‘The Plane Land’ not about 9/11
LIKE MANY tragedies that prompt creativity, so did the aeroplane attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York, the Pentagon in Washington DC and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 16 years ago.
Moreover, the event inspired a worldwide musical response with recording artistes releasing tracks like Hope by Twista featuring Faith Evans in 2004, Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, and Freedom by Paul McCartney. Elephant Man’s The Bombing spoke about the fears of travellers after the aeroplanes were hijacked for the terrorist attacks.
In April 2008, Jamaican singer Richie Spice released a song that spoke of the general atmosphere inside airports, singing “search dem a search, dem a search fi Taliban” in the single, The Plane Land.
Despite that line, Richie Spice said “activities like 9/11 could never cause any creativity in I man lyrics as a positive force in Earth.”
The song continues with Spice singing about immigration officers “searching mass destruction/Dash weh mi toothpaste/Dash weh me stimulant”. Richie Spice told The Gleaner he is actually sharing one of his own encounters.
‘GANJA PLANE’ LAND
“What really inspired The Plane Land is an inspiration that was there before 9/11, as when we used to travel from Jamaica to certain places, anytime them see our aeroplane they would say ganja plane land,” said Spice.
“But since 9/11, you find that everything is dealt with differently, and one day while I was going through a port (as the final passenger), that person that searched me threw away some of my belongings, including a liquid stimulant, and being on a long journey, with constant performances, that used to help me with my energy levels and protecting my voice,” he said.
The dedicated member of the Rastafari movement does not believe the 9/11 terrorists attacks affected the music industry or Rastafarians. However, he said, “It affects the world and puts everyone on the same level so you find that from the event, the world has changed, thus everybody has to adjust themselves to it and step serious and skillfully,”
“As it relates to Rastafari, 9/11 doesn’t affect we, as we always travel clean and neat,” he said.