican super-producer Jeremy Harding about the reasons for this and the possible steps that can be taken to ensure reggae's survival. The piece that resulted from these conversations will be printed in the UK newspaper The Guardian at some point in the next month, so I probably shouldn't give too much away, but there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic. In fact, Greensleeves' newest compilation The Biggest Reggae One Drop Anthems 2007 shows that great songs are still being made, they're just a little thinner on the ground these days. Still, if any music can dust itself down in face of economic hardship and find ways to continue spreading its message, it's reggae.

As if to illustrate this point, new-roots sensation I-Wayne has just dropped his sophomore album on New York's VP Records. Entitled Book Of Life, its an absolute peach, too, providing the perfect platform for this singer's lilting alto voice to work its magic from. Now I'm going to make a promise I can keep. Next month is 2007 round-up time, so get ready for a huge instalment of The Year in Reggae/Dancehall with opinion from some of this column's favourite occasional contributors, plus celebrity guests, charts, and maybe even a little seasonal surprise…