Contents - Beth Lesser

Despite female deejays finally beginning to express their anger in the ‘80s,
men didn’t seem to understand why women were complaining. Shabba Ranks
genuinely felt that he was defending women with the lyrics in his song, Pay
Down Pon It, released in 1990, in which he advocates making regular gifts
of cash to your partner the same way you would ‘pay down’ a sum of money
towards a refrigerator or an air conditioner. “Well, the girls are crying you
know,” he explained at the time. “A girl would be living in a house with a
man and she would wash the clothes and she would do all the things that was
necessary to let him look cris’ and sharp and he wouldn’t give her the dollars.
He would just destroy or take from her instead of giving to her. Well, I do not
respect nor support it if a man doesn’t give his girl something.
“It’s generally said that you are ‘paying down’ on a house or a car. But
whenever you give money to your special [girl], and she get herself up to date,
that’s simply paying down.” * In other words, keeping cash flowing to your girl
was an investment with a tangible return. The girl, according to his theory,
would go out and buy nice clothes to get herself ‘up to date’ and the man insured
his continued comfort with no service disruptions. Despite the fact that
he reduced the interaction to a commercial transaction, Shabba was at least
advocating that men recognize their financial responsibility in a relationship.
lazy Body
In 1985, Echo Minott created a controversy when Black Scorpio released
his 45, ‘Lazy Body’.
Lazy body, me no want no lazy body
Any girl me love have fe physically **
Wake up in the morning, very early
Round the table prepare breakfast for me
Twelve o clock, lunch on the spot
Three o clock, that a dinner
Seven o’clock, that a supper
Me say, Lazy Body, me no wan’ no lazy body
Can’t take the girl weh a sleep pon me
Can’t take the girl weh have dropsy
Barry G called Echo down to his radio program to give him a chance to
explain himself amid the charges of misogyny from listeners. But the ensuing
conversation made it clear that Echo really meant what he said.
“Well, take for instance, you have some girls like to sleep in bed and love
man to do everything. They don’t love to wake up before twelve o’clock and
make the sun ketch them. You know, from a woman love a man, supposed to
* Interview with Dave Kingston on CKLN Radio, 1990
** She has to be physically active
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