Kiprich tackles men killing women with new song “Women Protest.”
As a nation, Jamaica continues to mourn the sudden and tragic deaths of Donna-Lee Donaldson and Aneka ‘Slickianna’ Townsend. A large portion of the population has banded together to send a message that violence towards women should never be the answer.
A number of entertainers have joined the outcry and are determined to help effect some sort of change that hopefully will someday end violence towards women. Among those entertainers is Kiprich, who recently penned a track called “Women Protest.” It is expected to be released next month by Chase Mills Records.
He joins some veterans in the genre, like Baby Cham and Bounty Killer, who continue to urge men to protect women instead of harming them.
The “Facebook” artist’s team is currently working on the video for the track, which will feature women and girls who were victims of gender-based violence or who have gone missing in recent years.
Kiprich, whose real name is Marlon Plunkett, spoke with The Gleaner and explained his motivation behind the track. The “Dancehall Gallis” deejay shared that he is tired of the headlines that seem to be repeating themselves.
His fear is that with so many women going missing in recent times, especially at the hands of men, it is starting to become a trend. He also said that Jamaica trends for much more positive reasons globally, and so he is adamant that the femicide rate should not be one of those.
“The man dem need to fi realise say dem nuh own no woman life … allow the woman dem fi live dem life because is because of them, we have life. There is never no ‘explainable’ reason for a man to use his force or a weapon to take a woman’s life and think him can justify it. That is a weak man,” he added.
The “Call Di Lawd” artist also gave the assurance that the track was not for his own benefit but hopefully can reach some of the men in society to show them that there is a better way forward than ending a woman’s life. He also shared that he believes now is the right time for dancehall deejays to focus on these types of topics, especially since the government has banned more violent and drug-filled lyrics on the airwaves.
According to him, there is always room for more positive music. That type of positivity is something that he has always focused on, he continued.
“Jamaica is a blessed island; so much is happening globally that has bypassed us and while we do have our struggles economically there must be a way to make things better for us as a people to escape being part of the global tragedy of femicide,” he continued.
He also questioned why the Jamaican society at large had become so aggressive and had seemed to turn away from the positivity it was once known for.
The veteran deejay added that he wants to see all types of violence against women canceled.
Two other dancehall artists, Jahshii and Christopher Martin, also have used their platform to send a message to men. Most recently, they used the Reggae Sumfest stage to highlight the need to stop violence against women.
