‘Condoms are the cheapest insurance’
Kranium says deejays can still help promote safer sex practices
The suggestive lyrics of some of Jamaica’s dancehall entertainers have been hard to censor, especially in space where young people are exposed to the music on a daily basis on public transportation and is also thought to influence their sexual behaviours.
A couple weeks ago, dancehall entertainer Kranium posted a picture on social media with the caption: “While being in charge, always remember condoms are the cheapest insurance”.
Whether intended to promote his new single, In Charge, it was met with positive feedback from Instagram users who commended him for using the platform to promote safer sex practices.
Speaking to
THE STAR,
Kranium said: “I wasn’t promoting condom usage to be honest. I was just speaking facts that condoms are the cheapest insurance in the world.”
The entertainer has been known for having a provocative catalogue, some of which have been labelled as baby-making or bedroom music.
“I think it’s a good complement,” he said of the labels, as it adds to the promotion of the music, “even though I don’t go into the studio thinking about creating what is it called, “baby-making music”. It just happens because of the type of beat I love to sing on, or based off life experiences,” he said.
“But I do believe our dancehall entertainers can use the various platforms to speak on safe sex because at the end of the day we are all influential.”
Contacted by THE STAR, director of Health Promotion and Prevention at the National Family Planning Board (NFPB), said that messages of safer sexual practices must be in line with people’s lifestyle for it to be effective.
“Otherwise, the adolescent community receives mixed messages from the artiste speaking the ‘safe sex messages’, while their lifestyle and behaviours are not in line with the message being promoted. The agency is, therefore, targeted in forging partnerships with members of the dancehall fraternity, so that the key objective of the agency and the entertainer’s brand are responding in kind,” Campbell said.
The organisation has partnered with local entertainers like Konshens and Raine Seville for past media campaigns and others such as Devin Di Dakta and Chris Martin for events.