Is Jamaican Dancehall music dying?

THE END OF DANCEHALL MUSIC? - a byitsizepro.co.uk article posting.

Some say it has the effect of normalising violence through its music and regular lyrical content, adding that dance-hall music has been preaching the way of the gun to impressionable young minds and so it should be banned.

“They make bad look so glorious,” - said one person interviewed by byitsizepro .

I read how popular DJ Buju Banton is locked up in the US and now awaiting trial for possession and alleged trafficking of cocaine. Then I read how Vbyz Kartel and Mavado are banned from going to Barbados because the authorities there said the artistes promoted violence and it makes me think of the issue, the history of the music but also of the art and expression by the musicians/artistes involved.


I reach for my BlackBerry device and listen to dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel’s song ‘Gaza Commandments’ as well as reggae artist Duane Stephenson’s ‘August Town.’ While the contrast between the songs is stark—the former is very explicit, and seeks to make a parallel of Jamaicas surge again in violence to the conflict-ridden Palestinian territory. Duane Stephensons song is a soulful ballad that speaks of redemption. I'm not a huge fan, but my heads bopping and I find myself gravitating to the faster dancehall beats provided by Kartels song; dancehall is popular across my homeland Jamaica. Evidence of its captivating power.
Those who lost their visas now join a number of artistes who already could not travel to the US such as Busy Signal and Kartel.
Is Dancehall music going through some serious times towards is end? Are these challenges or just retribution for a controversial form of expression, which has been blamed for violence? Has the lack of standards and guidelines helped to cause these problems, which now threaten to end dancehall music as we know it? I wonder...but hey, what are your thoughts?