Jamaican Cultural Imperialism? by Kalilah Enriquez

JAMAICAN CULTURAL IMPERIALISM? EXAMINING DOMINANCE OF JAMAICAN MUSIC AND LANGUAGE ON BELIZEAN RADIO

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Communication Studies

The University of the West Indies

Kalilah Enriquez 2010

Caribbean Institute of Media and Communications Faculty of Humanities and Education Mona Campus

i Table of Contents

1. Abstract .......................................................................................................1 2. Introduction ..................................................................................................3 I. Geopolitical Background .................................................................3 II. Theoretical Framework ....................................................................5 III. Research Objectives .........................................................................8 IV. Definition of Terms..........................................................................9 3. Literature Review.......................................................................................11 I. Cultural Imperialism ......................................................................11 II. Cultivation Theory .........................................................................20 III. Cultural Proximity .........................................................................22 IV. Social Identification .......................................................................28 4. Methodology ..............................................................................................31 I. Content Analysis ............................................................................31 II. Interviews.......................................................................................35 5. Limitations .................................................................................................37 I. Determining Country of Origin .....................................................37 II. Identifying Language .....................................................................38 III. Song Durations Estimated..............................................................38 6. Findings......................................................................................................40 I. Countries of origin .........................................................................41 II. Genres ............................................................................................53 III. Languages ......................................................................................65 7. Discussion ..................................................................................................76 I. The Rise of Jamaican Music in Belize ...........................................76 II. Youth, Urbanity and Ethnicity .......................................................82 III. Perception of Dominance ...............................................................87 IV. Multi-talking: Language on the Airwaves .....................................93 V. Station policy: The role of management ......................................100 8. Conclusions and Recommendations ........................................................106

ii 9. References ................................................................................................113 10. Appendices...............................................................................................117 I. List of Radio Station Transmitter Sites in Belize ........................117 II. The Sample ..................................................................................119 III. Sample Data Sheet for Content Analysis .....................................120 IV. Interview Questions .....................................................................121 V. Vibes Radio Music Clock ............................................................124 VI. Krem Radioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Daily Programming and Program Descriptions ...125 VII. Wave Radio Program Descriptions..............................................129 VIII. Love FM Program Schedule ........................................................131 IX. More FM Daily Programming Schedule......................................132

iii List of Tables and Figures Tables 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Song Durations by Country of Origin........................................................42 Song Durations by Country of Origin on Krem Radio ..............................43 Song Durations by Country of Origin on Love FM ...................................45 Song Durations by Country of Origin on More FM ..................................47 Song Durations by Country of Origin on Vibes Radio ..............................49 Song Durations by Country of Origin on Wave Radio ..............................51

7. Song Durations by Genre ...........................................................................53 8. Song Durations by Genre on Krem Radio .................................................55 9. Song Durations by Genre on Love FM ......................................................57 10. Song Durations by Genre on More FM .....................................................59 11. Song Durations by Genre on Vibes Radio .................................................61 12. Song Durations by Genre on Wave Radio .................................................63

Figures 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Countries of Origin ....................................................................................42 Countries of Origin on Krem Radio...........................................................44 Countries of Origin on Love FM ...............................................................46 Countries of Origin on More FM ...............................................................48 Countries of Origin on Vibes Radio ..........................................................50 Countries of Origin on Wave Radio ..........................................................52

7. Genres of Music .........................................................................................54 8. Genres of Music on Krem Radio ...............................................................56 9. Genres of Music on Love FM ....................................................................58 10. Genres of Music on More FM ...................................................................60 11. Genres of Music on Vibes Radio ...............................................................62 12. Genres of Music on Wave Radio ...............................................................64 13. Primary and Secondary Languages in Music.............................................66 14. Languages Used by Disc Jockeys ..............................................................66 15. Languages in Music on Krem Radio .........................................................67 16. Languages Used by Disc Jockeys on Krem Radio ....................................68 17. Languages in Music on Love FM ..............................................................69 18. Languages in Music on More FM..............................................................71 19. Languages Used by Disc Jockeys on More FM.........................................71

iv 20. Languages in Music on Vibes Radio .........................................................73 21. Languages Used by Disc Jockeys on Vibes Radio ....................................73 22. Languages in Music on Wave Radio .........................................................74 23. Languages Used by Disc Jockeys on Wave Radio ....................................75

1 Abstract

Jamaican Cultural Imperialism? Examining Dominance of Jamaican Music and Language on Belizean Radio

Kalilah Enriquez

This study sought to quantify the amount of Jamaican music on Belizean radio, with the objective of finding out whether music from that country was dominant and was therefore contributing to a form of Jamaican cultural imperialism. Additionally, the study also sought to examine the role of Jamaican language on Belizean radio, and identify reasons for the apparent popularity of Jamaican music in Belize. To this end, the researcher conducted a content analysis of five major radio stations in Belize, and interviewed managers, program directors and disc jockeys from those stations. The researcher found that although all the industry professionals interviewed held the perception that Jamaican music was dominant, this was not the case. American music was found to dominate, while Jamaican music was a distant second. Yet, the industry professionals all used their perceptions about the popularity of Jamaican music in Belize to justify the quantities that were played. Youth, ethnicity and urbanityâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;with urbanity the most important of the threeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; were found to be demographic indicators that correlated with an affinity for

2 Jamaican music, while cultural proximity, language affinity, social identification and globalization were theoretical frameworks that helped to explain this affinity. Although Jamaican cultural imperialism did not exist in Belize from a musical dominance perspective, the quantity of Jamaican music documented on Belizean radio was enough that its presence should not be ignored, particularly because of the perceptions that accompanied it. Keywords: Cultural imperialism; Belizean radio; Jamaican music

3 Introduction Geopolitical Background Belize is geographically situated in Central America—bordered on the north by Mexico, the west and south by Guatemala and the east by the Caribbean Sea. Having been colonized by the British (independence was gained in 1981), it is the only country in Central America where English is the official language. The Constitution of Belize (2000 [revised edition]) defined the nation as “a sovereign democratic State of Central America in the Caribbean region” (Part I, Section I, 1). The country, however, shared a historic identity with the Englishspeaking Caribbean, much more so than with its physical neighbors in Central America (Bolland, 2003). Bolland to an extent documented this connection from the time of Belize’s early existence as a colony of Britain. “The settlement at Belize was so small, and so dependent on Jamaica and the rest of the British colonial system, that its version of slavery was inevitably affected by the cultural traditions and legal structures which had been well established in the islands” (p. 74), he wrote. Furthermore, according to Bolland, by the middle of the nineteenth century, a majority of the population of Belize were born in Jamaica or Barbados, as opposed to Africa. This dependence by the colony on Jamaica continued well into the 1900s, before Belize finally acquired its independence from Britain in 1981.

Anecdotal evidence suggested the importation of police officers and

teachers from Jamaica to Belize during this time; people in those public service positions were traditionally and remained influential in society because of their continued need to interact with people. Thus, there was a historic and cultural

4 connection between Belize and Jamaica, as evidenced by the vast similarities in the Creole languages spoken by natives of the two Caribbean countries and documented in their Creole dictionaries (Crosbie, 2007; Cassidy & Le Page, 2002). In addition, the political connection between Belize and the Englishspeaking Caribbean has continued with Belize’s participation in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and most recently the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ). Yet, Belize’s geographic reality has yielded inevitable influences from Central America. While Belizeans have always been proud of the “peaceful plurality” of its society, with primary school textbooks teaching about the Maya, East Indians, Garinagu, Creoles and Mestizos, immigration from Central American countries has become a social and political issue.

In the 1980

Population Census, Creoles—the mostly Black population descended from slaves—comprised forty percent of the population of Belize, while Mestizos— descendants of the Maya and Spanish Europeans—represented just over thirty percent. In the 1990 Population Census, there were no statistics on ethnicity; however, the 2000 census showed that although the population had grown tremendously, Creoles had become only twenty-five percent of the population, while the Mestizo population had grown to thirty-four percent, and another fifteen percent identified as Spanish. Combined, the Mestizo and Spanish populations accounted for forty-nine percent of the population of Belize; that is, by 2000, the Creole population was outnumbered two to one by Hispanics. This changing demographic was largely a result of immigration from Central America.

5 In addition, Belize was also subject to influence from another neighbor further north, the United States of America. It is these juxtapositions that made Belize unique, while at the same time forced its citizens into a sort of identity crisis and cultural dilemma. In this context, is identification with Jamaican music and language then, a means of resistance by Belizeans to American and Central American pressures, an assertion of continued Caribbean identity? Did this also carry an ethnic component, whereby Black Belizeans were more likely to have an affinity for Jamaican culture than Hispanic Belizeans? While the question of ethnicity is as interesting as it is important, establishing a correlation between the ethnicity of Belizean pop icons and their affinity for Jamaican music is beyond the scope of this study, as the researcher will not be examining Spanish-language radio stations in Belize. However, the ethnic component will not be ignored. The researcher will explore this angle in the intensive interviews, although this will not be enough to establish correlation. Still, the possibility of such a correlation would be an interesting topic for future study.

Theoretical Framework The concept of cultural imperialism has existed since at least the 1960s (Tomlinson, 1991). Although not easily defined, it is a useful framework through which to study the effects and/or influences of a dominant foreign cultureâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; particularly as presented through the mediaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;on a local one. Caribbean scholars (A. Brown, 1987, 1995; H. Brown, 1995; Phekoo, Driscoll & Salwen, 1996) have taken an interest in the quantity of American television content broadcast in the

6 Caribbean region and the effects that viewing this content have had on the attitudes and behaviors of adolescents. While this concern about U.S. cultural imperialism is warranted considering the proximity of the United States to the Caribbean, research is lacking on the region’s own cultural superpower, Jamaica, and the influences of its culture on the smaller Caribbean territories. Dissenayake (2006), for example, discussed cultural imperialism not only as something singular and global, but rather, building upon Appadurai (1996) as something plural and regional. As she observed, “for people of Irian Jaya, Indonesianization may be more worrisome than Americanization, as Japanization may be for the Koreans, Indianization for Sri Lankans, Vietnamization for Cambodians . . . Russianization for the people of soviet Armenia and the Baltic Republics” (p. 39), and as this research proposed, Jamaicanization for the people of Belize. As Tomlinson (1991) noted, cultural imperialism was very complex, and was therefore difficult to measure substantively. Although scholars disagreed on what exactly constituted the phenomenon, based on the literature, the researcher used the following three criteria to attempt to draw conclusions about the existence of Jamaican cultural imperialism in Belize: a. Dominance: This is the one area in the discourse where there appeared to be consensus.

Tomlinson at times used the terms

imperialism and domination interchangeably.

He suggested that

cultural imperialism could be seen, “either as the dominance of one culture’s media (texts, practices) over another; or as the global spread of ‘mass-mediated culture’ as such” (p. 22). A series of Caribbean

7 studies, mentioned previously, documented the dominance factor, however, Brown (1995) disputed whether this was enough to establish cultural imperialism.

Despite this disagreement, the

dominance factor is one that indisputably needs to be analyzed in this discourse.

As such, this will either validate or invalidate the

dominance of Jamaican music and language over Belizean music and language by performing a content analysis of Belizean radio; b. Imposition: A second area of study arguably involved imposition. Brown (1995) disputed the existence of cultural imperialism in the Caribbean because the people of the region have not been “coerced into consumption”, and therefore, he concluded, cultural imperialism “constitutes a misdiagnosis of the situation” (p. 52). Another angle for the proposed research, then, involved whether or not Jamaican cultural products were imposed upon Belizeans, or whether it was Belizeans who proactively sought Jamaican cultural content, or as Nakano (2002) posited, who initiated the flow. And, c. Economic impact: Imperialism implied an impact on the economy of the ‘dominated’ country. A holistic study of cultural imperialism would therefore include the impact of the ‘dominating’ country’s cultural products on the economy of the ‘dominated’ country. As Tomlinson noted, “We may be inclined to think of cultural imperialism as essentially about the exalting and spreading of values

8 and habitsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a practice in which economic power plays an instrumental role.â&#x20AC;? (p.3) For the most part, this study has only examined the first element of cultural imperialism; that is, the dominance factor. Conclusions from this could then be used to ground further research on imposition and economic impact.

Research Objectives An appropriate starting point is to determine how much influence Jamaican culture has on Belizean culture in the first place, and why. The main objective of this research paper, then, was to determine whether Jamaican music and language dominated Belizean music and language on Belizean radio, and if so, why. This objective was pursued through both qualitative and quantitative methods. Firstly, a content analysis sought to quantify the amount of Jamaican music played on Belizean radio. Secondly, intensive interviews with Belizean disc jockeys and radio station managers and/or program directors were conducted in order to complement the initial data gathered from the content analysis and to: 1. Determine whether there was a perception of Jamaican musical and linguistic dominance; 2. Determine attitudes towards Jamaican music and language; 3. Determine the role of station policy in the quantities of Jamaican music played and language used by disc jockeys; 4. Theorize what demographic factors may indicate an affinity for Jamaican music and language; and,

9 5. Examine theoretical frameworks that may explain such an affinity.

In examining Belizean popular culture, radio was chosen because it was the most ubiquitous form of media in Belize and therefore the most appropriate way to measure music content. A paucity of local television productions outside of news also rendered television an inappropriate medium for studying musical influence. In addition, radio had a much longer history in Belize than television, and subsequently, there were many more radio stations than television stations in Belize available for study.

Definition of Terms Tomlinson’s (1991) broad definition of culture as “the context within which people give meanings to their actions and experiences, and make sense of their lives” (p. 6) provided an adequate framework for this study. In this research, popular culture means music and language as mediated through radio. Belizean radio is defined as Love FM, Wave Radio, Krem FM, More FM and Positive Vibes Radio—the five stations studied in the content analysis. Language appropriation, studied in Belizean disc jockeys was, as Kuppens (2008) defined, “The process of authentication whereby language users construct themselves as authentic speakers of a language” (p. 44). In this context, Jamaican language appropriation means the use or emulation of Jamaican

10 language (words, tenses, sentence structure and accents) by Belizeans who, outside of media, have no association with Jamaica. Globalization is “the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distant localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice-versa” (Giddens, 1990, p. 64). Cultural proximity is the theory that “audiences prefer media which reflect their own culture regionally as well as nationally” (Burch, 2002, p. 572). Cultural imperialism is the dominance, imposition and negative economic impact on a local culture by a foreign one.

11 Literature Review

Cultural Imperialism Tomlinson (1991) provided an overview of the cultural imperialism thesis, although he initially refrained from defining the term, arguing that, “The concept of cultural imperialism is one which must be assembled out of its discourse” (p.3). He, however, accepted that much of the concern about cultural imperialism was economic, and that much of the discussion “place[d] the media—television, film, radio, print journalism, advertising—at the center of things” (p. 20). Additionally, he presented four angles from which to examine cultural imperialism: as media imperialism, as a discourse of nationality, as a critique of global capitalism, and as a critique of modernity. In the chapter on media, he wrote, It is clear that the mass media are constantly and rapidly expanding in terms of technical power and penetration, coverage and representation of both public and private life in the West. To this extent it is tempting to see the media as the central cultural reference point of modern Western capitalism. And if this is so, then cultural imperialism might be seen to centre on the media in two ways: either as the dominance of one culture’s media (texts, practices) over another; or as the global spread of ‘massmediated culture’ as such (p. 22). Tomlinson identified a major flaw within the discourse on cultural imperialism: the assumption that for a culture to be considered imperialistic, it must be imposed upon a people in the manner in which the classic cases of economic imperialism have taken place in the past. Cultural imperialism was a bit more complex, Tomlinson noted. He cited the example of a group of native people gathered around a television set to watch a foreign program. The act of

12 watching television, and even the physical presence of the television itself, were not native to the culture, and so represented a change in the culture, but whether that change could be considered imperialistic was another matter. He noted that the natives had not been forced to watch, but rather were watching of their own free will because they genuinely liked the program. Thus, he concluded, “The practice of watching television cannot be deemed to be straightforwardly imposed . . . the intention of the broadcasters may not be directly to ‘exalt and spread’ values and habits, and . . . the notion of the process being at the ‘expense of a native culture’ is extremely ambiguous” (Tomlinson, 1991, p. 3). Additionally, Tomlinson cautioned against placing too much emphasis on the economic component of cultural imperialism. “We may be inclined to think of cultural imperialism as essentially about the exalting and spreading of values and habits—a practice in which economic power plays an instrumental role,” he noted (Tomlinson, 1991, p.3); however, he advised that the scope of this thesis be broadened and that the concept of culture itself be reexamined. To restrict the sense of culture to just these practices would be misleading. To fully grasp the implications of the arguments about cultural imperialism, we need to see other mundane practices as ‘cultural’ ones. For example . . . a lot hangs on the sense in which global capitalism can be seen to have distinctly a cultural dimension, threatening other ‘ways of life’. In order to grasp theses arguments, we must recognize culture as involving, for instance, the practices of consumption within an intensive market setting. These practices will involve some ‘signifying practices’ (for example advertising) but also other practices (for example, shopping, as both routine necessity and as ‘leisure pursuit’) which are ‘cultural’ without being directly signifying. What we are after is a general sense of culture as the context within which people give meanings to their actions and experiences, and make sense of their lives. This aspect of ‘how life is lived’ is (in certain ways) distinguishable from those practices by which people manage to satisfy their material needs—which we might call, broadly, economic practices.

13 It is also separable from those aspects of life which involve the distribution of power within and between collectivities—which we might call political practices. In fact this level of distinction, crude and problematic as it is, is all we need to grasp the most general thrust of arguments about cultural imperialism. For what is claimed is that a form of domination exists in the modern world, not just in the political and economic spheres but also over those practices by which collectivities make sense of their lives” (pp. 6-7). Tomlinson concluded that dominance, but not necessarily imposition, was an important factor in determining cultural imperialism. He, in fact, used the terms interchangeably.

Laing (1986), however, perceived imposition more

acutely. The global prevalence of movies and television programmes originating in the United States can be adduced, the result of not only the manner in which they are ‘dumped’ on developing countries (providing programming at a fraction of the cost of locally made drama series) but also in the stupefying economics they represent. No individual television service of a developing country can match the massive investment of an episode of Dallas or Dynasty, nor indeed can separate production companies in Europe (pp. 331-332). Because of the blatant cultural imperialism via television that Laing perceived, he believed it was equally important to study the music industry, which had not received nearly the same amount of attention. As he described, “the recording [of music] has now established a hegemonic position within popular music as a whole” (p. 332).

Whereas Tomlinson felt that economic impact was a less

important feature of cultural imperialism, Laing buttressed his study on economics.

Taking a page from Bagdikian (1983), Laing posited that

conglomeration of media coupled with globalization was resulting in a few companies in the West controlling what became popular music around the world. This economic control had a cultural effect: “The prominence of American-made material must entail a corresponding version of established or traditional cultural

14 values of the society into which that program material is inserted” (p. 332). Because of this perceived effect, Laing believed conglomeration in the music industry should be studied, and it was the record companies to which he turned his attention. In economic terms, the bulk of the music industry’s income derives from the use of recordings: from direct sales in shops, from payment by radio and television stations for the right to broadcast recordings and from the public performance of records in discos, shops and hotels. As a result, the dominant institutions of the music industry are now the recording companies (p. 332). According to Laing, these multilateral recording companies controlled an average of sixty percent of the international music industry, and thus controlled “the type and range of music made available to the consumer” (p. 335). Despite these statistics, however, Laing observed that there was a thriving segment of the music industry that was unaccounted for, an entire economic sector based on piracy. According to Laing, some forty percent of music cassettes sold globally was pirated, and in parts of Latin America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, this figure was as high as 75 percent. Yet, rather than using these numbers to negate cultural imperialism by demonstrating that people in these regions were demanding foreign music to such an extent that they were pirating it, Laing believed the widespread practice of piracy actually supported the cultural imperialism thesis. In terms of the cultural imperialism thesis, piracy’s most important effect is not the damage it does to the income of transnational companies and their recording artists, but the way in which it encourages the spread of international music and discourages the full development of national recordings in many countries (p. 336).

15 In order to measure the extent of cultural imperialism in a country, Laing felt an important criterion was to distinguish between recordings of foreign and local origin, although he did not specify whether pirated material would be included in such a study. Once that data was compiled, Laing determined that the simplest approach to interpreting it would be “to assume that the amount of music of national origin in each case . . . is a wholly positive feature sustaining a valuable cultural heritage or identity” (p. 337), which would mean that music of foreign origin would be interpreted as a negative feature opposed to cultural identity.

This approach may be too simplistic, and as Laing recognized,

musicians in European and ‘third world’ countries had varied interpretations and reactions. Faced with the invasions of Anglo-American music and its ever-present character, musicians in European and third world nations have been forced to take up a stance towards it. Some have opted to imitate it, others have taken their distance and reemphasized indigenous . . . traditions, while a third group have attempted to graft elements of pop or rock onto elements from the indigenous culture (p. 338).

A. Brown (1987) examined cultural imperialism from a dominance perspective. Brown sought to quantify the amount of imported television content in the Caribbean, and identify television programming trends in the region. He used a content analysis methodology, but also interviewed station managers and independent producers to qualify the information.

He studied television

stations in Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua, Montserrat, St. Kitts and St. Vincent and found that an average of over eighty percent of

16 television content was imported, making the Caribbean the most penetrated region by foreign content in the world. While Brown accepted that during its initial introduction to the Caribbean, television was perceived as a novelty and that it was “inevitable in view of the region's proximity to North America, that most of the programmed material would originate from outside of the region and primarily from that source” (p. 1), he did not accept that this ought to still be the case close to two decades later at the time of the study. In interviews with Brown, station managers justified the predominance of foreign content by saying the cost to produce local content was very high. Additionally, Brown observed, “The assumption was that, political will and imaginativeness aside, the single most important factor that would mitigate against increasing the volume of local productions would be a dearth of broadcast quality production facilities and skilled personnel, neither of which are in short supply in the Caribbean” (p. 5). It seemed, then, that managers were making excuses for taking the easy road by showing foreign content. Having established dominance, Brown (1995) progressed to examining the question of dominance versus imposition more closely. Although he accepted that domination existed, he argued it was whether those dominant materials were imposed that was important to the argument for cultural imperialism. Brown observed two trends, which he described as “indisputable”, in the international flow of media content: a one-way traffic from the big exporting countries (the US, Canada, Australia, Japan and Western Europe) to the rest of the world, and the

17 dominance of entertainment material in the flow. Yet, he posited that Caribbean citizens had been willing consumers of foreign media. Present conceptions of cultural imperialism and the limited, tangible response to it in the region, are misconceived. This is inevitably so, since the very concept of cultural imperialism constitutes a misdiagnosis of the situation . . . . As is true of all the mass media, but particularly so of the visual media, Caribbean citizens have been willing consumers of both hardware and software. We have not been coerced into consumption. That the images reflected on the region’s television screens are not often enough likenesses of ourselves, cannot be denied. However, cultural ennui is the price we pay for passive consumption (A. Brown, 1995, p. 52). Brown did not necessarily see this is a negative in itself, for he perceived the flow of information to be an obvious result of globalization and technology. Rather, he bemoaned the unidirectional flow of that information; that is, the lack of reciprocity and the Caribbean’s failure to similarly take advantage of information technology and its geographic advantages “to participate fully in the evolution of world culture” (p. 53).

He added that the region’s international successes,

especially in music, demonstrated that the Caribbean had the potential to participate in the sector “by producing software, if not hardware, that could earn significant revenues while simultaneously contributing to the evolution of global culture” (p. 53). Brown cited the invention of the steel pan in Trinidad and reggae music in Jamaica as examples that could inspire Caribbean peoples “to make equally significant contributions to global culture via the electronic media” (pp. 53-54). Nakano (2002) expanded upon Brown’s initial point regarding imposition. He believed that in many instances, local peoples in fact requested foreign media content and were even willing to pay for it. In this regard, Nakano examined the

18 diffusion of Japanese television programs in Hong Kong and China. He demonstrated how dramas designed for the Japanese younger generation proliferated in these Asian markets in the form of pirated video compact disks (VCDs), without being on the air and without marketing campaigns. Nakano argued that far from being cultural imperialism pushed from the economic center, the Chinese people were the ones who actively initiated the in-flow of these dramas. The complex combination of local demand, digital technology and the Chinese people’s highly developed literacy in regard to Japanese popular culture made this flow possible. Thus, Nakano questioned whether imposition was a complete measure of cultural imperialism: “We should not focus solely on the story of corporate-led cultural flow from the production centers, but also examine its twists and turns from the perspectives of unforeseen consumers and unauthorized intermediaries” (p. 231). Nakano postulated that it would appear to be those on the receiving end who were the economic beneficiaries of the imported cultural products. This did not, however, negate the influence/effects of cultural imperialism and globalization. Rather, Nakano argued that the fact that those in Hong Kong and China initiated the flow of cultural products from Japan was in itself a cultural event to be studied. “The study of informal cultural flow is possible only if we put Hong Kong and China at the center and ask how and why the people incorporated Japanese cultural products at a particular point in time, and how the Japanese products interacted with other local and foreign cultural influences” (p. 248). Nakano found that the proliferation of Japanese cultural/media products in

19 Asia was of such magnitude that the younger generation in Asia had become literate in Japanese visual narratives, primarily through extended exposure to Japanese cartoons and comics. With this question of initiation as opposed to imposition, Nakano concluded, “This shift in perspective might help us break with the concepts of Japanization as well as Americanization that put the economic power at the absolute center of globalization” (p. 248). The regional influence of Japan, as well as the emergence of other cultural powerhouses such as India, Mexico and Brazil has led scholars to question whether this has negated the effect of cultural imperialism from the West. As Dissenayake (2006) observed, “At a minimum . . . we need to pluralize the concept of cultural imperialism and talk in terms of cultural imperialisms” (p. 39). Sonwalkar (2001) called these regional influences “little cultural imperialism”. In a study on Indian cultural influence in Asia, Sonwalkar posited, “It appears that within South Asia, the notion of West-based media imperialism is being replaced by the India-based version” (p. 506). As a result, he called for “a multi-centric perspective, as opposed to a linear West-centric perspective” (p. 505). Like Tomlinson (1991), Sonwalkar recognized that part of the concern about regional cultural imperialism was due to a perceived threat to national identity: “In Pakistan, the popularity of Indian television programming, including news, is disconcerting to many as it goes against its founding ideology: that the Muslims constitute a nation separate from the Hindu majority in undivided India” (p. 513). He quoted Pakistan’s information Minister, Javed Jabbar, as saying, “I am concerned about the influence of Indian satellite television on our people” (p.

20 506). As a result, Sonwalker concluded, “In some locales, the threat posed by the local and the regional may be perceived to be more serious” (p. 507) than the threat from the West, a conclusion which mirrored Appadurai’s (1996) observations.

Cultivation Theory Whereas some scholars have been occupied with establishing or negating the existence of cultural imperialism, others have been concerned about its possible effects. H. Brown (1995) and Phekoo, Driscoll and Salwen (1996) examined this through the framework of cultivation theory. H. Brown (1995) sought to determine what impact the high levels of foreign content documented by A. Brown (1987) had on Jamaican youth.

Her study sought to answer the

question, “Are Jamaican youth the subject of a massive cultural assault from the unending flow of American television, magazines, books, films and music that bombard them daily?” (p. 56) Brown explored whether prolonged exposure to media products resulted in dependency relationships which established a set of foreign norms and values, and cultivated levels of consumerism in recipient countries. In addition, she wanted to determine whether differences in levels of cultural appreciation among Jamaican youth were related to higher or lower levels of foreign media consumption. She observed that many trends had been cited as evidence of cultural dependency in Jamaica, but there had been little research to support these conclusions, although such conclusions would support Tomlinson’s (1991) postulation that consumption was a signifying practice that was part of

21 culture, and which could be influenced both directly and indirectly by media. Among those frequently-cited indicators, claimed Brown, were, The desire to migrate to the US in various groups in the society, evidence of the ‘brain drain’ of the professional classes, the demand for consumer products that are not realizable for many in the context of a developing country and the extreme popularity of day-time soaps such as Santa Barbara and Generations. Additionally, the tendency of those who work in the tourist areas to acquire American accents from interacting with tourists, the love of American music among upper and middle class youth and their disdain for local traditions, dances and reggae music are also frequently cited manifestations (p. 60). Brown surveyed 956 adolescents between the ages of 10 and 19, who were attending one of 17 schools in Kingston, Montego Bay and four rural communities. She found support for both her hypotheses: that the more time spent with foreign media, the less was one’s orientation towards Jamaican culture and the greater one’s orientation towards American culture; and, that the higher the level of media use, the higher the level of personal consumerism. However, Brown found that media exposure was only one of the variables responsible for these responses. Other factors were travel, socio-economic status, tourist versus non-tourist area residency, and rural versus urban residency.

She also

documented some of the same reasons for the lack of local content production as A. Brown (1987) did some eight years earlier: “The common problems identified include the prohibitive cost of local production and the relative inexpensiveness of foreign imports; limited resources; the absence of an industry to keep producers and talent gainfully employed and the lack of government support to foster such an industry” (p. 61).

22 Phekoo, Driscoll and Salwen (1996) attempted a similar study in Trinidad and Tobago.

Their study examined possible cultural consequences of U.S.

television programs on adolescents. Using the framework of cultivation theory, they questioned the assumed linear relationship between television viewing and cultivation and the reliability of cultivation indicators. The researchers attempted to test several hypotheses; however, the application of minimal reliability as an a priori procedure to hypothesis testing eliminated several potentially useful hypotheses.

Among those eliminated were preferences for US versus local

culture and for US brand name goods. The remaining three constructs tested were liberal values, cultural knowledge, and estimations of Americans’ material wealth. They asked 418 Trinidadian senior high school students how much time they spent each day watching television, although this method of assessing viewing may not be entirely accurate, in that there may be a discrepancy between the amount of time students think they watch television and the amount of time they actually watch. The average response was three hours eighteen minutes. The researchers found that television viewing was related to liberal social values concerning relationships, family, and authority; however, it was not related to cultural knowledge and estimations of Americans’ material wealth.

Cultural Proximity Burch (2002) examined the phenomenon from a different angle, cultural proximity theory, which posited, “audiences prefer media which reflect their own culture regionally, as well as nationally” (p. 572).

Burch analyzed the success of

23 a widely popular Indian Hindu soap opera, Ramayan, in Nepal and the Hindu Diaspora. She examined the aesthetics of the program as opposed to those created in the West, and why it was so successful in India, Nepal and the Hindu Diaspora. She also sought to determine whether Ramayan countered media imperialism emanating from the West. Burch contended that because the Nepalese population was majority Hindu, the people there were able to relate to the television program, which in turn made Ramayan popular in Nepal and led to a revival of ancient Hindu culture for television. In addition, Burch posited that audiences preferred what they could understand in terms of language and culture, and therefore remained loyal to their own societies. “What we can learn from studies of this kind is that producers see their audiences as people who tend to prefer what they can understand not only in terms of language and the obvious aspects of culture, but also in terms of aesthetic codes” (p. 577). Although Burch questioned whether this meant that developing countries would resist the Westernization of television in the future, she noted, “Studies on cultural proximity provide a growing body of evidence of the contraflow of media texts. This data counters concerns over media imperialism – wherein developing countries are said to become dependent upon the North for cultural goods” (p. 572). It is this contraflow that A. Brown (1995) had demanded of the Caribbean after documenting the dominance of foreign content on Caribbean television (1987).

According to Burch, then, these flows were beginning to become

multidirectional. Yet, she noted that the airing of Ramayan in Nepal was not

24 without criticism, as some argued that it contributed to a kind of Indian imperialism, although this was not a position that she seemed to accept. Dal (2007) arrived at similar conclusions in Korea.

He sought to

reinterpret cultural imperialism by examining the emerging domestic market in Korea as opposed to continued US dominance. He found, however, that although Korean popular culture had become a powerful force in East and Southeast Asia over the past decade, cultural imperialism from the West, particularly the United States, still very much existed.

Yet, Dal found evidence of what he called

“regional hegemony in the global cultural market” (p. 752). Dal questioned whether Korea’s growing influence meant cultural imperialism in the traditional sense was over. “The rapid growth of Korean popular culture in Asia has raised the issue of whether cultural imperialism, symbolizing a one-way flow of cultural products from Western countries to developing countries, is a reliable thesis to explain the Korean cultural market in the globalization era” (p. 753-4). According to Dal, Korean television programs made some $71.4 million in export earnings in 2004, having penetrated markets in China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan. Dal claimed that the cultural proximity of those countries made Korea’s media products appealing there. “Cultural elements have emerged as factors of comparative advantage in building up the Asian markets for audiovisual products. Korean distributors commonly claim that the most important factor behind the popularity of Korean dramas in China and Taiwan is the similarity of these countries’ cultures” (p. 760). Subsequently, the emergence of China as a large global and regional market drove massive investment in

25 Korean products, particularly because according to Dal, it was cheaper to import programs from Korea than from other countries such as Japan or the United States. Despite this increased popularity and presence, however, Dal found that US cultural imperialism had not disappeared. Rather, it had grown stronger. Western dominance in the global cultural market, including in Korea, has not decreased at all . . . . Western, and particularly American, dominance has increased more rapidly than the influence of a few regional producers . . . . Indeed, the US has maintained its global cultural domination over the last 15 years, just as it did over the last several decades (p. 762). Shim (2006) also examined the rise of Korean popular culture in Asia. He explored the role of the Korean state in the emergence of the nation’s culture as a regional powerhouse, as well as the hybridity evident in those cultural forms; that is, the infusion of global popular cultural forms into local culture, which he attributed to globalization.

Yet, he posited, “Paradoxically, globalization

encourages local peoples to rediscover the ‘local’ that they have neglected or forgotten in their drive towards Western-imposed modernization during the past decades” (Shim, 2006, p. 27). Shim partly attributed the success of Korean cultural products in Asia to cultural proximity. According to Iwabuchi, regionally circulating popular cultural products provide ‘a sense of living in the shared time and common experience of a certain (post)modernity which cannot be represented well by American popular culture’ (2001: 56). Ang notes that ‘popular pleasure is first and foremost a pleasure of recognition’ (1985: 20). In other words, how audiences can identify themselves with what they see is most important in their construction of pleasure from media consumption. (p. 39) Like Burch (2002) and Dal (2007), Shim concluded that audiences preferred cultural/media products to which they could relate.

26 Biltereyst (1992) looked more closely at language as a component of culture, and its influence on the import flows of televised fiction in small European countries.

His quantitative study examined twenty-six television

stations in thirteen countries. Firstly, he found, “Small countries especially are highly dependent on foreign imports in relation to fiction programmes” (p. 517). More importantly, however, he found linguistic similarities greatly influenced which countries those imports came from: “Linguistic and cultural proximity is an extremely strong generator of these differences and thus functions as a main protagonist in directing the regional television flows within Western Europe” (p. 517). For example, Biltereyst found that channels in countries or regions that shared a language with a large neighbor, such as the French part of Belgium in relation to France, tended to produce less local content and import more content from the large neighbor. Additionally, those channels aired more content from the similar-language countries than from other countries in the region with larger global cultural influence, but with which they did not share a language. “It is clear that the imports from Great Britain, France and Germany, which are traditionally seen as the most powerful European nations in relation to the audiovisual industry, taken together amount to less than a quarter of the fiction output in small countries (23.7 percent)” (p. 523).

Biltereyst called this a

linguistic affinity. He found, for example, that in Switzerland, more German television programs were imported than British ones (respectively 14.6 percent and 12.1 percent).

27 Even within countries, linguistic affinity affected stations’ programming choices and production of content. Indeed, it was evident that locally-produced dramas attracted larger audiences than those produced abroad.

Thus, local

production coupled with local language seemed to be a winning formula, for as Biltereyst observed, “A country-by-country analysis shows that the ratio between ratings for domestic and foreign fiction . . . are always the highest for home made products” (p. 531); meanwhile, “Fiction programs in the indigenous language are prominent (37.66 percent).

A country-by-country analysis shows that own

language drama is successful” (p. 533). Motivations for creating own-language dramas differed between public and private/commercial stations. Whereas public service broadcasters, which tended to show more local programs, justified their selections as “an ‘ecological’ necessity and . . . an important weapon against the massive influx of foreign imports” (p. 536), or in other words a counterhegemonic necessity, commercial enterprises were beginning to realize the appeal of the ‘local’ to audiences, and as such, “the audience pulling power of home made drama has recently been recognized and exploited by those new commercial stations” (p. 531). Despite these affinities, however, Biltereyst found that programs originating in the US were dominant.

They represented by far a greater

percentage of programs aired than those from regional powerhouses: 50.6 percent of all fictional material, transmitted by the selected broadcasters was American by origin despite the language difference. exception was noteworthy.

What appeared to be an American

It suggested other factors, such as Biltereyst’s

28 observation that “American fiction has become the model par excellence of fictional entertainment” (p. 518), were more important than cultural or linguistic similarity in constructing dominance. This fact alone challenged Biltereyst’s primary conclusion that, “the programs from the major regional exporters seem to encounter strong cultural and linguistic barriers, especially in relation to the socalled autonomous small countries. It is highly questionable if these barriers can be abolished, despite the EC diffusion quota regulation” (p. 538). For if Englishlanguage American programs were able to hold such a position of dominance in the countries studied regardless of the obvious language discrepancy, those regional barriers indeed were abolishable.

Social Identification Perhaps, then, there was an additional element that would to explain audience preferences. Kuppens (2009) suggested social identification was also key; people related to values and ideas that may have been foreign to their own culture, but which they wanted to appropriate. Kuppens examined the hybrid language practices of presenters of hip-hop and reggae programs in Flemish niche media. A qualitative linguistic analysis showed that different varieties of English were employed depending on the particular subcultural affiliation of these programs. He interviewed television presenters and found that they, although White and European, identified with African American and West Indian experiences, which to them symbolized the contradictions in British working class youth sub-culture.

To them, the use of these languages signified that

29 identification and became a vehicle of resistance and cultural difference. Kuppens concluded that by mixing these varieties with standard English and Dutch, presenters created a “hybrid authenticity,” in which the global and the local were creatively fused. The subjects of Kuppens’s research had nothing physically or culturally in common with the West Indians and African Americans with whom they identified. They were white and middle class, and as Kuppens noted, Flanders (the community studied) did not even have extensive communities of African American or Caribbean immigrants. In fact, he observed, “hip-hop and reggae culture represent the most important, perhaps even the only, contact that Flemish youngsters have with African American English and Jamaican patois” (p. 55). Why, then, did they appropriate these non-standard forms of English?

important reason was authenticity: Kuppens found that presenters of African American and Jamaican music programs wanted to portray themselves as legitimate members of the subcultures with which their programs were affiliated. As he summarized, “They use English either as a ‘device’ to communicate subcultural authenticity to their audience, or they perceive their language use as the uncontrived outcome of their identity as an ‘authentic’ member of their subculture” (p. 51). Indeed, one producer Kuppens interviewed verified this: An urban music program needs English in order to sound ‘right’ and ‘cool’ . . . . [The use of African American and Jamaican English] happens to be part of the lifestyle and the culture of the music. . . . I don’t think you can use just Standard Dutch in these kinds of programs, because it’s just not cool to do so, it just doesn’t sound right. . . . Hip hop fans wear certain kind of clothes as well, and the language just follows naturally from it (p. 51).

30 Interestingly, Kuppens also observed an interesting fusion of the adopted language forms with the local and familiar. By combining different languages and language varieties, often within a single sentence, the presenters defy common notions of what represents ‘proper’ language use (in which monolingualism is the norm) and related essentialist notions of linguistic authenticity as pureness . . . . In mixing these Black language varieties with Standard English and Dutch, the presenters personalize and indigenize their affiliation with hip-hop and Caribbean music culture, which allows them also to stay true to their own local identity rather than act merely as (‘inauthentic’) copycats (p. 54). Kuppens believed, then, that although presenters used language as a form of establishing authenticity and social identification, they were still careful not to become overzealous with their appropriation. Rather, there appeared to be a balance in which intermittent use woven into their vernacular became effective in identifying them as a part of the sub-culture without relinquishing their own national identity. What then are the implications for Belizean society regarding the quantity of Jamaican music played on Belizean radio?

Does it mean the erosion of

Belizean culture, or rather, does it suggest a hybridization of Caribbean cultures as a result of globalization? Furthermore, are Belizeans embracing Jamaican culture as a means of resisting American culture?

These are some of the

questions that the literature has sought to address in various contexts, and that this study sought to address in Belize. Clearly, there is much room for this type of research not only in Belize, but in the Caribbean region as well as around the world.

31 Methodology

In order to accomplish the objectives of this research paper, both quantitative and qualitative methodologies were utilized. Content analysis of the programming of the five major radio stations in Belize quantified the amount of Jamaican music played on Belizean radio in order to determine whether Jamaican music and language dominated Belizean music and language on Belizean radio. Meanwhile, in-depth interviews with disc jockeys, program directors and musicians were conducted to complement the initial data gathered from the content analysis.

Content Analysis Content analysis of programming on five major radio stations in Belize was conducted: Krem FM, Love FM, Wave Radio, Vibes Radio and More FM. These stations were chosen from a plethora of stations because they had the largest broadcast areas, covering a large swathe of the country. An undated and incomplete list by the Public Utilities Commission of radio transmitter sites and spectrum frequency assignments in Belize indicated that Love FM had eleven transmitters, Krem FM had nine and More FM had five. No transmitter sites were listed for Vibes Radio or Wave Radio, although a frequency assigned to Vibes was documented as being countrywide; meanwhile, two frequencies were assigned to Wave. Although Estereo Amor, a Spanish language radio station, had six transmitter sites, it was excluded from this study because of the researcherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lack of fluency in Spanish language. Faith FM also had six transmitter sites but

32 was excluded because it was not a commercial radio station, but rather a Christian-based station that played solely Christian music. Because there was no official media survey nor complete data available in Belize, the five stations chosen were assumed, based on anecdotal evidence, to be the largest and most popular stations in the country.

In terms of broadcast

coverage, the manager of Love FM claimed the station covered 95% of country while More FM covered about 35% (R. Villanueva, personal interview, January 18, 2010). Krem FMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s general manager estimated coverage of about 80% of the country (M. Hyde, personal interview, January 25, 2010). At the time of the study, Vibes Radioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s general manager estimated the station covered about 50% of the country, although she claimed there were plans to put up additional transmitters to facilitate nationwide coverage just a few days after the interview (R. Trujillo, personal interview, January 15, 2010). At Wave Radio, the chief engineer estimated 85% coverage (E. Tench, personal interview, January 25, 2010). With the exception of More FM, these estimates supported the choice of these stations as the ones with the largest nationwide coverage. Despite More FMâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s limited national base, it was still considered important for this study because of its headquarters in the population center of Belize City and its perceived popularity there. The five stations were analyzed on three levels: firstly, for the country of origin of the music; secondly, for the types/genres of music played; and thirdly, for the languages used both in the music and by the disc jockeys. Three (3) hours of programming from each station were analyzed per week for a duration of four

33 (4) weeks, resulting in a total of twelve (12) hours of content per station and sixty (60) hours of content total. Hours for analysis were randomly selected from Monday to Friday between 9 am and 12 pm and 1 pm and 6 pm, which were the hours when in-studio disc jockeys played the most music. Twelve pm to 1 pm was the scheduled midday news hour on most stations. At 6pm, most stations had another news hour, followed by nightly talk shows. Between midnight and 6am, most stations used automated playlists, and between 6am and 9 am, most stations carried morning talk shows. Thus, these hours were excluded from the study. Weekends were also excluded because most stations used part-time or volunteer disc jockeys during these periods, and this study was more concerned with the role of the professional full-time disc jockey whose radio job was his primary livelihood. Selected hours were recorded on cassette tape for future review and verification. Each song played in each hour of the sample period was coded for the following: 1. Origin of song. The nationality of the artist who performed the song was taken as the origin of the song. An artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s country of origin was verified using a Google Internet search. Websites used to verify origin included the artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; official websites and official Myspace.com pages. 2. Genre of music. The researcher used her past experience as a radio disc jockey to identify the genre of music to which each song belonged.

34 3. Language of song. In some instances, more than one language was used in a song. In those cases, the primary language; that is, the language used the most frequently in the song, was coded as being the language of the song. Secondary languages, however, were also documented. Also noted for each hour of the sample period were: 1. Name of station 2. Day, date and time 3. Name of disc jockey 4. Language of disc jockey.

Disc jockeys were often found to switch

between English and Creole languages. Primary and secondary languages were both noted. A data sheet was utilized to aid in categorization. In the original research design, the total number of songs in each coded category (origin, genre and language) was counted and totaled. These totals were then compared against each other to determine which countries, genres and languages were dominant. However, when analyzing the data, the researcher observed that the number of songs played in an hour varied greatly from station to station and disc jockey to disc jockey. More FM, for example, averaged 30 songs per hour, while Love FM averaged only 10 songs per hour. Thus, simply totaling the number of songs did not accurately reflect the number of different categories of music that was played. The discrepancy would have caused the results to be skewed towards the types of music played by More FM.

35 As a result, the research design had to be modified. Rather than totaling the number of songs, the durations of each song were instead totaled. Because duration of song had not been included in the original data collection, estimated durations were established by dividing 45 (the number of minutes in an hour after assuming 15 minutes for commercials and DJ chatter) by the number of songs recorded in that particular hour.

Interviews Eleven people were interviewed as part of this study. This included three radio station managers and one program director, one from each of the radio stations observed (Rene Villanueva Jr. is the manager for both Love FM and More FM), and seven disc jockeys from all the radio stations except Love FM. Since there was only one song performed by a Jamaican artist, which was classified as R&B, on Love FM, it was not necessary to interview disc jockeys on that station about why they played Jamaican music. Furthermore, the stationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s manager explained why this was the case. The objectives of the interviews were to: 1. Determine whether there was a perception of Jamaican musical and linguistic dominance; 2. Determine attitudes towards Jamaican music and language; 3. Determine the role of station policy in the quantities of Jamaican music played and language used by disc jockeys;

36 4. Theorize what demographic factors may indicate an affinity for Jamaican music and language; and, 5. Examine theoretical frameworks that may explain such an affinity. The data collected from the interviews regarding perceptions of dominance was compared against the data from the content analysis. Data on the other objectives were used to complement the content analysis. Whereas the objective of the content analysis was to establish what and how much, the objective of the interviews was to establish why.

37 Limitations

Determining Country of Origin

There were challenges in deciding where a song should be considered to have originated as there were often many elements that lead to the eventual production and release of a song. Although Laing (1986) believed recording companies were the dominant institutions of the music industry that held the power and controlled what global audiences listened to, using the country where a recording company was headquartered as the country of origin proved challenging and in some cases would have been a misrepresentation. While it may seem logical to say the country where the song was recorded is where the song originated, the transnational nature of the music industry is such that a song could be written in one country, the â&#x20AC;&#x153;riddimâ&#x20AC;? constructed/produced in another country, and the lyrics recorded in yet another. Additionally, several different record companies may have rights to the music in different countries or regions. For example, a Google search on Colombian singer Shakiraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s song She Wolf was recorded in the Bahamas at Compass Point Studios, owned by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell. It was released by different record companies in different parts of the world: Sony Music in Europe, RCA Records in the UK, and Epic Records in the US. To which of these countries, then, should the song be attributed? To simplify the determination and for purposes of consistency, the researcher decided to use the country of origin of the artist who sang the song as

38 the origin of the song. In most cases, the singer is the person most conspicuously associated with the song.

It is also assumed the singerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cultural identity,

experiences and language influenced the composition of the song. Additionally, because industry professionals in Belize were interviewed about their perceptions of musical dominance, these perceptions, it is believed, were most likely to be formulated through associations with the artiste rather than a recording company. Still, the researcher accepts that in some cases, using the artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s country of origin may not be a true representation of the origin of the music.

Identifying Language While differentiation between English, Spanish and the Creole languages was relatively easy to make, establishing whether the language spoken is the Jamaican or Belizean form of Creole sometimes proved more difficult. In making this distinction, attention was paid to the uses of sentence structure, tense, word usage and accent, guided by the relative reference dictionaries of Belize and Jamaica (Crosbie, 2007; Cassidy & LePage, 2002). Additionally, the researcher was guided by personal familiarity with both Belizean and Jamaican Creole based on over twenty years of residence in Belize and one and a half years of residence in Jamaica.

39 Song Durations Estimated The actual duration of each song had not been recorded during the collection of data. Due to this shortcoming, the researcher estimated the duration of each song by dividing 45 (the number of minutes in an hour after assuming 15 minutes for commercials and DJ chatter) by the number of songs recorded in that particular hour.

Although these estimates were not as precise as the actual

duration would have been, they are considered to be a good measure, more or less, of how long each song was played.

40 Findings

In the 60 hour sample, an estimated total of 43 hours 20 minutes 56 seconds of music was coded from five radio stations. Songs originated from 31 countries.

The origin/s of 5 songs could not be determined.

Songs were

categorized into 20 genres, with one song of an undetermined genre. Jamaican music was not found to be dominant on Belizean radio. Music originating in Jamaica comprised only 27% of all music played on the five stations during the sample period, compared with 43% from the United States. Jamaican music was dominant on only one of the five stations studied. Genres considered indigenous to Jamaica; that is, reggae and dancehall, were also not dominant. Rather, Rhythm and Blues (R&B) music indigenous to the USA was dominant, representing 23% of all music played. Reggae and dancehall were second and third, with 17% and 11% respectively. Thus, American music was found to dominate Belizean radio. The same was true of languages. Jamaican language did not dominate Belizean radio; it was not the dominant language used by either radio disc jockeys or in the music they played.

In both music and DJ language, English was

overwhelmingly dominant. Jamaican Creole was the second most frequently used language in music, while Belizean Creole was the second most frequently used language by disc jockeys. Thus, neither Jamaican music nor Jamaica language was found to dominate Belizean radio.

41 Countries of Origin The overwhelming majority of songs originated in the USA (18 hours, 46 minutes, 32 seconds), followed by Jamaica (11 hours, 48 minutes, 2 seconds). Mexico and Belize were the third and fourth most popular countries of origin, representing about 6% and 5% of the total sample respectively. The number of countries of origin ranged from seven on Krem to twentyone on Vibes. The average for all five stations was fourteen. The United States was the number one country of origin on three of the five stations studied: Krem, Love and Wave. Jamaica was the top country of origin on More FM and Mexico was the dominant country on Vibes Radio. USA and Jamaica were in the top three of all the stations. Love FM played the most American music, 5 hours 37 minutes or 67% of all songs on that station during the sample period. Vibes Radio played the least amount of American music, only 17%. More FM played the most Jamaican music, 4 hours 47 minutes, or 55% of all songs played on that station during the sample period. Love FM played the least amount of Jamaican music; only one song of Jamaican origin was observed on that station. Belize was the third most frequent country of origin on the three of the five stations: Krem (10%), Love (7%) and Wave (8%). No Belizean music was observed on Vibes Radio, while only one Belizean song was observed on More FM.

Table 1 Song Durations by Country of Origin Country

Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Country

Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Argentina Australia Barbados Belize Bermuda Brazil Cameroon Canada Colombia Cuba Denmark Dominican Republic El Salvador France Germany Guyana

00:20:13 00:06:19 00:25:06 02:12:07 00:03:13 00:06:13 00:03:13 00:51:00 00:19:25 00:07:22 00:05:37 00:07:33 00:10:18 00:07:00 00:18:52 00:09:36

Honduras Ireland Italy Jamaica Mexico Netherlands Panama Puerto Rico Scotland Spain Sweden Trinidad UK Unknown USA Virgin Islands

00:06:45 00:07:49 00:13:10 11:48:02 02:30:10 00:07:12 00:04:05 00:30:02 00:04:43 00:53:40 00:06:58 00:09:05 01:49:33 00:17:19 18:46:32 00:03:00

Belize 5%

USA 43% Jamaica 27%

UK 4% Mexico 6%

Figure 1. Countries of Origin

43 Krem.

A total of 8 hours 59 minutes and 44 seconds of music was played on Krem FM during the sample period. Of this, music totaling 4 hours 16 minutes was from the United States, making the USA the most popular country of origin on Krem. Two hours 27 minutes was from Jamaica, the second most popular country; and, 55 minutes 36 seconds were from Belize. Krem FM played the most Belizean music of all the stations studied.

Table 2 Song Durations by Country of Origin on Krem Radio Country

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Country

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Barbados Belize Canada Jamaica

00:06:23 00:55:36 00:03:13 02:27:16

UK Unknown USA Virgin Islands

00:05:51 00:01:48 04:16:52 00:03:00

Belize 10%

USA 48%

Jamaica 38%

Figure 2. Countries of Origin on Krem Radio

45 Love. A total of 8 hours 19 minutes and 52 seconds of music was played on Love FM during the sample period. Of this, music totaling 5 hours 37 minutes was from the United States, making the USA the most popular country of origin on that station. Love FM played the most American music of all the stations studied. Forty-six minutes 8 seconds was from the United Kingdom, the second most popular country, and 32 minutes 40 seconds were from Belize. Table 3 Song Durations by Country of Origin on Love FM Country

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Country

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Australia Belize Cameroon Canada Cuba Germany Ireland Jamaica

00:04:05 00:32:40 00:03:13 00:22:50 00:05:00 00:03:13 00:05:00 00:04:05

Mexico Puerto Rico Spain Sweden Trinidad UK Unknown USA

00:07:30 00:04:00 00:04:05 00:06:58 00:09:04 00:46:08 00:05:00 05:37:11

Belize 7%

Canada 5%

UK 9%

USA 67%

Figure 3. Countries of Origin on Love FM

47 More. A total of 8 hours 44 minutes and 13 seconds of music was played on More FM during the sample period. Of this, music totaling 4 hours 47 minutes was from Jamaica, making it the most popular country of origin on More FM. More FM played the most Jamaican music of all the stations studied. Three hours 14 minutes was from the United States, the second most popular country. Quantities of music played from other countries were miniscule, ranging from 13 minutes for the UK to just over a minute for Belize.

Table 4 Song Durations by Country of Origin on More FM Country

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Country

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Barbados Belize Canada Colombia France Guyana

00:10:20 00:01:12 00:02:36 00:01:33 00:01:33 00:09:22

Jamaica Mexico Netherlands UK USA

04:47:22 00:02:21 00:01:27 00:12:43 03:13:44

Barbados 2%

Guyana 2%

USA 37%

Jamaica 55%

UK 2%

Figure 4. Countries of Origin on More FM

49 Vibes. A total of 8 hours 14 minutes and 48 seconds of music was played on Vibes Radio during the sample period. Of this, music totaling 2 hours 13 minutes was from Mexico, making it the most popular country of origin on Vibes. Vibes Radio played the most Mexican music of all the stations studied. One hour 26 minutes were from the United States, the second most popular country; 47 minutes were from Spain; and 43 minutes were from Jamaica. Vibes Radio played the least amount of American, Jamaican and Belizean music, the last of which none was observed. At 21 countries, Vibes Radio had the most countries of origin of all the stations studied.

Table 5 Song Durations by Country of Origin on Vibes Radio Country

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Country

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Argentina Australia Barbados Brazil Canada Colombia Denmark Dominican Republic El Salvador France Germany

00:20:13 00:04:30 00:02:50 00:06:13 00:13:30 00:17:52 00:05:37 00:07:33 00:10:18 00:05:27 00:15:40

Ireland Italy Jamaica Mexico Netherlands Panama Puerto Rico Spain UK Unknown USA

00:02:49 00:13:10 00:43:26 02:13:14 00:02:38 00:04:05 00:26:02 00:47:13 00:22:48 00:04:05 01:25:35

Argentina 4% Colombia 4%

USA 17%

UK 5% Spain 10%

Puerto Rico 5%

Jamaica 9%

Mexico 27%

Figure 5. Countries of Origin on Vibes Radio

51 Wave. A total of 9 hours 2 minutes and 14 seconds of music was played on Wave Radio during the sample period. Of this, music totaling 4 hours 13 minutes was from the United States, making the USA the most popular country of origin on Wave. Two hours 46 minutes were from Jamaica, the second most popular country, and 43 minutes were from Belize.

Table 6 Song Durations by Country of Origin on Wave Radio Country

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Country

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Australia Barbados Belize Bermuda Canada Cuba Honduras Jamaica

00:07:43 00:05:34 00:43:01 00:03:13 00:08:51 00:02:22 00:06:45 02:45:52

Mexico Netherlands Scotland Spain UK Unknown USA

00:07:05 00:03:07 00:04:43 00:02:22 00:22:03 00:06:25 04:13:10

Belize 8%

USA 47%

Jamaica 31%

UK 4%

Figure 6. Countries of Origin on Wave Radio

53 Genres Twenty genres of music were observed across all stations, totaling 43 hours 20 minutes 56 seconds. The most frequently played genre was R&B, with 10 hours 9 minutes, followed by Reggae with 7 hours 29 minutes, and Dancehall with 4 hours 59 minutes.

The number of genres varied, ranging from eight on

Love FM to fourteen on Vibes and Wave.

Table 7 Song Durations by Genre Country

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Country

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Alternative Ballad Brukdong Country Dance Dancehall Disco Hip Hop Merengue Paranda Pop/Rock

01:46:04 03:14:10 00:19:45 01:23:32 01:02:04 04:58:34 00:54:32 03:11:57 00:11:38 00:21:45 01:46:51

Punta R&B Ranchero Reggae Reggaeton Salsa Soca Soft Rock Techno Unknown

01:19:48 10:08:44 00:07:33 07:28:37 00:12:31 00:17:33 00:05:24 03:41:05 00:45:04 00:04:05

Techno Alternative 4% 2%

Soft Rock 9%

Ballad 7%

Country 3% Dance 2%

Reggae 17% Dancehall 11%

Hip Hop 7% R&B 23% Punta 3%

Figure 7. Genres

Pop/Rock 4%

Disco 2%

55 Krem. Eleven genres of music were observed on Krem, three of which are indigenous to Belize. Of the almost 9 hours played on Krem, R&B totaled 3 hours 53 minutes, making it the most popular genre on that station. This was followed by Reggae with 2 hours 38 minutes and Dancehall with 1 hour 3 minutes. Krem FM played the most R&B and Reggae music of all the stations studied.

Table 8 Song Durations by Genre on Krem FM Genre

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Genre

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Brukdong Country Dance Dancehall Hip Hop Paranda

00:06:00 00:03:00 00:03:00 01:03:18 00:26:59 00:03:00

Pop/Rock Punta R&B Reggae Soca

00:03:45 00:34:48 03:52:44 02:37:46 00:05:24

Dancehall 12% Reggae 29%

Hip Hop 5%

Punta 6%

R&B 43%

Figure 8. Genres on Krem FM

57 Love. Eight genres of music totaling 8 hours 20 minutes were played on Love FM. Soft Rock was the most popular genre on that station, with 2 hours 52 minutes. This was followed by R&B with 1 hour 42 minutes and Country with 1 hour 3 minutes. Love FM played the most Soft Rock and Country music of all the stations studied.

Table 9 Song Durations by Genre on Love FM Genre

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Genre

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Alternative Ballad Brukdong Country

00:10:00 00:15:35 00:13:45 01:03:25

Disco Paranda R&B Soft Rock

00:44:26 00:18:45 01:42:23 02:51:35

Country 13%

Soft Rock 34%

Disco 9%

R&B 32%

Figure 9. Genres on Love FM

59 More. Nine genres of music totaling 8 hours 44 minutes were played on More FM. Dancehall was the most popular genre on that station, with 2 hours 42 minutes. This was followed by Reggae with 2 hours 11 minutes and Hip Hop with 1 hour 26 minutes. More FM played the most Dancehall and Hip Hop of all the stations studied.

Table 10 Song Durations by Genre on More FM Genre

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Genre

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Alternative Dance Dancehall Hip Hop Pop/Rock

00:12:31 00:36:51 02:42:20 01:26:23 00:22:28

R&B Reggae Reggaeton Techno

01:06:50 02:11:07 00:02:52 00:02:54

Dance 7% Reggae 25%

Dancehall 31% R&B 13%

Pop/Rock 4%

Figure 10. Genres on More FM

Hip Hop 16%

61 Vibes. With 14 genres of music observed (originating from 21 countries), Vibes Radio had the most diverse playlist of all the stations studied. Of the 8 hours 14 minutes of music played, Ballad was the most popular, totaling 2 hours 59 minutes. This was followed by Reggae with 57 minutes and Pop/Rock with 54 minutes. Vibes Radio played the most Ballads, Pop/Rock and Techno of all the stations studied.

Table 11 Song Durations by Genre on Vibes Radio Genre

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Genre

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Alternative Ballad Country Dance Disco Merengue Pop/Rock R&B

00:32:56 02:58:35 00:14:07 00:18:59 00:06:54 00:11:38 00:54:25 00:19:39

Ranchero Reggae Reggaeton Salsa Soft Rock Techno Unknown

00:07:33 00:56:42 00:04:05 00:10:18 00:36:00 00:38:50 00:04:05

Techno 8%

Alternative 7%

Soft Rock 7%

Salsa 2%

Reggae 11%

Ranchero 2%

Ballad 36%

R&B 4% Pop/Rock 11% Merengue Dance 4% 2%

Figure 11. Genres on Vibes Radio

Country 3%

63 Wave. Fourteen genres of music totaling just over 9 hours were observed on Wave Radio. R&B was the most frequently played genre, totaling 2 hours 7 minutes. This was followed by Reggae with 1 hour 43 minutes and Hip Hop with 1 hour 18 minutes. Wave Radio played the most Alternative and Punta music of all the stations studied.

Table 12 Song Durations by Genre on Wave Radio Genre

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Genre

Tot. Est. Duration (hh:mm:ss)

Alternative Country Dance Dancehall Disco Hip Hop Pop/Rock

00:50:36 00:03:00 00:03:13 01:12:56 00:03:13 01:18:35 00:26:13

Punta R&B Reggae Reggaeton Salsa Soft Rock Techno

00:45:00 02:06:58 01:43:02 00:05:34 00:07:04 00:13:30 00:03:20

Alternative 9% Reggae 19%

Dancehall 13%

Hip Hop 15% R&B 23% Punta 8%

Figure 12. Genres on Wave Radio

Pop/Rock 5%

65 Languages Both the languages used by the disc jockey and the languages used in the music played were recorded. Up to two languages were recorded, a primary and a secondary language.

The primary language was the language used for the

majority of the song or most frequently by the disc jockey. However, both in music and disc jockey chatter, it was observed that more than one language was occasionally used. Because of this, the researcher decided to note secondary languages as well. In music, a secondary language may have been used in one verse of the song, or for any period that did not constitute a majority. In disc jockey chatter, a secondary language may have been used by a guest in the studio who was not the principal DJ, or may have been used by the principal DJ on occasion. English, the official language of Belize, was dominant in both music and DJ language. In music, English was the most used primary language, followed by Jamaican Creole, which was also the most used secondary language. There were two hours where no language was recorded by the disc jockey, which means that either the station was running an automated playlist for that hour, or the disc jockey simply chose not to speak. Disc jockeys also used English most frequently while talking on the radio. Although Belizean Creole was the least used primary language, it was most frequently used as a secondary language. Jamaican Creole was only observed on one station, where it was used as both a primary and secondary language. Spanish was also only observed on one station, where it was used as a primary language.

66 2000.00 1800.00 1600.00 M i n u t e s

1400.00 1200.00 Primary

1000.00

Secondary

800.00

Total

600.00 400.00 200.00 0.00 Belizean English Garifuna Jamaican Spanish Unknown Creole Creole

Figure 13. Primary and Secondary Languages in Music

50 45 40 35 H o u r s

30 Primary

Secondary

Total

15 10 5 0 Belizean Creole

English

Jamaican Creole

Figure 14. Languages Used by Disc Jockeys

Spanish

67 Krem.

English dominated both music and DJ language on Krem Radio. Four languages were observed to have been used in music played on the station. In order of most to least used, they are English, Jamaican Creole, Belizean Creole and Garifuna. Jamaican Creole was the language most recorded as a secondary language. Disc jockeys on Krem Radio used only two languages: English and Belizean Creole. English was dominant, while Belizean Creole was observed being used equally as a primary and secondary language.

450.00 400.00 350.00 M i n u t e s

300.00 250.00

Primary

200.00

Secondary Total

150.00 100.00 50.00 0.00 Belizean Creole

English

Garifuna

Figure 15. Languages in Music on Krem Radio

Jamaican Creole

68 12 10 H o u r s

8 Primary

Secondary

Total

2 0 Belizean Creole

English

Figure 16. Languages Used by Disc Jockeys on Krem Radio

69 Love.

Disc jockeys on Love FM spoke exclusively in English.

No other

languages were observed during the sample period. English was also dominant in music, with minute amounts of Belizean Creole, Garifuna and Spanish being recorded, and one song in a language that could not be identified. No secondary languages were observed in any of the music on Love.

500.00 450.00 400.00 M i n u t e s

350.00 300.00 Primary

250.00

Secondary

200.00

Total

150.00 100.00 50.00 0.00 Belizean Creole

English

Garifuna

Figure 17. Languages in Music on Love FM

Spanish

Unknown

70 More. More FM was the only station where Jamaican Creole was the dominant language used by disc jockeys. Of the five stations studied, it also had the highest amount of Jamaican Creole in the music it played, although within the station itself, Jamaican Creole was still second to English in music. Four languages were observed in the music played on More FM. In order of ranking, they are English, Jamaican Creole, Spanish and Belizean Creole. Notably, although music originating in Jamaica and genres indigenous to Jamaica were dominant on More FM, Jamaican Creole was not dominant. This is because a number of Jamaican songs, particularly those in the reggae genre, were performed in English as opposed to Jamaican Creole. Oftentimes, both English and Jamaican Creole were used interchangeably in one song. Languages used by disc jockeys on More varied among Jamaican Creole, English and Belizean Creole, in order of highest to lowest. Jamaican Creole was frequently used as both a primary and a secondary language.

71 350.00 300.00 M i n u t e s

250.00 200.00 Primary 150.00

Secondary Total

100.00 50.00 0.00 Belizean Creole

English

Jamaican Creole

Spanish

Figure 18. Languages in Music on More FM

10 9 8 7 H o u r s

6 Primary

Secondary

Total

3 2 1 0 Belizean Creole

English

Jamaican Creole

Figure 19. Languages Used by Disc Jockeys on More FM

72 Vibes.

Spanish was found to be dominant in both the music and DJ language on Vibes Radio. In fact, the percentage of Spanish language in the music roughly corresponded with the percentage of Spanish used by the disc jockeys. This is because the same DJ, Cesar Gonzales, who plays almost all the Spanish language music on Vibes also uses Spanish as his primary language during his show. Three languages were observed in the music on Vibes Radio. In order of ranking, they are Spanish, English and Jamaican Creole. The absence of any Belizean music on Vibes Radio during the sample period explains the absence of Belizean Creole in the music played on the station. Two languages were observed on Vibes Radio: Spanish and English. There was one hour where the DJ either did not speak or the station was running an automated playlist. There were no secondary languages recorded for DJs on Vibes, reflecting the fact that they spoke exclusively in one language or the other.

73 300.00 250.00 M i n u t e s

200.00 Primary

150.00

Secondary Total

100.00 50.00 0.00 English

Jamaican Creole

Spanish

Figure 20. Languages in Music on Vibes Radio

7 6 5 H o u r s

Primary Secondary

Total 2 1 0 English

Spanish

Figure 21. Languages Used by Disc Jockeys on Vibes Radio

74 Wave.

As is the case with most of the other stations, English was once again the dominant language in music and among disc jockeys on Wave Radio. Five languages were observed in the music played on Wave. In order of ranking, they are English, Jamaican Creole, Garifuna, Spanish and Belizean Creole. More Belizean Creole was spoken on Wave Radio than on any other station studied, although it was mostly used as a secondary language. Belizean Creole and English were the only two languages observed to be used by disc jockeys on Wave, and despite the popularity of Belizean Creole as a secondary language, English was still the language of choice.

400.00 350.00 300.00 250.00 Primary

200.00

Secondary

150.00

Total

100.00 50.00 0.00 Belizean Creole

English

Garifuna

Jamaican Creole

Figure 22. Languages in Music on Wave Radio

Spanish

10 H o u r s

8 Primary Secondary

Total

0 Belizean Creole

English

Figure 23. Languages Used by Disc Jockeys on Wave Radio

76 Discussion The Rise of Jamaican Music in Belize Anecdotal evidence suggests that Jamaican music first became popular on Belizean radio in the late 1980s to early 1990s, corresponding with the time that Krem Radio broke the government’s monopoly on radio. Krem Radio began broadcasting on November 18, 1989 as a sort of rogue station. Evan ‘Mad Rocker Mose’ Hyde Jr., the son of the station’s founder and one of Krem’s current managers, described the political context in which Krem FM emerged. It was an election year, general elections, and via the newspaper, Evan X Hyde, the owner, my father, kinda threw out that he was gonna start broadcasting. And the government at the time responded that once he did that then the station would be shut down and he would be charged. The opposition in the heat of the campaign said well, you know as a kinda campaign promise, we will, if elected, open up the airwaves. And so to what extent that campaign promise helped their cause, that has not been determined. I am sure that it did. They won. They won a narrow election. It was a narrow victory and I don’t know if there was any official meeting with the Broadcast Authority. I think it was just a matter where well these guys promised it and now they have won, and so well, it’s on, ‘cause I think it was a matter of weeks after they had won that it [Krem Radio] was up. And in fact let me just mention that it wasn’t a big thing in the sense like, it wasn’t like there was a building and there was this heavy capital put out to invest in all the required broadcast apparatus and so on. There was one investor who from his technical experience was able to convert an old dormant TV transmitter somehow into a radio transmitter. I don’t know if that had more than a hundred watts. We’re talking here about rudimentary stuff, but rudimentary as it was, the fact was that Belizeans for the very first time turned on the radio and had something other than the government-controlled radio station to listen to. The response was just incredible. I mean people actually used to just come to see and to say well, ok this is really happening, just come and look at the studios and look at us as if though you had just landed from another planet. (Evan Hyde Jr, personal interview, January 10, 2010)

77 The hasty opening of the station was evident in its sound during those early days. According to Hyde, who was and still is a disc jockey on Krem, the management style was laissez faire at best.

The station emerged with no

particular musical direction or objective. As Hyde described, It was like we end up with this piece a real estate and we just decide well we will try as many things as we could possibly try. It was really like what we’d call an open mic. We had mature people, we had young people, we had dancehall reggae music and we also had a heavy metal show. It was not long, however, before Krem Radio became known for a particular sound, as Hyde’s own dancehall and reggae show in the afternoons became immensely popular. Troy ‘DJ Dalla’ Flowers, a popular night club DJ with a show on More FM, remembered running home from school in the early 1990s to listen to Hyde’s show. I used to come home and they have this DJ weh name ‘Mad Rocker Mose’ and he used to play . . . . I couldn’t wait fi like 2:40 fi when school bell ring fi run home go listen to dancehall music and I used to love it. (T. Flowers, personal interview, January 13, 2010) Elden ‘Stone Jam’ Hyde had a similar recollection. He identified Mose Hyde’s radio show as the biggest factor in the emergence of a dancehall and reggae scene in Belize. “The radio station that push it big in those time was Krem Radio. When Krem Radio came on stream then they start to play. They used to have a special program where they just do the dancehall stuff and that’s when the music really push to another level.” (Elden Hyde, personal interview, January 13, 2010) Kareem ‘Mr. Frisco’ Wallace, who currently hosts Krem’s primetime dancehall music show, and Alfrain ‘Mr. Hype’ Supal, who hosts Wave Radio’s afternoon music session, both also recalled becoming exposed to dancehall and reggae

78 music on Krem Radio as teenagers, and identified the station as influencing their love for the music. Hyde himself recalled the introduction of dancehall and reggae music on Belizean radio as something almost revolutionary. They [the government] had Friends FM, which was kinda like, you know, people liked Friends FM. It had its music and what have you, but I would say musically, I would say the one thing was that we kinda brought in that, the dancehall reggae. Personally I started playing that. Dancehall reggae was kinda at that time, 1989, kinda an underground thing, you know underground and young. [If] you heard consecutive dancehall reggae, or as we called it back then ‘rockers’, you felt like you had just won the lottery or something. You were listening to the radio when this happened. We were hearing you know, your Michael Jackson, a lotta American pop, we were really getting a heavy amount a that. And even hip hop to a lesser extent was not being played. As youths we would have tapes and we would listen to Run DMC, LL Cool J and that type a stuff. We had our tapes but we couldn’t tune into the government radio station to hear that type a stuff. We were not hearing it, and so you could say that Krem, and via myself, we kinda brought that underground young thing and we brought it mainstream onto the radio. That pre-Krem era was not an extremely Caribbean era. You had your soca, you had your Lord Laro. And then in the 70s you had your Eric Donaldsons and stuff but the ‘80s, which I can speak about, it was dominated by North America on the airwaves. (E. Hyde Jr., personal interview, January 10, 2010) Thus, the introduction of Krem Radio represented a turning point in the musical diversity on the Belizean airwaves; the liberalization of radio and the end of government monopoly was an important factor in the emergence of Jamaican music as a popular force in Belize. This supports Shim’s (2006) observation in Asia, where Korean television programs had become immensely popular in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. According to Shim, prior to liberalization, only domestic film companies in Korea could import

79 foreign movies. When the government opened the market to Hollywood, the Korean film industry found it could not compete, and was on its deathbed until a runaway local hit forced Koreans to realize the importance of portraying their culture in film and began heavily investing in it.

In addition, the movie’s

popularity in the rest of Asia sparked a demand for more Korean cultural products and thereby encouraged investment.

As it turned out, the competition from

Hollywood inspired Koreans to emulate Hollywood standards and create better products. Shim therefore concluded, “The Korean wave is indebted to the media liberalization that swept across Asia in the 1990s” (p. 28). In Belize, the reggae and dancehall music playing in Krem had attracted a young, urban demographic, but what made the music so appealing to that audience? It may have been a combination of a number of factors, not least of which was that the music was vastly different from what was being played at the time, was somewhat rebellious, and was in a language that seemed familiar. Additionally, the energy and rebelliousness of the music captured the spirit of that demographic. As Hyde recalled, I don’t know if it’s a matter of when you’re young you don’t want to do what the other folks have been doing. I think it’s a part of that, and just knowing that you are doing something and this is your thing, this is your badge as a young person. You knew who Supa Cat was, you knew who Admiral Bailey was. Somebody would probably from time to time actually find some video cassette from Jamaica and then you know that’s the thing, and you could have a matinee at your house with those tapes. It was big. (Evan Hyde Jr., personal interview, January 10, 2010) Hyde believed the similarities between the languages and cultural experiences of Belizeans and Jamaicans may also have played a role. “These guys were talking, you know, a patois similar to our dialect. They were talking

80 about topics that we were familiar with in a manner that we were familiar with it. It was more appealing to us, more naturally appealing than say your Michael Jackson stuff” (Evan Hyde Jr., personal interview, January 10, 2010). Studies on cultural proximity (Biltereyst, 1992; Shim, 2006; Burch, 2002; Dal, 2007) support this theory. Biltereyst in particular found that linguistic affinity and similarity strongly influenced from where cultural products were imported. For Troy ‘DJ Dalla’ Flowers, cultural proximity as well as the rebellious nature of the music both appealed to him growing up. Flowers said dancehall remained his favorite type of music. You see growing up, back then you had Radio Belize, and Radio Belize used to play North American music and some a di Caribbean music but more like the Lord Laro and during the time when BCB de on we de da school so we no get fi hear dehn wa lot and when we come from school da evening, we would turn on Krem. At the age of 13, 14 years old when yuh de da high school, dehn de da di age weh I figure people start as teenagers to listen to music and I choose to listen to Krem because they play the music that I mi prefer . . . . I think da mi like just wa ‘in thing’, and you know da in thing all yuh friends, da peer pressure, everybody di listen to it, and I mi like di language, di riddim, di riddim da mi a uptempo. I da’a DJ weh love uptempo riddim. (T. Flowers, personal interview, January 13, 2010) The popularization of reggae music through Krem was not to say that the music did not already have its fans in Belize. Keegan ‘Jah Keegan’ Lord, a disc jockey on Vibes Radio, remembered Bob Marley as his first introduction to reggae music when he was about eight or nine years old. You know the reason why I love reggae music, the first actual cassette I ever own eena my life da mi a reggae music, wa reggae Bob Marley album. Ah play da cassette ova and ova til I cu’ recite it back and front, anyway yu cu’ put it. And da’a di reason why I adapt to reggae cause mi dad love a lotta reggae music too so da’a di reason why Ah grow up eena da reggae culture. (K. Lord, personal interview, January 27, 2010)

81 Lord, who grew up in a rough neighborhood on Belize City’s southside, felt he could relate to Marley’s music. At da time de wa lotta tings midi happen eena my life. Basically no mom and no dad basically and at that time I mi de round wa family memba weh midi go through sohn trials and tribulations eena dehn life. And di music mi like di relate to everyting weh midi happen eena my life. Dat da weh mek Ai kind of adapt to Bob Marley because di message weh mi eena di music like di relate to weh di happen eena my life. (K. Lord, personal interview, January 27, 2010) However, even after Marley had become a global sensation, popularizing reggae music around the world, according to ‘Stone Jam’ Hyde, reggae was still only occasionally played on Belizean radio. “Yes Bob Marley used to play . . . you used to get reggae but you get that once in a while on radio” (Elden Hyde, personal interview, January 13, 2010). ‘Stone Jam’ was one of reggae’s early fans. He credited himself with introducing reggae music to the Belizean night club scene in the early eighties. I was the one that brought the reggae business into the club. Remember I told you when I started and I used to work at the club, it used to be Techno, which we called House at the time. I used to travel to New York, between New York and California, for music and I start to pick up the little reggae stuff that was going on. And I start to just test it in di club, test it in di club, and we start to get good response. Every time we get a couple and we test it and we test it. Every time we did a little reggae session, like a half an hour reggae session, and then we get back into the regular club music. (Elden Hyde, personal interview, January 13, 2010) Indeed, ‘Mose’ Hyde remembered his distant cousin as one of his early influences. It was at Stone and Baron, now Stone’s Music Outlet, owned by ‘Stone Jam’ Hyde, where ‘Mose’ Hyde purchased much of the music that he would eventually play on the radio. The existence of this base of reggae and dancehall fans was part of the reason for Krem Radio’s success. It was a situation reminiscent of the classic

82 ‘chicken and egg’ paradox, however, for as Krem became more popular, more people listened to Krem, and the more people listened to Krem, the more they seemed to gravitate towards reggae and dancehall. Still, it must be noted that in those early days, Krem Radio’s broadcast range was not nearly as large as it is today. The station, with its single hundred-watt transmitter, could only be heard in Belize City, and so the popularization of reggae and dancehall music remained mostly an urban phenomenon. According to the Public Utilities Commission, which assigned radio frequencies, in 2010 Krem Radio had nine transmitters ranging from 250 to 1000 Watts stationed around the country.

Youth, Urbanity and Ethnicity In addition to the aforementioned discussion, some interviewees suspected that demographic factors correlated with and possibly influenced the composition of their audience.

Specifically, interviewees perceived youth, urbanity and

ethnicity as three notable factors, particularly for the high-energy dancehall genre. Lovers of dancehall music were perceived to be young, urban-dwelling and to a lesser extent, Black; that is, either Garifuna or Creole. As Kareem ‘Mr. Frisco’ Wallace, perceived, “Ih new, ih young . . . da our time, di song da fi younger folks. So ih relevant to us at da time. Da definitely no old people music [laughs]” (K. Wallace, personal interview, January 28, 2010). This concurred with ‘DJ Dalla’ Flowers’ recollection that he started liking dancehall and reggae as an impressionable teenager who loved, and still loves, “uptempo music” (T. Flowers, personal interview, January 13, 2010) and ‘Mose’ Hyde’s perception that young

83 people were attracted to the rebelliousness and aggression of the music (Evan Hyde Jr., personal interview, January 10, 2010). Ethnicity may have also played a role in forging the demographic for dancehall and reggae fans. It was perhaps no coincidence that all of the disc jockeys interviewed were Black.

Additionally, the only interviewee who

expressed a dislike for dancehall, Vibes Radio general manager Rene Trujillo, was the only Mestizo-Belizean interviewed. Trujillo, who described dancehall as “noise”, said she noticed, “The majority of the Hispanic population would be more into . . . alternative/pop music” (R. Trujillo, personal interview, January 15, 2010). She added that those were also her personal favorite types of music. Yet, Trujillo was hesitant to differentiate an ethnic bias towards or against dancehall and reggae. Rather, she perceived a combination of age and class factors. Without sounding as though I’m discriminating, a lotta low-income youths [like dancehall and reggae music] . . . Maybe I shouldn’t say low-income because there are some people, the working class, the middle class who do enjoy this kinda music. But I find that, I guess a younger generation who is probably growing up believing that that is the way to go in terms of taking revenge. Violence is the answer, that sort of thing . . . I do find some Hispanic young men who are the same way, who call themselves thugs or gangsters in Spanish. They go for the very same thing. (R. Trujillo, personal interview, January 15, 2010) Despite Trujillo’s hesitation, Kevin ‘DJ Motion’ Lara did observe an ethnic component that seemed to correlate with the types of music people liked. In the south, where the Garifuna (Black) population was largely concentrated, he noted, “Dehn like dancehall down de so. Dem like reggae mostly. Dat mi cu seh. Dem love reggae down south.

Reggae a fi dem ting.” (K. Lara, personal

84 interview, January 18, 2010)

Meanwhile in the north, where the Mestizo

(Hispanic) population was largely concentrated, Lara concluded, Spanish really mostly listen to reggaeton or Latino music or what have you, more than dancehall. I’m not saying that they don’t like dancehall music but fi dehn people down deso da like Beenie Man and like Baby Cham. Even if you play some a dem old artist, dem know it, like Pocoman Jam and so forth. Pocoman Jam da like wa anthem fi di Spanish them. (K. Lara, personal interview, January 18, 2010) Perhaps the most notable of the three factors, though, was that of urbanity. For reasons previously mentioned, the popularity of dancehall and reggae music was initially constrained to the urban population. As recently as the late 1990s, travel by land to various parts of the country was long and arduous. Alfrain ‘Mr. Hype’ Supal, an East Indian, would travel for hours from his native Punta Gorda in the south of the country, in order to purchase cassette tapes with the music. I would leave on the 4:30 bus and ketch the last bus back . . . di 3 o’clock bus. So ih only give me like an hour and a half. Ketch ahn taxi, go to the Record Shack. Ketch another taxi, it was expensive. Ah no know how mi pa tolerate me but he did and I guess it paid off in the end. But yeah it was roughly six to nine hours depending on the driver. I used to try ketch this one driver weh, mein his foot was heavy . . . . It was roughly nine hours because the entire way wasn’t paved. But I used to only do like twice for the summer. (A. Supal, personal interview, January 25, 2010) The music that Supal obtained at that time was for his personal consumption; he was not yet a disc jockey. This accessibility issue was one of the reasons why reggae and dancehall remained relatively urban. As Supal recalled, it was not until he began attending high school in Belize City, where Krem Radio could be heard, that he became culturally inundated by the music. They didn’t play dancehall on Radio Belize a lot so I really became into dancehall when I came to school [in Belize City] . . . . When I came to Belize City it was ’98. Wave Radio had just opened up, Wave Radio was ’98, December ’98. You guys didn’t play a lotta dancehall. And then I was here from 1997 and I used to listen to Krem. They had a whole lot of

85 good dancehall back in the days and there I really became a dancehall lover, player. (A. Supal, personal interview, January 25, 2010) Additionally, urban culture was perceived as being more fast-paced than rural culture, and as such, coexisted well with the “uptempo riddim” of dancehall. Moreover, as the commercial and media center of the country, some believed that Belize City was more subject to cultural influences from abroad. Kareem ‘Mr. Frisco’ Wallace noted the influence of cable television. Belize City more Americanized and Jamaicanized so we kinda tends fu like di dancehall, hip hop, reggae, club you know. Due to tv you know, cable . . . The city folks like what they see and we could play a song on di radio maybe January and we might not get a good feedback on that song, and the video for that song might come out in March and right away, oh we wahn hear da song” (K. Wallace, personal interview, January 28, 2010). Kevin ‘DJ Motion’ Lara also observed the cultural differences and fluctuations in musical taste between the urban and rural populations. As he related, playing in the districts, “Da wa totally different crowd from Belize City . . . Belize City crowd a more into di dancehall ting. Dem a di more, like when yu de da Jamaica yu da say di more ragamuffin ting. They are into reggae and dancehall but they are not much into techno and alternative and dem ting de like Spanish music” (K. Lara, personal interview, January 18, 2010). For More FM’s Managing Director, Rene Villanueva Jr., both the urban and ethnic influences were so strong that he felt compelled to completely revamp the station’s format when the company’s directors decided to move More FM from the capital Belmopan to the country’s commercial and primary population center Belize City in 2004. The decision was taken for financial reasons in order to consolidate More FM with the rest of the company, which included Love FM

86 and Estereo Amor, both based in Belize City.

When More FM first began

broadcasting from Belmopan City in 1999, disc jockeys were required to follow a music clock that mandated them to play a certain amount of specified genres of music. In terms of branding the radio station, we did not want to sound like any other radio station, and even now we don’t sound like any other radio station. We got a group of people together and we thought that was the best way to go at that time, something new, something different, and played all types a music instead a just playing mostly dancehall, mostly reggae. I think we drifted away a lot from that when we moved to Belize City. (R. Villanueva Jr., personal interview, January 18, 2010) That move turned out to be pivotal to the future of the station. After moving, the station’s managers discarded the music clock and More FM became what it is today, playing more dancehall and reggae than any other station according to the content analysis. In describing More FM’s sound now, as opposed to when it was in Belmopan, Villanueva conceded, “[It’s] totally different. We play more reggae and dancehall now and hip hop versus what we were doing back then. I think basically we’re catering to the market that we have here in Belize City” (R. Villanueva, personal interview, January 18, 2010). Describing why the change in direction was necessary, Villanueva explained, Our position in terms of location of the office was different. If you would look at it, More FM did Belmopan and San Ignacio. Clearly, having the offices right there in Belmopan and San Ignacio, we were more Latino, more English-speaking people, whatever you want to call it. But here in Belize City, in terms of the listening audience, we da more Creole, if you want to put it that way. So that’s why we changed, basically the position of the office. They [the Mestizo/Hispanic population] do listen to dancehall, but you know they have reggaeton as well. They have techno. They have hip hop as well. I think that group, alternative music as well. I know you know that they have a couple alternative bands and they are located for example in Orange Walk. Clearly because the Latin people tends to listen to

87 different type a music than the Creole. I’m not saying that they don’t cross but they listen to different type a music. Hence moving to Belize City then we had to change that whole situation. We came here with that clock and we had a problem with it after maybe about, I’d say we were with that clock for about 6 months to a year. And we were not getting the edge that we wanted. [We became aware of this] from people calling in, talking to us, interaction on the radio station, speaking to the DJs. We neva mi di get da hit, that punch that we had before. I guess because it was a new market for us here in Belize so we had to adapt to this new market. Once we did that, More FM took off (R. Villanueva, personal interview, January 18, 2010). From the experience of More FM, it was evident that both ethnic and urban factors played a role in the listening behavior of radio audiences.

It was

unfortunate, however, that such a dramatic policy decision was made without any formal market research, and based solely on the perception of the managers as a result of telephone calls from listeners, etc. Yet, this method of gauging audience preferences seemed to be the most common among managers and disc jockeys alike.

Time and again they would use audience feedback to justify their

decisions. Perception of Dominance Although the content analysis indicated otherwise, there was a strong perception that Jamaican music, and to a lesser extent, Jamaican language, dominated Belizean radio. This was similar to H. Brown’s (1995) observations that people in Jamaica tended to formulate conclusions about cultural dependency on the island based solely on their own perceptions and without any empirical evidence. In Belize, both disc jockeys and station managers/program directors held strong convictions about Jamaican dominance. In the case of the latter,

88 managers in some instances crafted station policy based on this erroneous perception, resulting in a sort of affirmative action for non-Jamaican music. It was possible, then, that on at least one station, Jamaican music was more dominant in the past than it is now. As ‘Stone Jam’ Hyde perceived, “Belize play more dancehall and reggae music than Jamaica. Every radio station in Belize plays more than Jamaica” (Elden Hyde, personal interview, January 13, 2010).

Additionally, he was

uncomfortable with the dominance he perceived. “I don’t like that every radio dial you turn any hours a di day, all you hear is dancehall music, 24/7 that play in Belize,” he related, despite admitting to playing a high proportion of dancehall and reggae music on his weekly show on More FM and during his night club gigs. (E. Hyde, personal interview, January 13, 2010) Other disc jockeys also perceived dominance, although many did not share Stone Jam’s dislike for the abundance of Jamaican music. As ‘Mose’ Hyde described, It’s prominent . . . . Dancehall artists from Jamaica dominate the Caribbean . . . . It’s a tremendous success for the Caribbean and I am not offended by it because deep down I think that while there is no doubt that the Caribbean islands because of being separated have their own nationalism and their own identity, there’s no taking away the fact that Caribbean nations have great similarity historically and in their present day makeup of the ingredients, the Caribbean ingredients are mutual to all the countries . . . . So I don’t know that I am offended that Jamaicans have so seasoned our culture. (E. Hyde Jr, personal interview, January 10, 2010) Kevin ‘DJ Motion’ Lara is Jamaican, although he has lived in Belize since 2003. His father is the Jamaican calypsonian Lord Laro. Through a friendship between his father and the owner of More FM in Belize City, Lara moved to Belize and

89 became a disc jockey on that station. He described being surprised at the crosscultural appeal of reggae and dancehall in Belize when he first arrived in the country. The first time I came, I was heading from the airport, so coming down from the airport going on Public’s, the canal side, I saw a Chinese dude in his vehicle. Di man bumping to his Bounty Killer. I was like yo! Da wa chiney man di bump to Bounty Killer inna ih cyar. Like yo! Dat mad! Frahn deso mi seh, ih look like when a Chinese come—me neva go a China yet—but ih look like when dem come a Belize and ting dem get fi love it. Becau’ mi know wa Indian friend dat ih neva listen dancehall a India. Once ih reach a Belize, with all di dancehall weh play pan all a di radio yaso, ih get fi like it. (K. Lara, personal interview, January 18, 2010) As a Jamaican, Lara appreciated Belizeans’ love for the music that originated in his country. Asked to estimate the percentage of Jamaican music that he believed played on radio stations across Belize, Lara put the figure as high as 98%. Of course, the content analysis did not support this.

Lara, however, saw the

influence of reggae and dancehall in other genres of music, and added those to his estimation. As he explained, even the Spanish language radio stations played dancehall in the form of Reggaeton. It’s still dancehall, it’s just a remix but it’s dancehall. Reggaeton with all di fast beat dem and ting, some a dem yu see dem blend in di dancehall with di reggaeton and all a dat. If yu listen even Love FM, sometime they have wa little hour of some nice little one or two reggae . . . . If yu listen Krem, Krem a di same ting. They play dancehall. More FM play dancehall. Di Spanish station up a Orange Walk play dancehall. Yu go a Cayo, di same station up deso play dancehall. Benque same ting. You cyaa turn to wa station unless da wa gospel station, and then gospel station still play dancehall. It’s just gospel but it’s dancehall. So da a why I’d a say 98%. (K. Lara, personal interview, January 18, 2010) When Rene Trujillo became the manager of Vibes Radio in late 2008, she was concerned that all the radio stations sounded the same, with high concentrations of reggae and dancehall.

90 I always found it a turn off if around the evenings you turn on Krem, you turn on Wave, you turn on any other station, you will hear—with the exception of Love FM which is a category all by itself because they are old music, oldies—you would hear dancehall, you would hear reggae, you would hear the very same songs on practically every radio station. And that is what I didn’t want Vibes Radio to be. (R. Trujillo, personal interview, January 15, 2010) According to Trujillo, listeners had also been complaining. Vibes Radio is owned by the People’s United Party. The party was heading into an election and looking for political mileage when it purchased the station from a private owner in 2006 (R. Trujillo, personal interview, January 15, 2010). Because of the station’s purpose, Trujillo said they needed to appeal to a mass audience, and therefore had to be more diverse in their musical selections. We were getting a lot of complaints. As I mentioned, it’s a political station so we do have party supporters who are very avid and would listen to Vibes Radio only, but the music was becoming unbearable for them because they kept on complaining that it was only dancehall music . . . . They would call, for example, the party leader and they would call the Secretariat and complain. They would call the radio station on the morning show and say that we need new DJs because the music is too much young people music, as some a di older people would call. We also got some emails as well regarding the music, so we had to establish a format, whereby a wider variety of music would play and as well whereby the dancehall would not overpower the mornings especially. (R. Trujillo, personal interview, January 15, 2010) As a result, Trujillo implemented a music clock (see Appendix), requiring all disc jockeys on the station to play multiple genres of music. In addition, she erased all the music on the station’s computer and took complete control of all music that was subsequently uploaded to the system.

It must be noted, however, that

Trujillo’s negative perception of dancehall may have also influenced her decisionmaking. She described dancehall music as “noise” and admitted that most of the music that she banned from the station was dancehall. Her justifications for

91 banning the songs were that they promoted violence and denigrated women. “A lotta that dancehall music, majority of it . . . they talk about violence, they talk about vengeance, about shootings, about killings,” she said (R. Trujillo, personal interview, January 15, 2010). On the other hand, on Krem FM, Kareem ‘Mr. Frisco’ Wallace (personal interview, January 28, 2010) believed his listeners liked reggae and dancehall, so much so that the two genres comprised the majority of the requests for songs to be played on his show. Wallace estimated that he played about 60% reggae and dancehall music combined during his shift on Krem FM. In the six hours during which Wallace’s show was observed during the content analysis, however, those two genres represented 80% of the music that he played. Asked why those were the genres that dominated his show, Wallace claimed it was a case of supply and demand; he played what his listeners wanted to hear. “Everybody like dancehall and reggae,” he claimed, adding that he knew this because “dehn [listeners] call and people tell yuh weh dehn wahn hear, as simple as that.” (K. Wallace, personal interview, January 28, 2010)

Wallace’s show was interactive; although he

maintained ultimate control over what he played, he took requests for songs from multiple sources including phone calls, instant messages via the Internet and text messages. According to Wallace, he averaged 100 text messages per show. It is this constant feedback from listeners that he said guided his selections and gave him the authority to know what his audience liked and what they wanted to hear. Troy ‘DJ Dalla’ Flowers (personal interview, January 13, 2010) justified playing a lot of reggae and dancehall music in a similar fashion. In addition to

92 being a radio disc jockey, Flowers owns The Record Shack, a popular music store in downtown Belize City, and is also an entertainment promoter. He said the vast majority of sales at his store were reggae and dancehall, which led him to believe that people liked it. On the promotion side, Flowers has taken several Jamaican artists, including Beenie Man, Vybz Kartel and Tanya Stephens, to perform in Belize.

He claimed the majority of his shows have been very successful.

According to Flowers, over five thousand people attended the Tanya Stephens concert in 2005. Attendance at the Beenie Man concert the following year was almost as large. Flowers contended that the Jamaican artists were the ones who attracted the crowds. As he put it, “I would want to venture into other artists but da something whereby da wa risk and I mean if you go sleep and yuh sheet no ga no hole, why change it?” (T. Flowers, personal interview, January 13, 2010) Indeed, Flowers learned that lesson the hard way. One time he attempted to promote a show with all Belizean entertainers, featuring some of the biggest local talent, many of whom were Punta Rock musicians, a music form indigenous to Belize.

The show was promoted heavily and slated for the eve of

Independence Day, perhaps the biggest party night of the year next to New Year’s Eve. The cost to enter the show was also significantly lower than one of his international shows, about BZ$30 (US$15) compared to $60 for the Tanya Stephens show, for example. But on the night of the event, people failed to show up. Flowers claimed he suffered about BZ$80,000 (US$40,000) in losses from that show. (T. Flowers, personal interview, January 13, 2010) Flowers’ saw these experiences with concert promotions and record sales as evidence that Jamaican

93 music was vastly popular in Belize, and it may be those experiences, in addition to his personal love of the music, that influenced his song selections on his radio show. Multi-talking: Language on the Airwaves In addition to the perception that Jamaican music dominated Belizean radio, there was also a perception that the Belizean disc jockeys who played this music had to a large extent appropriated Jamaican language.

The content

analysis, however, did not show evidence of widespread Jamaican language appropriation on radio.

Outside of DJ Motion, who is Jamaican, only one

Belizean disc jockey was observed to use Jamaican language on radio. Others used Jamaican slangs on occasion, but did not use Jamaican sentence structures, neither were the slangs or words unique to Jamaica overpower their language. A policy against language appropriation on four of the five stations studied may have been responsible for this. Meanwhile, the fact that there was a need for such a policy may indicate that it has been an issue in the past, and is only now controlled because of such policy. Kevin ‘DJ Motion’ Lara reported frequently observing Belizean disc jockeys appropriating Jamaican language, and as a Jamaican, said he was not even able to tell the difference between a Belizean disc jockey and a Jamaican disc jockey on the microphone. If you go to di dance right now, none a di DJ dem no talk Belizean . . . . None. Dehn no mic Belizean . . . . Like say for instance, if five sound system de eena one dance and two come from Jamaica and one from ova yaso, yu don’t know di difference a di talking because dehn try sound more towards di Jamaican language. Dat a what me notice . . . . They

94 practice home man! They practice home before they reach di club! Fi real! (K. Lara, personal interview, January 18, 2010) Lara said he was often disparagingly accused of appropriating Jamaican language by people who were unaware of his background. “People used to say, Motion, yu fi stop gwan like say you a Jamaican becau you a no Jamaican.” (K. Lara, personal interview, January 18, 2010) According to Elden ‘Stone Jam’ Hyde (January 13, 2010), “Most of the Belize DJ talk with the Jamaican accent.” Hyde said he did not personally use the Jamaican accent, but that may likely have been because he said he did not usually ‘mic’, a DJ term for when a disc jockey engages the audience by talking over the music on the microphone. His sound system, however, does employ ‘mic men’. Hyde admitted his current mic man, DJ Jarro, who works on More FM, used the Jamaican language and accent. DJ Jarro was the only disc jockey outside of DJ Motion observed to use Jamaican language on radio during the content analysis period.

Hyde had no problem with disc jockeys who spoke Jamaican.

believed that using that language was a natural part of being a dancehall/reggae DJ. He explained, If you’re in dancehall business you gotta got dub plates. You can’t be a sound system without a dub plate playing reggae music. Just as much as if you’re a hip hop DJ, you better know how to scratch. So once the DJs does the dancehall thing then they pick up the Jamaican accent because that’s what the dancehall is all about (E. Hyde, personal interview, January 13, 2010). Hyde added that for that reason, the DJs loved using the accent, although he conceded that the public might not love it as much. “My response from a lotta the public, because you’re a Belizean they want you use the mic but they don’t want you to use the Jamaican accent” (E. Hyde, personal interview, January 13, 2010).

95 Keegan ‘Jah Keegan’ Lord maintained a similar perspective.

He believed

sounding Jamaican was essential to the authenticity of a reggae/dancehall DJ, and intimated that an element of imitation as flattery was also involved. I’da say ih ‘da happen naturally because as Ah mention earlier, di culture weh we raise up eena from yu small yu di listen to Billy Slaughter, Stone Love, they guys de da di people weh we grow up di listen to so if yu go on a mic yu wa definitely try sound like dehn guys and yu know yu build yu skills and yu create yu own lee sound. So no care who you I believe yu haffi have da lee Jamaican sound within yu when yu hold a mic as a DJ (K. Lord, personal interview, January 27, 2010). Hyde’s and Lord’s views were consistent with Kuppens’ (2009) conclusion that disc jockeys appropriated African American and Jamaican language as a means of establishing their authenticity as a legitimate part of the subculture.

His

interviewees’ justifications sounded eerily familiar: “It’s the kind of music that asks for this kind of approach. . . . [The use of English] happens to be part of the lifestyle and the culture of the music. . . . I don’t think you can use just Standard Dutch in these kinds of programs, because it’s just not cool to do so, it just doesn’t sound right. . . . Hiphop fans wear certain kind of clothes as well, and the language just follows naturally from it” (p. 51). Not everyone agreed, however. Even within the DJ community, opinions were divided, and those on the other side were passionate. Kareem ‘Mr. Frisco’ Wallace was one of the DJs who was against Jamaican language appropriation. “Well actually I da one a di pioneers fi—quote, unquote—bun faiya pan dat. If yuh hear me pan di radio, I personally say it. I talk to people, unu no mek nobody talk Jamaican to unu pan di radio” (K. Wallace, personal interview, January 28, 2010). Alfrain ‘Mr. Hype’ Supal shared that sentiment. “I can’t stand DJs trying

96 to talk like Jamaicans. It irritates me. Man, be a trend setter not a trend follower” (A. Supal, personal interview, Janaury 25, 2010). In contrast, Supal described how he fused English and Belizean Creole for his radio persona. I speak English mainly. I try to speak English because I believe that the radio is a mouthpiece that is in everybody’s home . . . . You could be talking to a doctor. You could be talking to the regular Joe on the street . . . . So you don’t wanna sound as if though you’re talking to one set individual. You try to be as versatile as you can in your speaking. I would be speaking English and then a jus’ buss eena Creole and then I go back to English . . . it’s almost like multi-talking, you know (A. Supal, personal interview, January 25, 2010). The aptly described ‘multi-talking’, particularly the English/Belizean Creole mix, was a style that was frequently observed during the content analysis. Although disc jockeys only used Belizean Creole as a primary language in five of the sixty hours observed, it was observed alongside English as a secondary language in an additional nine hours. The use of Jamaican slangs, words and phrases added another element to ‘multi-talking’. Although most radio disc jockeys did not use this language in quantities enough to render it either a primary or secondary language during the study period, the presence of isolated words and phrases, blended with Belizean Creole and English, was noticeable. It was also a practice that most DJs, even those who denied ‘speaking Jamaican’, readily admitted. Although Evan ‘Mose’ Hyde Jr. said he disliked the practice of Jamaican language appropriation and thought it was “unfortunate”, he conceded that he could not be hypocritical. There are certain phrases that have become a part of our natural language which have come from Jamaica . . . [such as] ‘big up’, ‘big up yuhself’, ‘bun fire’, ‘yes-I’ and others. ‘Big up’ is one of them [that] is classic.

97 That came in with 1989 Krem, with Madd Rocker . . . . Back then it was just this thing you would hear on the record. Now it is this thing that is, I guess for the younger generation they would think that that has been a part of the Belizean landscape for a very long time, but listening to people speaking with a Jamaican accent, now I dislike it very much because I feel like you are crossing a line. That’s not how you talk, you see (E. Hyde Jr., personal interview, January 10, 2010). ‘Mose’ Hyde perceived the position of ‘Stone Jam’ Hyde and Keegan as inimical to Belizean culture. Although he understood why they would think the way they do, he strongly disagreed. You are distorting your own uniqueness because you want to conform and appear to be a part of the import package . . . thinking that that elevates what you are bringing because now not only are you playing the hottest Jamaican song but you are sounding as if though you are a Jamaican as well, and I think that that is distorting the beautiful uniqueness of you and in a way almost exhibiting publicly a questionable level of love of culture and love of who we are, so I don’t like it (E. Hyde Jr., personal interview, January 10, 2010). Although Hyde’s once daily radio show is only now once weekly, he is a manager with the larger organization that owns Krem Radio, and still acts in an advisory capacity to the radio station. As such, he is one of the persons in management who has formulated policy against Jamaican language appropriation. I think we have this gift of a flexible tongue and accent and we do a good job. You hear some of these people talk Jamaican and you would say, whoa, sound like they come straight from Portmore or Kingston or somewhere like that. But when you’re doing it in the public capacity of being an on-air personality, I think it’s not funny anymore and I think it’s something that needs to be discouraged. And I don’t blame the individuals as much as I do the various managements who tolerate it because I think all they need to be told is don’t do that. So what I have said to our on-air people, talk our way if you don’t want to speak English (E. Hyde Jr., personal interview, January 10, 2010). Michael Hyde, the business manager of Krem Radio, shared his brother’s perspective and supported the policy.

98 We don’t have any DJ on our station that adopt the cultures of another country, but I know of some station that has some DJs that you’d think that they’re imported . . . . You have some American sounding DJs and you have some Jamaican sounding DJs on other stations . . . . We don’t appreciate people imitating other people on our station. We don’t appreciate that and we let our DJs know from the beginning that that is not permitted (M. Hyde, personal interview, January 25, 2010). Similarly, on Wave Radio, Jamaican language appropriation was not allowed. Program Director and Assistant General Manager, Hyacinth Latchman, had a comparable policy. Like ‘Mose’ Hyde, for Latchman it was an issue of national pride. “We da frahn Belize. Yu wahn talk Creole, talk Creole, no ga no problem with that. I have absolutely no problem with you talking Creole on air, but not the Jamaican, no” (H. Latchman, personal interview, January 25, 2010). In fact, according to Latchman, she recently had to enforce this policy with one of the station’s part-time DJs. “I had to call in one of my announcers lately for that too, ‘cause he started talking Jamaican. I’m like hey, we da frahn Belize. We no talk Jamaican. So yes it happens. It happened recently. That was just one person” (H. Latchman, personal interview, January 25, 2010). Troy ‘DJ Dalla’ Flowers (January 13, 2010) shared ‘Mose’ Hyde and Latchman’s opinion.

Flowers, the manager of the sound system Belizean

Movements, said he did not allow DJs affiliated with his sound to speak Jamaican, except for occasional slangs. For those outside of his sound that did, he said emphatically, “Fire fi they! Jamaican slang.

Bun fire pan they!” which ironically is a

Like ‘Mose’ Hyde, although he strongly disliked DJs who

appropriated the language, he admitted to peppering his own language with the slangs.

99 I would say one or two time I would quote Jamaican famous quote, like the bad word, you know that and other Jamaican slang weh come out, I would use, but I no see myself talk like wa Jamaican. I use raw [Belizean] Creole . . . . If it’s a popular Jamaican slang you would use it to get a forward, you understand. And we di play Jamaican music, ih go good with it. But that no say that oh, whole night I wa imitate wa Jamaican DJ or act like wa Jamaican DJ (T. Flowers, personal interview, January 13, 2010). Although Flowers and Hyde opposite wholesale Jamaican language appropriation, their positions remained in tandem with Kuppens (2009), who observed that disc jockeys often fused the appropriated language forms with the vernacular by using Dutch language but incorporating specific Jamaican or African American words and slangs. Kevin ‘DJ Motion’ Lara believed that Belizean disc jockeys should use their own language more frequently, although he too understood the appeal of speaking Jamaican. Probably it bring wa more liveliness to their whole entertainment setting or whatever. But I mean you could listen di radio stations and you skip and skip and skip and yu hear nuffa dem talk, or try talk, Jamaican, or use some Jamaican words. And I no hate dem fi dat. I like what they’re doing too and I dislike what they’re doing because yeah it’s good to take offa certain things offa wa country weh originate dancehall music and so forth. But also it wudda be betta if dehn use some a di language dem wah dehn use inna Belize (K. Lara, personal interview, January 18, 2010). Lara’s manager at More FM, Rene Villanueva Jr., did not perceive the use of Jamaican language as a problem. That station was the only one of the five studied that did not have a policy against Jamaican language appropriation, and perhaps as a result, was the only station where the practice was observed. Villanueva said he had not received any complaints about the practice, but would review it if he did. As he related, “Some a them [the More FM DJs] they use slangs and different things like that. That’s it for the most part. They use the Jamaican

100 slang. . . . If it’s not a bad word, no it’s not an issue” (R. Villanueva Jr., personal interview, January 18, 2010). Station Policy: The Role of Management Station policy was found to affect musical choice on the five stations observed in a similar manner to its effect on language. Where there was no policy, disc jockeys tended to gravitate towards more dancehall and reggae. Where policy governing musical selection did exist, less Jamaican music was played.

The example of Vibes Radio, chronicled above, epitomized this

phenomenon. The other station with a strict musical policy was Love FM, which played the least amount of Jamaican music, only 1%, during the period analyzed. Love FM’s Managing Director, Rene Villanueva Jr., described the station as “adult contemporary” (personal interview, January 18, 2010). The station utilized a playlist on which each song was approved by the program director. Although there was no music clock, disc jockeys were required to play softer and slower music catering to a more adult audience. The result of this policy was evident in the content analysis, which showed the most frequently played genres were R&B and Soft Rock, each with 33% of the total music played, followed by Country with 13%. More FM is owned by RSV Ltd, which also owns Love FM and a Spanish-language station, Estereo Amor. All three stations are located within the same complex (Villanueva is Managing Director of the parent company, RSV Ltd, and as such acts in that capacity for all three stations, as well as a television station, Love TV). According to Villanueva, More FM was established because,

101 “We saw the need for a younger version of Love FM, if you want to put it that way, where it catered to the young audience. We are doing techno, dancehall, reggae, everything that comes along with the young audience” (R. Villanueva Jr., personal interview, January 18, 2010). Unlike Love FM, More FM did not use an approved playlist. According to Villanueva, the only factor guiding what was played on the station was currency. “They have to play music within a fifteen year span. Basically they cannot be playing the type of music that Love FM is playing ‘cause we don’t want them to sound like Love FM. [It] has to be a young, vibrant station” (R. Villanueva, personal interview, January 18, 2010). Since abandoning the music clock of More FM’s early days, More FM’s management has significantly loosened the reigns controlling what could and could not be played on the station. As a matter of fact, outside of the 15-year rule, it was completely up to the disc jockeys to exercise their discretion. “I leave that open to the announcers. That would be the DJs. We just have, in terms of cursing and you libeling anybody” (R. Villanueva, personal interview, January 18, 2010). Krem FM and Wave Radio had similar policies. Like More FM, on both stations, the disc jockeys had almost complete liberty to choose what they played. As Krem’s Business Manager Michael Hyde described, We allow our DJs to just use their discretion. We do have some don’ts, several don’ts. We do have some censored music that we don’t allow. For instance we don’t allow our DJs to play music that glorifies guns. We don’t allow our DJs to play obscene music. And also we do not allow our DJs to engage in what we would say bashing of the competition (M. Hyde, personal interview, January 25, 2010). Krem FM’s weekday musical schedule included Music by Request in the morning, a show in which callers decided what was played; a one-hour Punta Jam

102 Session, which exclusively featured indigenous punta and paranda music; a twohour Love Jam Session, in which the disc jockey played R&B and other soulful or slow music; and a three-hour up-tempo show comprising mostly reggae and dancehall hosted by Kareem ‘Mr. Frisco’ Wallace. The genres of music played on Krem FM during a typical weekday, therefore, roughly correlated with the genres that the scheduled shows accommodated.

As Evan ‘Mose’ Hyde Jr.

described, We do have a format in the sense of a deejay is responsible for this type of show. We have somebody who comes on and predominantly plays Belizean music. We have somebody that comes on and predominantly plays dancehall reggae music. We have somebody who comes on and predominantly plays adult contemporary music. That type a stuff, but to say micro manage each selection, no that doesn’t happen. [There is no] priority in the sense that we have a staff meeting and people are told that we need more of this type of music or that type of stuff, no no no no no. There’s no template on the matter of how the music and genres of music will be proportioned. That’s not done (Evan Hyde, Jr., personal interview, January 10, 2010). As a result, Krem FM’s programming schedule is not set in stone. For example, in describing the station’s hiring process, ‘Mose’ Hyde related that they looked for people who simply loved music, rather than trying to fit someone into a show. From my experience and the hirings that I have been involved in, I think what you look for is somebody who really likes playing music, they love music, like not somebody who is looking for a job and you make the suggestion you know, we have a time slot, come in and play music. You can feel when somebody really loves playing music. And then everybody’s got a type of music that they prefer and you try to put that type of music and that person in a suitable slot and you figure combustion is going to produce art when you have those things converging. I think that’s how I try to do it. We try to find persons who are talented, who we believe are creative, and then we put them in slots where we feel that they will be most comfortable (E. Hyde Jr., personal interview, January 10, 2010).

103 On Wave Radio, the typical weekday programming included a variety of genres in the early morning followed by an hour and half Culture Jam Session in which the DJ played mostly local punta and paranda music. From 1pm to 3pm, a program named Soul Mystique aired, which featured mostly R&B and Alternative music. For an hour after that, there was an exclusively slow reggae show, and then in the evenings from 4pm to 6pm was the high-energy Drive Time Splash hosted by Alfrain ‘Mr. Hype’ Supal. Indeed, Wave Radio’s weekday program schedule closely resembled that of Krem FM, and like that station, the genres observed during the content analysis roughly corresponded with the format of the shows that were aired during that period (H. Latchman, personal interview, January 25, 2010). Latchman estimated that the station played about 30% to 40% reggae and dancehall combined, which was fairly accurate. The content analysis showed that both genres represented 18% of the playlist each, or 36% total.

While she

described the various music shows on the station, reggae and dancehall were mentioned more frequently than any other genre, and the content analysis revealed they were among the top three genres played on the station. Latchman said she believed those were the genres that were popular among their audience. As she explained, “That is what people want to hear . . . That is what they call for . . . They want to hear reggae, lover’s rock music. Those are very popular genres of music, more the lover’s rock than the reggae though” (H. Latchman, personal interview, January 25, 2010).

104 Like More FM, Wave Radio began operating with a music clock but abandoned that idea in 2008, according to Latchman. As she described, They used to play 15 minutes a one type a music, take a break, come back play requests, another 15 minutes a wa different type a music, so probably like 4 different types a music for the hour. Of course reggae was included. Souls was included. A lot of brukdong, Belizean Creole music was included. That’s before A3 came on board. Maybe a combination of, mek a see, they used to feature like one artist. Like part of the hour, like maybe they would choose like Janet Jackson or anybody and play like 15 minutes a just that person music (H. Latchman, personal interview, January 25, 2010). The managers at Wave eventually came to the same realization as ‘Mose’ Hyde at Krem. They became cognizant that the disc jockeys working on-air were more comfortable playing specific types of music, and so in 2008, management reformatted the station’s programming to what it is now. According to Latchman, they saw a vast improvement in the station’s listenership. Like some of the people that were playing certain types a music for the hour like somehow they weren’t connected. And when they played another type a music, something that they’re used to and something that is popular with them, it was off the bat for them you know. So I sat down with her [General Manager Juliet Thimbrel] and I told her, in particular A3, A3 needed to play more Garifuna music than he was playing. At first he wasn’t playing a lot but when we decided to give him 11:30 to 12:30 for only Garifuna music, there was a huge improvement in terms of calls, in terms of people texting, enjoying the program, calling in, saying they’re enjoying the program. And same goes for Alfrain. Alfrain he’s good playing the type a music he plays, catering for young people, which is dancehall. And there was a vast improvement when we took off the music sheet, particularly for those two people. Izalee the same thing. She’s comfortable, very relaxed playing R&B and soulful music as well as alternative. That’s what she loves to do (H. Latchman, personal interview, January 25, 2010). As a result, the music on Wave Radio was guided by the station’s program format, which in turn was driven by the taste of their individual disc jockeys.

105 Unlike their competitor at Krem, however, Latchman said she would employ future disc jockeys who could fit within their current programming. If Alfrain Supal were to leave, for example, she would want another dancehall DJ to fill his slot. According to Latchman, neither the managers nor the owners of Wave Radio micromanaged the final selections that were aired, although they have instituted an official playlist. The list was managed by one of their disc jockeys, and was instituted to ensure that obscene music was not played. Latchman said they had also banned all music that degraded women, including all â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;daggeringâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; music, a sub-genre of dancehall banned from Jamaican radio by the Broadcasting Commission in that country in February 2009 (Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, 2009, February 6, p. 2).

106 Conclusions and Recommendations

The content analysis did not support perceptions by radio station disc jockeys, program directors and managers that Jamaican music dominated Belizean radio, and that Belizean radio disc jockeys had vastly appropriated Jamaican language. Neither Jamaican music nor Jamaican language was found to dominate Belizean radio. Rather, the United States of America was found to be the dominant country of origin for music played on Belizean radio, while English—Belize’s official language—was the dominant language used by radio announcers/disc jockeys and within the music played. This conclusion supported Dal’s (2007) finding in Asia, where although Korean popular culture had become immensely popular and challenged whether cultural imperialism from the West still existed in the traditional sense, American media content remained dominant. Yet, Asians maintained strong perceptions and fears about the influence of Korean culture. In the current study, all interviewees held strong perceptions that such dominance did exist, which led them to two general and antithetical sets of conclusions: 1) That Jamaican music was popular amongst Belizeans; and, 2) That too much Jamaican music was being played on Belizean radio. Those who arrived at the first conclusion generally had an affinity for Jamaican music, supported its dominance and used their own perception and affinity to justify the quantity of Jamaican music played. In some instances, this perception

107 was buffeted by support from radio listeners who tended to reinforce their perception and affinity, leading perhaps to a spiral of silence in which opposing views were not heard (Noelle-Neuman, 1993). A communications feedback cycle between media (radio disc jockeys) and their audiences may have led to the latter reinforcing the former; that is, it is quite possible that because a disc jockey played a lot of reggae and dancehall music, audiences who shared an affinity for those genres tuned in and in turn requested more of the same, while those who did not share that affinity remained silent, leading disc jockeys to believe that everyone who listened liked what was being played. On the other hand, a minority of interviewees, based on the same perception of Jamaican musical dominance, concluded there was too much Jamaican music being played. As a result, measures were either taken or thought to be needed to correct the perceived imbalance. Among the interviewees who shared this position, it did not matter whether he or she held an affinity for those genres of music. Although Jamaican music did not dominate, it did bear a strong presence on Belizean radio. Reggae and dancehall were the second and third most played genres with 17% and 11% respectively, while Jamaica was the second most frequent country of origin. Music originating in Jamaica comprised 27% of all music played on the five stations during the sample period, compared with 43% from the United States, and 6% from Mexico, which was third. Jamaican music was dominant on only one of the five stations studied, More FM, where, sorted by country of origin, music from Jamaica represented 55% of all music played on the

108 station; and, sorted by genre, dancehall represented 31% and reggae 25% of all music played. Management policy was found to be a major factor in the types of music played. On Love FM and Vibes Radio, the genres played strongly corresponded with management dictates.

On Krem FM and Wave Radio, genres of music

generally corresponded with programming schedules that had been predetermined by management; for example, dancehall was played in a predetermined time slot for dancehall and R and B in a time slot for R and B. These program schedules were not rigid, however, as some degree of crossover was observed, particularly in the mornings, when a variety format was in place on both stations. On More FM, a lack of management policy resulted in disc jockeys deciding what would be played and when. It may not be a coincidence that this was also the station that played the most Jamaican music. Without a clear management policy, it seemed disc jockeys were inclined towards playing more reggae and dancehall. This was also the case in instances where disc jockeys had more liberty to choose which genres to play. For example, Krem FM’s ‘Di Show’ (3 to 6 pm, Monday to Friday, hosted by Mr. Frisco) and Wave Radio’s ‘Drive Time Splash’ (4 to 6 pm, Monday to Friday, hosted by Mr. Hype) were not exclusively dancehall shows. Although the manager and program director on these stations described them as primarily dancehall shows based on their observations, the program descriptions revealed that the ultimate objective of these shows was to capture an audience leaving school and work with high energy music. Of the genres observed, dancehall, hip hop, techno, dance, soca, punta and pop/rock all

109 fit this criterion, but reggae, which is slower than dancehall was still played during these sessions. On Mr. Friscoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s show, reggae was over 53% of the music played, followed by dancehall at 27% and hip hop at 7%. On the Drive Time Splash, dancehall was the favorite with 37%, followed closely by hip hop at 29% and reggae at 11%. Despite the variety of genres available to suit the objective of these shows then, the Jamaican genres of music were preferred by the disc jockeys. Still, on all stations the ultimate decision regarding what specific song to play, with the exception of songs that were banned, was that of the disc jockey. Several theories and demographic factors may help to explain why Belizean disc jockeys had such an affinity for reggae and dancehall music. Youth, ethnicity and urbanity were the three the major demographic indicators, with urbanity being the most notable of the three, particularly because all five stations studied were headquartered in Belize City, although they had national or close to national broadcast coverage.

Meanwhile, cultural proximity, social

identification, linguistic affinity and globalization were theoretical frameworks all supported by the data. The similarities between Jamaican and Belizean culture and language made Jamaican music appealing to disc jockeys, who also identified with the themes in the music and in some instances appropriated Jamaican language as a means of authenticating themselves as part of that culture. Meanwhile, globalization, while providing the technological means for the proliferation of Jamaican music in Belize, also caused disc jockeys in the late 1980s and early 1990s to rebel against a perceived inundation of American music.

110 Fearing American cultural imperialism, disc jockeys turned to a regional cultural superpower, Jamaica, for musical content. Whether Belizeans simply substituted cultural imperialism from one country for another, however, has not been established, as this study negated the perceived dominance of Jamaican musical content. Dominance was only the first of three factors to be documented in order to verify the existence of Jamaican cultural imperialism.

With this discounted, from a dominance perspective, Jamaican

cultural imperialism does not exist in Belize. Ironically, the attempt to resist cultural imperialism seemed to have come full circle. Whereas radio stations initially attempted to resist US cultural imperialism by playing Jamaican music, they ended up with a perceived overabundance of Jamaican music, and then attempted to resist that influence by again resorting to American music. Another factor leading to this shift back to American hyper-dominance was displeasure with the increasingly violent and hypersexual lyrics in Jamaican dancehall music, which has begun to result in disc jockeys disassociating themselves from the music and playing less of it, especially on radio (Elden Hyde, personal interview, January 13, 2010), and radio stations banning some Jamaican music and being forced to compensate for the loss of content with other genres (H. Latchman, personal interview, January 25, 2010). Unfortunately, none of these attempts at resistance appear to have resulted in more Belizean music being made or played. A longitudinal study to document the ebbs and tides of the types of music played in Belize, particularly Jamaican versus American versus Belizean, is recommended.

111 Still, the large quantities of Jamaican music played in Belize should not be ignored, particularly because of the perceptions it has generated. Sonwalkar (2001) spoke of “little cultural imperialism”, the influences emanating from regional cultural powerhouses. Dal (2007) has documented the economic impact these little imperialisms can have, and Nakano (2002) has argued that even if it was local people who initiated the in-flow of global products, cultural imperialism was still a relevant theory, although the economic center needed to be repositioned and cultural imperialism needed to be reexamined from that altered perspective. This was the case in Belize, where Belize was the economic center of the in-flow, as no royalties were paid to Jamaican artistes or recording companies for use of their material, and disc jockeys admitted to pirating Jamaican music for airplay and even resale. As such, the economic impact ought to be examined from the perspective of the importers rather than the producers, who traditionally would be assumed to be the economic beneficiaries. Additionally, Laing (1986) opined that piracy only reinforced the cultural imperialism thesis, as the vast quantities available at low or no cost was a disincentive for investment in local products, which by comparison were uncompetitive.

‘Mose’ Hyde, for example, shared why a two-hour punta rock

show on Krem Radio had to be reduced to one hour. The problem with that was that the volume of music being produced meant that to have a two hour punta rock show everyday would mean that . . . at least forty to fifty percent of it would become redundant because that would represent the bulk of the music. There was just not enough new music being made. Punta Rock artists tend to make albums. Dancehall tend to make singles. Everyday it would appear like to me, Vybz Kartel is bringing out a song (Evan Hyde, Jr., personal interview, January 10, 2010).

112

The prevalence of Jamaican music, therefore, was of such a nature that regardless of imposition or dominance, due attention should still be paid. This research paper was able to determine what the stations played; the next step is to determine whether this is in concurrence with what listeners want to hear as there is no market research to indicate what audiences actually prefer. As a result, it is strongly recommended that managers commission proper market research before formulating policy regarding the music to be played on the stations. Such research would give managers better authority to make decisions, and would also give advertisers more confidence in stationsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ability to deliver audiences.

113 References

Appadurai, A. (1996). Modernity at large: Cultural dimensions of globalization. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=4LVeJT7gghMC&dq=appadurai&cd= 4 Bagdikian, B. (1983). The media monopoly. Boston: Beacon Press. Belize Constitution Act, Revised Edition 2000, Chapter 4 of the Laws of Belize. Retrieved from: http://belizelaw.org/lawadmin/index2.html Biltereyst, D. (1992). Language and culture as ultimate barriers? An analysis of the circulation, consumption and popularity of fiction in small European countries. European Journal of Communication, 7, 517-540. DOI: 10.1177/0267323192007004005 Bolland, O.N. (2003). Colonialism and resistance in Belize: Essays in historical sociology. Benque Viejo del Carmen, Belize: Cubola. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=nlL96RL4M20C&printsec=frontcover &dq=nigel+bolland&cd=4#v=onepage&q=&f=false Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica. (2009, February 6). Directive to all licensees (press release). Kingston, Jamaica. Retrieved from: http://www.broadcastingcommission.org/ Brown, A. (1987). TV programming trends in the Anglophone Caribbean: The 1980s. Kingston: CARIMAC UWI. (pamphlet) Brown, A. (1995). Caribbean cultures and mass communication technology: Reexamining the cultural dependency thesis. In H. Dunn (Ed.),

114 Globalization, communication and Caribbean identity (pp. 40-54). Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=OuHC8goeR8MC&printsec=frontcove r&dq=hopeton+dunn&cd=1&hl=en#v=onepage&q=&f=false Brown, H. (1995). American media impact on Jamaican youth: The cultural dependency thesis. In H. Dunn (Ed.), Globalization, communication and Caribbean identity (pp. 56-82). Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=OuHC8goeR8MC&printsec=frontcove r&dq=hopeton+dunn&cd=1&hl=en#v=onepage&q=&f=false Burch, E. (2002). Media literacy, cultural proximity and TV aesthetics: Why Indian soap operas work in Nepal and the Hindu Diaspora. Media Culture Society, 24(4), 571-579. DOI: 10.1177/016344370202400408 Cassidy, F.G. & Le Page, R.B. (2002). Dictionary of Jamaican English. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com.jm/books?id=_lmFzFgsTZYC&dq=cassidy+dicti onary+of+jamaican+english&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei =o4kiS8zrE42VtgeTufXeBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum =5&ved=0CB0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=&f=false Crosbie, P. (Ed.) (2007). Kriol-Inglish dikshineri=English-Kriol dictionary. Belize City: Belize Kriol Project.

115 Dal Yong Jin. (2007). Reinterpretation of cultural imperialism: Emerging domestic market versus continuing US dominance. Media, Culture, Society, 29(5) 753-771. DOI: 10.1177/0163443707080535 Dissanayake, W. (2006). Globalization and the experience of culture: The resilience of nationhood. In N. Gentz & S. Kramer (Eds.), Globalization, cultural identities, and media representations (pp. 25-44). New York: State University of New York Press. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=GWyF18rtR4C&pg=PP1&dq=globalization,+cultural+identities+and+media+repres entations&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (1986). Living with television: The dynamics of the cultivation process. In J. Bryant & D. Zillman (Eds.), Perspectives on media effects (pp. 17â&#x20AC;&#x201C;40). Hilldale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Giddens, A. (1990). The consequences of modernity. Cambridge: Polity. Kuppens, A. H. (2009). Authenticating subcultural identities: African American and Jamaican English in niche media. Journal of Communication Inquiry, 33(1), 43-57. DOI: 10.1177/0196859908324705 Laing, D. (1986). The music industry and the cultural imperialism thesis. Media, Culture, Society, 8, 331-341. DOI: 10.1177/016344386008003005 Nakano, Y. (2002). Who initiates global flow? Japanese popular culture in Asia. Visual Communication, 1(2), 229-253. DOI: 10.1177/147035720200100207

116 Noelle-Nueman, E. (1993). The spiral of silence: Public opinion, our social skin (2nd Ed.) Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Phekoo, C. A., Driscoll, P.D., & Salwen, M. B. (1996). U.S. Television viewing in Trinidad: Cultural consequences on adolescents. International Communication Gazette, 57, 97-110. DOI: 10.1177/001654929605700202 Shim, D. (2006). Hybridity and the rise of Korean popular culture in Asia. Media, Culture and Society, 28(1), 25-44. DOI: 10.1177/0163443706059278 Sonwalkar, P. (2001). India: Makings of little cultural/media imperialism? International Communications Gazette, 63(6), 505-519. DOI: 10.1177/0016549201063006003 Tomlinson, J. (1991). Cultural imperialism: A critical introduction. London: Continuum. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=0CFMS0z5gcC&pg=PP1&dq=tomlinson+cultural+imperialism&cd=1#v=onepage&q =&f=false

Appendix I: List of Radio Station Transmitter Sites in Belize (Public Utilities Commission, Undated) Name Station ID

Address

117

Location Contact Info

Transmitter

N Lat

W Long

Elev (M)

17°33’44.3”

88°18’31.45”

17°09’46”

89°03’10”

118

17.5657 16.531

88.3076 88.4148

Rene Villanueva Jr Rene Villanueva Jr

17°59’20”

88°31’58”

Freq (MHz) 88.100 88.300 88.300 88.500 88.700 89.100 89.300 89.500 89.700 89.900 90.100 90.300 90.500 90.700 90.900 91.100 91.100 91.300 91.500 91.700 91.900 92.100 92.300 92.500 92.700 92.700 92.900 93.100 93.300 93.500 93.700 93.900 94.100 94.100 94.100 94.100 94.100 94.300 94.500 94.700 94.700

LOVE FM LOVE FM

Riversdale Punta Gorda

Rene Villanueva Jr Rene Villanueva Jr

LOVE FM

Ladyville

Rene Villanueva Jr.

GRASSROOTS

Blz/W-Hwy

RADIO KAIROS

Orange Walk

LA VOZ DEL NORTE MIX FM POSITIVE VIBES POWER MIX

Corozal Cayo Belize Dangriga

KREM – RADIO KREM – RADIO

Ladyville Independence

VOZ DEL CARIBE

CFZ Corozal

VISION RADIO LA VOZ DEL NORTE REEF RADIO

San Ignacio Corozal (test) San Pedro

ESTEREO AMOR ESTEREO AMOR

Carmelita Belmopan

BRITISH FORCES

Belize

MY REFUGE

Belmopan

FAITH FM FAITH FM FAITH FM FAITH FM FAITH FM

Corozal San Ignacio Crique Jute (Tol) Independence San Pedro, AC

Windell Borland Jr Windell Borland Jr Windell Borland Jr Windell Borland Jr Windell Borland Jr

18°24’19” 17°09’46” 16°16’31” 16°31’55” 17°54’11”

88°24’19” 89°03’10” 89°01’05” 88°24’49” 87°58’44”

3 118 164 5 0

PEOPLE’S RADIO MORE FM LOVE FM

Belize City Belmopan Corozal *(Not Love FM Freq)

Rene Villanueva Jr Rene Villanueva Jr

18°23’54.93”

88°23’41.45”

LOVE FM LOVE FM

Slaughterhouse Rd Benque Viejo

Rene Villanueva Jr Rene Villanueva Jr

17°30’08” 17°04’45”

88°11’37” 89°07’50”

RADIO BAHIA

Corozal/Orange Walk

ESTEREO AMOR ESTEREO AMOR AK KUTAN RADIO

Orange Walk San Ignacio Blue Creek, Tol

Rene Villanueva Jr Rene Villanueva Jr Ester Sanchez

16°11.764’

89°02.883’

KREM RADIO

3304 Patridge St, Belize City Carmelita, OW Camalote, CY (Mile 50) Water Supply Area, Punta Gorda

Michael Hyde

17.498

88.2009

94.900 95.100 95.100 95.300 95.500 95.700 95.900 95.900 96.100 96.300 96.500

Michael Hyde Michael Hyde Michael Hyde

18.0201 17.2481 16.0982

88.5354 88.8165 88.8118

96.500 96.500 96.500

KREM RADIO KREM RADIO KREM RADIO

Albert Phillips Mr. Hernandez Michael Hyde Michael Hyde

LIGHTHOUSE INTEGRITY RADIO

Corozal Belize

Errol Robateau

ESTEREO AMOR

Belize

Rene Villanueva Jr

17°29’50.1”

88°11’48.3”

96.700 96.900 97.100 97.300 97.500 97.700

Power (W)

250

1000 500

400 410 750 400 200

100 300 300 500 250

118 LOVE FM LOVE FM LOVE FM

Belmopan Orange Walk Dangriga

Rene Villanueva Jr Rene Villanueva Jr Rene Villanueva Jr

17°14’52.15” 18°02’40.67”

88°46’26.11” 88°34’03.08”

73 15

LOVE FM LOVE FM

San Ignacio Independence

Rene Villanueva Jr Rene Villanueva Jr

17°08’49”

89°04’32”

153

RC CHURCH BRITISH FORCES BELIZE

San Ignacio Belize

MORE FM MORE FM MORE FM RADIO BAHIA WAVE TOLEDO CHRIST. HAMALALI RC CHURCH MY REFUGE POWER FM (OYE)

Belize San Ignacio Dangriga Corozal/Orange Walk Belize Punta Gorda, Tol Dangriga San Ignacio Belize San Ignacio

Rene Villanueva Jr Rene Villanueva Jr Rene Villanueva Jr

KREM RADIO

Tropics Hotel, Caye Caulker Hillview Area, San Ignacio 1034 Benguche Area, Dangriga San Pedro

Michael Hyde

17.7454

Michael Hyde Michael Hyde

KREM RADIO KREM RADIO LIGHTHOUSE CHRISTIAN BELIZE CHRISTIAN NETWORK RC CHURCH ESTEREO TU ESPIRITU SANTO Y YO

88.0237

99.300 99.500 99.500 99.500 99.700 99.900 99.900 100.100 100.300 100.500 100.700 100.900 101.100

17.1582

89.0506

101.100

300

16.9786

88.2261

101.100

300

101.300

Ladyville

101.500 101.700

San Ignacio Orange Walk

101.900 102.100 102.300 102.500 102.700 102.900

CARICOM RADIO POSITIVE VIBES NORTHERN COMMUNICATION WAMALALI

97.900 98.100 98.100 98.100 98.300 98.500 98.500 98.700 98.900 99.100

Countrywide (Except Belize City) Orange Walk (SCRS)

103.100

Punta Gorda

ESTEREO AMOR

Ladyville

Rene Villanueva Jr

CULTURE CAPITAL

Dangriga

Colive Cabral

FAITH FM

Mountain Pine Ridge

Windell Borland Jr

GATEKEEPER SONS OF GOD ESTEREO TU ESPIRITU SANTO Y YO

Boston Village Dangriga Orange Walk

WAVE

Belize City

CULTURE CAPITAL

Dangriga

FIESTA FM

Orange Walk

MORE FM

Ladyville

RAINBOW FM

Corozal

16°58’04.19”

88°13’82.25”

17°00’20”

88°48’53”

Colive Cabral

16°58’04.19”

88°13’22.85”

Rene Villanueva Jr

17°33’44.3”

88°13’31.45”

937

103.300 103.500 103.700 103.900 104.100 104.300 104.500 104.700 104.900 105.100 105.300 105.500 105.700 105.900 106.100 106.300 106.500 106.700 106.900 107.100 107.300 107.500 107.700 107.900

1000 750

1000

119 Appendix II: The Sample The Sample Day

Date

Station

Time

MON Jan 4

(1) MORE

9AM

(2) LOVE

1PM

(3) KREM

3PM

TUE

Jan 5

(4) LOVE

11AM

(5) MORE

2PM

(6) VIBES

3PM

WED Jan 6

(7) VIBES

1PM

(8) LOVE

2PM

(9) WAVE

5PM

THU

Jan 7

(10) WAVE

9AM

(11) KREM

2PM

(12) WAVE

3PM

FRI

Jan 8

(13) VIBES

11AM

(14) KREM

1PM

(15) MORE

4PM

MON Jan 11

(16) WAVE

10AM

(17) LOVE

1PM

(18) LOVE

3PM

TUE

Jan 12

(19) MORE

10AM

(20) VIBES

1PM

(21) LOVE

2PM

WED Jan 13

(22) KREM

9AM

(23) MORE

2PM

(24) KREM

3PM

THU

Jan 14

(25) VIBES

10AM

(26) WAVE

11AM

(27) WAVE

1PM

FRI

Jan 15

(28) KREM

1PM

(29) MORE

3PM

(30) VIBES

5PM

MON Jan 18

(31) LOVE

9AM

(32) KREM

2PM

(33) KREM

3PM

TUE

Jan 19

(34) MORE

10AM

(35) LOVE

11AM

(36) LOVE

2PM

WED Jan 20

(37) VIBES

2PM

(38) VIBES

3PM

(39) MORE

5PM

THU

Jan 21

(40) WAVE

9AM

(41) KREM

11AM

(42) WAVE

1PM

FRI

Jan 22

(43) VIBES

10AM

(44) MORE

2PM

(45) WAVE

5PM

MON Jan 25

(46) VIBES

10AM

(47) WAVE

2PM

(48) KREM

5PM

TUE

(49) LOVE

9AM

(50) VIBES

1PM

(51) MORE

3PM

WED Jan 27

(52) WAVE

9AM

(53) KREM

2PM

(54) LOVE

4PM

THU

Jan 28

(55) LOVE

11AM

(56) MORE

3PM

(57) VIBES

5PM

FRI

Jan 29

(58) WAVE

10AM

(59) KREM

11AM

(60) MORE

2PM

Jan 26

Time

Station

Time

LOVE (35)

Day/Date:

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Time Block:

10 am – 11 am

Disc Jockey:

Armin Arana

Primary Language used by DJ:

English

Song Title Nothing Compares

Artist Sinead O’Connor

Genre Soft Rock

Origin Ireland

Language English

Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here

Deborah Cox

R&B

Canada

English

Wish You Were Here holding me tight

Unknown

Soft Rock

Unknown

English

Total Eclipse of the Heart

Bonnie Tyler

Soft Rock

UK/Wales

English

Angel of the Morning

Juice Newton

Soft Rock

USA

English

Angel

Jon Secada

Soft Rock

Cuba

English

Break It To Me Gently

Juice Newton

Country

USA

English

Miss You Like Crazy

Natalie Cole

R&B

USA

English

If You Asked Me To

Patti LaBelle

R&B

USA

English

Appendix III: Sample Data Sheet for Content Analysis

Name of Station:

120

121 Appendix IV: Interview Questions* *These questions were used more as a guide than a script. Questions varied from person to person depending on their answers and personal experiences. Station Managers/Program Directors 1. Name 2. Age 3. Ethnicity 4. Where employed 5. Position/how long? 6. Ever lived outside Belize? If yes, where and how long? 7. Station frequencies 8. Coverage area 9. Station background: when established, ownership, etc. 10. Target demographic 11. How would you describe the station’s sound musically? 12. What role did you play in crafting this direction, and why is this the way you and the station chose to go? 13. Would you say the sound of the station/musical direction has changed since it’s opened, or since you’ve been in this position? 14. Are you pleased with where the station is now musically? Why or why not? Would you change anything? 15. Does your station utilize an approved playlist? Why or why not? 16. Who decides what music gets played on the station? 17. Do you as manager/program director have any say about what gets played? 18. Do you have any guidelines for the types of music played on your station? 19. Are certain types of music played at certain times of the day? 20. What’s your program schedule? 21. Is there priority given to any certain types of music, such as local music for example? 22. What are the factors that go into selecting a playlist or the overall station musical direction? 23. How do you choose the DJs that play on the station? 24. Draw me a pie chart representing the different types of music you think (doesn’t have to be accurate) is played on your station? 25. Why is this the distribution?

122 26. Have you observed Belizean DJs using different types of languages or accents, such as Jamaican or American, on-air? Does anyone at your station do this? Do you approve, disapprove, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really care? Why?

Disc Jockeys 1. Name 2. Alias 3. Age 4. Ethnicity 5. Where do you work? 6. How long have you worked there? 7. How long have you been a disc jockey? 8. How frequently do you play? 9. What type of music do you play? 10. What is your favorite type of music? 11. What type of music do you think is most popular among Belizeans? 12. Do you think musical taste varies regionally or by ethnicity in Belize? 13. If so, do you vary the types of music that you play when you are in different parts of the country? If yes, how so? 14. In your interactions with Belizean audiences, what type of music have you observed them to respond best to? 15. Where do you get your music? 16. How do you decide what to play? 17. How do you know what songs are popular, or will be a hit? (a) When youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re about to play a song for the first time (b) How do you gauge popularity after the song has been playing a while? 18. How do you feel about Jamaican music, particularly dancehall and reggae? 19. (Assuming that the DJ admits to liking and playing Jamaican music a lot), Why are you attracted to this music? 20. Why do you play this music a lot? 21. How do you feel about American music? (Do you like it? Do you not like it? What types do you like or not like? Do you play it? A lot? A little? Why or why not?) 22. Central American music? 23. Caribbean/soca music? 24. Have you noticed Belizean deejays using other languages or accents, such as American or Jamaican, on air? 25. If yes, why do you think they do that? Do you do that? If yes, why?

123 26. What about Belizean music? Not only indigenous music such as punta and paranda, but also Belizean reggae, dancehall, R&B, hip hop, etc. 27. How do you treat Belizean music? Would you say you play it a lot, a little, somewhere in between? Why? 28. What about the other types of music I asked about? How much of that would you say you play? 29. Draw me a pie chart showing the different types of music that you would say you play in percentages (doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be accurate, just what you think you play regularly). 30. (Depending on what the DJ self identifies as most dominant in his/her playlist) Why do you play A type of music more than B and C?

124 Appendix V: Vibes Radio Music Clock

Vibes Radio Music Clock 1 1

1 2 1 1 2 2 Modern Contemporary

Latin

Alternative

Reggae (easy listening)

Dancehall (easy listening)

Reggae (hardcore)

Dancehall (hardcore)

Reggaeton

Techno

Disco

R&B

125 Appendix VI: Krem Radio’s Daily Programming and Program Descriptions Source: Michael Hyde (Krem Radio General Manager), January 25, 2010 Daily Programming Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Fridays Blazing Reggae Vibes 5:00 am Newscast and Sports 6:30 am WUB Morning Show 7:00 am – 9:00 am Newsbrief 9:00 am Music by Request 9:00 am – 11:00 am Punta Jam Session 11:00 am – 12:00 pm (M, TU, W) Love Jam Session 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm Main Newscast 12:30 pm Dancehall Session (Di Show) 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm Newsbrief 3:00 pm Main Newscast 6:00 pm Talk Shows 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm (M, TU, TH: Women at Work, Adele Ramos Show, Belize Musicians Past & Present, respectively) Focal Point 9:00 pm – 12:00 am (M) Old School Tunes 9:30 pm – 12:00 am (TU) Country & Western 9:30 pm – 12:00 am (W) Serious Business (Reggae Show) 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm (F) Thursdays Blazing Reggae Vibes Newscast and Sports WUB Morning Show Newsbrief Belizean Beats Love Jam Session Main Newscast Dancehall Session (Di Show) Newsbrief Main Newscast Belize Musicians Past & Present Steve P—Groove Yard

5:00 am 6:30 am 7:00 am – 9:00 am 9:00 am 9:00 am – 12:00 pm 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm 12:30 pm 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm 3:00 pm 6:00 pm 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm 9:00 pm – 12:00 am

126 Saturdays Tony Wright Special Newsbrief Deseree & Frisco Main Newscast Steve Perriot Dignitariz Newsbrief Emaun Hyde Linda Blease

6:00 am – 10:00 am 9:00 am 10:00 am – 12:30 pm 12:30 pm 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm 3:00 pm 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm 9:00 pm – 12:00 am

Sundays Moments of Inspiration (Religious program) JC – Jazz Show Newsbrief Sunday Review (Talk show) Steve Perriot—Groove Master Main Newscast Newsbrief Ras Buck Reggae Show Main Newscast Tony G

6:00 am – 8:30 am 8:30 am – 10:30 am 9:00 am 10:30 am – 12:00 pm 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm 12:30 pm 3:00 pm 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm 6:00 pm 6:00 pm – 12:00 am

Program Descriptions Newscast/Newsbrief During a newscast segment, full local, regional and international, weather, sporting news and Spanish news are aired. Whereas, our news brief provides brief synopsis of current news items, and gives insight on new and upcoming events. Our young, educated and energetic news teams conducts thorough research and investigations about major issues and presents accurate information to the public. (WUB) Wake Up Belize Morning Show Hosted by Evan ‘Mose’ Hyde and Sharon Marin, WUB is the most listened to program on the airwaves from 6:30 am to 9:00 am Mondays through Fridays. This superb, interactive show, also known as Belize’s conversation center, serves as a medium through which various issues surface and are addressed and sometimes resolved. Thursday is called ‘Traffic Thursday’ on the WUB, where

127 guests are featured to discuss any current or pertinent issue affecting the community. Music by Request This innovative, exciting and original show maintains a wide and growing audience by accommodating song requests from callers and allowing them opportunities to send requests via Internet, fax and phone. No one genre of music is played during this show. The audience dominates this show. Also, there is a monthly top ten countdown of the most requested songs. Punta Jam Session As the name implies, in the Punta Jam Session, an array of punta selections are aired daily from 11:00 am to 12:00 noon by disc jockey Lisa ‘Love’ Kerr. Love Jam Session Love Jam Session takes the airing of R&B music to a completely different level through its remarkable strategy of music classification. On Mondays, inside the Love Jam Session, things are mellow and smooth. On Tuesdays, the pace gets picked up to warm you up for the Old School segment on Wednesdays, leading to a breathtaking moment inside Freaky Fridays. All hosted by the award-winning Ejay Hill Dancehall Session The dancehall show is Krem FM’s oldest show. Originally hosted by Evan ‘Mad Rocker’ Hyde, it is the first show to play dancehall music in Belize. Now under the capable hands of the energetic DJ Frisco, the 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm Transmission features regular guests and guest DJs while the host interacts with enthusiastic callers. Sunday Review This is a weekly talk show hosted by Carolyn Marin, who interviews governmental and community leaders about burning national issues. Listeners have an opportunity to call in and actively participate in the discussion. The show is simulcast on Krem TV and Krem Radio from 10:30 am to 12:00 noon each Sunday morning. Belizean Beats/Belize Musicians Past and Present The ever-popular, multi-talented Tony Wright: poet, composer and musician appears on Krem Radio, not only once, but twice, on Thursdays, to promote the work of our very own Belizeans from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon, and then reappears

128 on Saturday mornings to display his fine taste for good music and his unique persona, which allows him to enter the homes of many listeners locally and internationally from 6:00 am to 10:00 am. He sets your Saturday morning mood and does an excellent job entertaining. Women at Work Talk Show This program airs on Monday nights from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm and is hosted by an eclectic panel of women including host Virginia Echols and Carolyn Marin Coleman. Through lively discussion with opinionated callers, the women dissect not only issues affecting women, but also social and political issues through the unique lens of womanhood.

129 Appendix VII: Wave Radio Program Descriptions Source: Hyacinth Latchman (Wave Radio Program Director), January 25, 2010 Jump Start It’s an early morning wake-up call on Wave Radio. A program that offers much inspiration for the young and old, Kenny Morgan lays down his poetry along with good old music to wake you up early in the morning. The Morning Show One of the nation’s leading morning talk shows, hosted by Juliet Thimbrel and Joseph Bradley, called Fus Ting Da Mawnin, (a Belize Creole variation of First Thing in the Morning) it has a distinct flavor. It’s a good balance of information and dialogue. It’s a candid discussion of politics, social issues, the economy and the Belizean way of life. It begins at 7:00 am and wraps up at 9:00 am Monday to Friday. AHA Hosted by Alfrain Supal, Hyacinth Latchman and Frank ‘A3’ Magdaleno, it’s a two-hour presentation of tips and musical entertainment for the wholesome development of families in general. The hosts provide pointers for men and women to enhance their physical and mental well-being. Calls are received every Friday and listeners are encouraged to call in and discuss their own personal relationship problems. Newscasts Anchored every 6:30 am, 12:30 pm and 6:00 pm daily by Hyacinth Latchman, it is a comprehensive look at news on the local, regional and international scenes, along with the most recent updates in weather conditions. For the benefit of our Spanish-speaking audience, we have a translation of the lead stories and the weather by our news director, Paula Ack. The news runs from half hour to about 40 minutes Monday to Friday. Informational Segment This type of advertisement is geared at getting listeners in tuned to what your business is doing. Businesses get an opportunity to promote their goods and services and to drive home and special promotions or upcoming events. This normally runs for about a maximum of fifteen minutes.

130 Outside Broadcasts This type of airtime is usually described as taking the radio station to you. Have a special event that you would want us to cover? Wave Radio will be there to air your special event, whether it is a forum, a panel discussion, a mixer, a ball or even a sporting event. Our capable broadcasters and technicians will bring the event right into the living rooms of thousands of listeners. This could rum from anywhere from an hour to three hours. We do interviews with key people to galvanize the importance (or excitement or seriousness as the case could be) to our listeners at home. Soul Mystique Hosted by Izalee Lizama, it provides a fair balance of old and new music along with samples of souls, R&B and alternative music. Izalee also shares, from her view, how much the social issues governs our everyday life for a fair balance of education, information, entertainment and inspiration, both young and old. Drive Time Splash Because of our commitment to provide the hit music for all calibers of listeners and certainly we cannot leave out the young and the young-at-heart, we make the drive back home and the remainder of the evening a most entertaining event. Hosted by Alfrain ‘Mr. Hype’ Supal, the Drive Time Splash does what its name says: it’s a splash of fast-paced upbeat music as you drive along on your way home. From 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm Mondays through Fridays, it’s bound to keep you in a party mode even when it’s not to. Culture Jam Session This culture program is hosted by Frank ‘A3’ Magdaleno. A3 brings together one hour Monday to Friday of pure Garifuna music… from the very slow Paranda music to the very fast in Punta. It’s a daily dose of energy and culture mixed in one.

Source: Rene Villanueva, Jr. (Managing Director, RSV Ltd), January 18, 2010 Time

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

5:30-6:00 am

Adventist

Anglican

Catholic Communication

Voice of Restoration

Echoes of Mercy

6:00-9:00 am

Morning show

Kiddodrama (8:30-9:00)

9:00 am-12md

Music and commercials

101 Degrees with Brian

NEWS Music and commercials Cruisin @ 5 NEWS

7:00-8:00pm

Business Hour

Police linkup

Business Hour

8:00-10:00pm 9:00-9:02 9:10-9:12 9:30-10:00pm

Belize Watch BEL3 Boledo Music BBC World News Music

Belize Watch BEL3&Lotto Boledo Music BBC World News Music

NEWS Music and commercials Cruisin @ 5 NEWS Fisheries Program Belize Watch BEL3 Boledo

NEWS

5:00-5:30pm 6:00-7:00pm

NEWS Music and commercials Cruisin @ 5 NEWS

1:00-5:00pm

10:00-10:15 10:00-12:00am

BBC World News Music

Belize Watch BEL3 Boledo BBC World News

Sunday Mopan Maya

NEWS

BEL3&Lotto

The Golden Years (9:009:45) Growing Belize (9:45-10am) Lottery (10am) Oapn Paki (10am12:15pm) NEWS BDF Request Show (1-2pm) NEWS Jesus in Music (6-8pm) The Golden Years (every other Sunday) Sunday concerts with Jason Guerrero

Appendix VIII: Love FM Program Schedule

12:30-1:00pm

Saturday

131

Source: Rene Villanueva, Jr. (Managing Director, RSV Ltd.), January 18, 2010

Time 6-9/8-10 9-12 11-12

3-6 pm

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

DJ Aaron

Biggs

Bush Bush Bush Bush Special & Jaago Special & Jaago Special & Jaago Special & Jaago (1-3) (1-3) (1-3) (1-3)

DJ Motion

6-10

JRJ

8-10

DJ Motion, Keon Garbutt

10-12am

Dutch & Royal Crown

DJ Motion

JRJ Dancehall Explosion (DJ Dutch and Royal Crown)

DJ Motion

JRJ

Silky Wet (Jackie and Mel)

Top Flight Thursdays (DJ Q)

Madd Squad (DJ Motion, Keon Garbutt)

Biggs & Bones & Kenny G?? (8-10) Bush DJ Motion (124)

JRJ (4-10 pm)

Stone Jam Sound (Stone Jam, Jarro, Ras 3-6pm) JRJ Stereo 1 Sounds, DJ Aaron & Biggs (7-9) Belizean Movements (9pm â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 12am

Saturday DJ Aaron & Jackie Cas Jackie Cas & Jaago DJ Motion (124) Blue Steel Sounds (1-3) Alliance Crew (Fada Church, Biggs, X Amatuer, Nuri, Joe)

JRJ (4-10) Firestorm Crew (DJ Melrick, 67pm)

Sunday Mel C/Biggs Mel C/Biggs

DJ Motion (124) Heineken Top 20 (1-3)

JRJ (4-10)

Appendix IX: More FM Daily Programming Schedule

12-3

Monday

132