Reggae singer lauded for fighting murder music homophobia

Reggae singer Mista Majah P has been lauded as a lone voice for tolerance in the traditionally homophobic Jamaican music genre.

Also known as The Maverick and The King of Tolerance, Majah P has released two videos (see below) condemning the often violence-promoting homophobia in the reggae and dancehall scene; known as “murder music.”

The videos include graphic footage of horror attacks on LGBT people in Jamaica, which is often dubbed the most homophobic country in the world.

In his latest single, Karma, he also warns anti-gay performers that their prejudice and hatred will lead to their own misery.

Writing for the International Business Times, Peter Tatchell, the British LGBT rights campaigner and coordinator of the Stop Murder Music campaign, said Majah P is a “ground-breaking” artist.

Tatchell revealed that the singer is working on a new album, Gays Belong In Heaven Too. This will be his third LGBT-affirming album since 2011; when he released the “world’s first pro-gay reggae album.”

“Appalled by the corruption and debasement of reggae’s ‘One Love’ ethos, Majah P is challenging homophobic singers in a new and different way – with music that damns and refutes their bigotry. Although not gay, he supports the LGBT communities and gay equality,” Tatchell wrote.

Majah P said that he wants “to counter the myths that all Jamaicans are homophobic and that all reggae music is violent and anti-gay. I’m seeking to challenge ignorance and reach out to gay people.”

He has even suggested that some of Jamaica’s most notorious anti-gay reggae singers might themselves be gay, stating that, “Perhaps they don’t like their sexuality and deflect their self-hate onto gay people.”

Jamaican artists in the genre have come under fire for their homophobic performances and song lyrics since the early 1990s. They’ve faced boycotts and concert cancellations in Europe and the US due to their dangerous bigotry.

Majah P, who emigrated to Canada in 1982 before later moving to the US, has been nominated 10 times for the Canadian Reggae Music Award, winning on four occasions, including ‘Entertainer of the Year’ in 1997.