Concerns have been raised after performers used explicit language on stage during the opening weekend of the Saint Lucia Jazz and Arts Festival.
One incident took place on opening night in Marchand, and another occurred at Soufriere Jazz during Artiste 1T1’s performance of his hit song Best Friend, which includes the F-word. These moments sparked discussion about the boundaries of public performances at events attracting a wide audience, including families and young people.
Although these incidents appear isolated, they have caught the attention of Tourism Minister Ernest Hilaire and Martin James, CEO of the Eastern Caribbean Collective Organisation for Music Rights.
James pointed to Saint Lucia’s Criminal Code, specifically sections 501, 507, and 508, which set clear limits on conduct in public spaces, including stage performances.
“These provisions explicitly prohibit the use of profane, indecent, or obscene language, as well as any act or expression that may be deemed offensive in a public setting,” he explained. “It is concerning to note that during the opening of Jazz on the 30th, one of the performers openly used profanity as part of his performance delivery.”
He said incidents like these underscore the importance of setting clear boundaries for performers from the outset and that these expectations must be included in their contracts.
At Monday’s pre-Cabinet press briefing, Hilaire acknowledged the challenge of controlling what happens once an artiste is on stage but stressed the need for “consequence management”.
“You have to create a culture, a reputation that artistes know that if they behave in a particular way, there are consequences. So other artistes would not want to do it. Now, some of the artists themselves are probably not even aware of what the boundaries are because they perform globally… they perform in settings where they’re allowed that kind of freedom,” he said.
Hilaire agreed with James, stating that the preferred approach is to address these issues in advance rather than react during the event.
“You can put it in their contracts that if they behave in a particular way, what effect it has, what consequence it would have. And I think that’s as far as you can go. Once somebody’s on stage, it’s very difficult for you to control them thereafter.”
Absolute nonsense from the Minister in saying once they are on stage it’s difficult to control them, how about turning off the mic! About performing globally, they do not use profanities in all their shows because they are aware of the consequences, only in Saint Lucia they feign ignorance, because they know they’ll get away with it. Last year some Nigerian so called artist, something “Boy”, used profanities on stage, and nothing was done this year to preclude that from happening again! Lots of talk, talk, talk, from the Minister, but no action.
I concur with your comment, same old story repeat record. This is Saint Lucia where we are happy, this is our culture! Acceptance of talk and more talk as accountability, there are never consequences once you feign ignorance.
St. Lucians need to stop acting like these performers are God. When you contract with them – highlight within the body of the contract that you are catering to family oriented individuals (varied age groups) and profanity is prohibited and there will be a fine for lack of compliance…fullstop.
The world is full of thousands of very decent artist whose lyrics speak of awakening, elevation and a consciousness – those who cannot endorse in writing that their lyrics will be profanity free while on island – skip them and move on to the next – trust me that are thousands. When you are paying for a service you have to demand respect, excellence and compliance – money does not grow on trees.
Some of these artist are from the streets and the ghetto and their very presence illuminates gangster and ghetto which is where they belong – as for me I am not impressed…enough already stop putting them on pedestals – bayteeze.
Jay, you could not have said it better. You’re a customer paying for a service, and you demand what you want. The country has laws as identified by Martin James. These Ghetto entertainers must learn to abide by the rules. Stop letting them get away with it. Are we gonna die because they don’t perform here?
This honestly makes no sense to me. Lucians curse casually every single day and people laugh and joke about it, so why is it suddenly such a big issue at a concert? Artists create their music the way they want to, and if you already know a song contains profanity, then simply don’t attend or don’t sing along. Of course they’re going to perform the lyrics exactly as they wrote them.
And let’s be real, we’re talking about regular curse words that plenty children probably already hear or even repeat when adults aren’t around. People are acting like something shocking happened when it’s literally language that exists in everyday life.
The only artist I personally felt went too far was Burna Boy, because he genuinely overdid it. But outside of that, this outrage feels completely ridiculous. It’s ridiculous!
People use profanities in Saint Lucia everyday, no big deal, asinine reasoning, because a lot of people do it we should ignore it, and the list can go on, bad parking, littering, loud music everywhere, no big deal, everyone does it, isn’t this a recipe for chaos, when we choose which laws to obey and which to disregard!