Faith Ellington warns explicit Hill and Gully lyrics harm Jamaica's folk heritage

Veteran broadcaster and cultural commentator Faith Ellington has criticised what she calls the defacing of Jamaican culture through sexually explicit lyrics riding on the popular Hill and Gully riddim produced by Steven "The Genius" McGregor.

The rhythm has dominated local charts and social media as multiple artists release tracks on the project. Ellington told CVM Television that she has no quarrel with McGregor for reviving a melody rooted in folk tradition, but she finds the crude lyrics layered on it deeply troubling and damaging to national identity.

Ellington, who spent a year with the Jamaican Folk Singers under the late Dr Olive Lewin, traced the rhythm to the Maroons of St James, who used it in hilly terrain where young people leapt between ridges and gullies in playful athletic movement. She said folk music carries sociology and history, not empty entertainment, and noted that the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission has used the same rhythm to promote traditional dances such as Gerreh and Dinki Mini ahead of Grand Gala.

She drew a line between innovation and desecration. McGregor, she said, has repositioned heritage brilliantly; the problem is what some artists choose to sing. She is not calling for bans, but asked what families, children and the nation are promoting and exporting abroad. She contrasted today's in-your-face crassness with older calypso double entendre, citing Sparrow, where a child beside an adult might not grasp the meaning, unlike much of what circulates now on social media.

Ellington said responsibility extends beyond dancehall performers to political parties, corporate sponsors who fund artists, show promoters, academia, churches and the wider public. She urged producers to be more creative, suggesting social commentary, sports, politics or everyday life as subjects instead of gutter themes, and challenged young people to look beyond short clips on TikTok and Instagram toward institutions such as the Institute of Jamaica and performances by folk groups whose work is also available on recordings and YouTube.

She stressed that the issue is lyrics, not the riddim itself, and that bedroom themes need not flood public platforms. She said she is disappointed that some women embrace and perform explicit material, though not all do, and she encouraged young artists to meet, reason and disagree respectfully, as in past industry discussions. She closed by recalling the folk song "Manuel Road," born from women breaking stones for roadworks in Clarendon, to show how tradition can carry real labour and history before it becomes play.