Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Gavin, I hear what you're saying about cultures not being monolithic, that's obviously true: it would be stupid to claim *all* Jamaicans are homophobic and *all* Britons are not. But the fact remains that the average Jamaican is far more likely to be homophobic than the average Briton, and that these generalisations apply not only to the general public but also the establishment's attitudes and the law, so it's still justified to talk about a 'homophobic culture'.
I think it's interesting that you say "there are probably loads of pro-gay people in grime, but I can't think of any"; to me, this smacks a bit of self-delusion. You like grime (I assume, maybe you don't), and you dislike bigotry and prejudice, so you want to believe there are anti-bigotry grime artists.
I don't see how a dichotomy between a country where people are regularly killed for being gay and one in which they aren't is in any way 'false'. I'm not trying to knock the entirety of Jamaican culture, obviously, and of course the country's music has huge influence on music scenes around the world, but the homophobia thing is a very ugly and widespread part of that culture and I think it's pretty lame to throw up our hands and say "Well, it's their culture not ours, so we can't criticize it for fear of being imperialistic".
I think it's interesting that you say "there are probably loads of pro-gay people in grime, but I can't think of any"; to me, this smacks a bit of self-delusion. You like grime (I assume, maybe you don't), and you dislike bigotry and prejudice, so you want to believe there are anti-bigotry grime artists.
I don't see how a dichotomy between a country where people are regularly killed for being gay and one in which they aren't is in any way 'false'. I'm not trying to knock the entirety of Jamaican culture, obviously, and of course the country's music has huge influence on music scenes around the world, but the homophobia thing is a very ugly and widespread part of that culture and I think it's pretty lame to throw up our hands and say "Well, it's their culture not ours, so we can't criticize it for fear of being imperialistic".