Yesterday, the world heard the news that UNESCO, the UN agency for culture and science, included reggae music on the list of "priceless cultural heritage that needs to be protected and promoted".
"The contribution of reggae music to the discourse on issues of injustice, resistance, love and humanity emphasizes its elemental dynamism, which is simultaneously intellectual, sociopolitical, sensual and spiritual," UNESCO said.
In our region, people who are in one way or another related to that musical genre accepted the news with joy, commenting that it was time for such a confirmation. One half of the Montenegrin hip hop duo Who See - Dedduh is a fan of this sound, which he played as a DJ and often implemented in his group's music. He assessed that UNESCO's decision is a privilege of the first kind.
"Haile Selassie had the title of emperor of emperors, king of kings, and this is something even stronger than that, where the whole world united in the idea that it is necessary to preserve reggae music and that culture because of all that it has contributed through the course of the development of music and civilization", said Dedduh for "Vijesti". UNESCO sees the contribution of reggae above all in the discourse on issues of injustice, resistance, love and humanity, and points out that this music has always been the voice of the oppressed.
"With this decision, a reality that is known to everyone is institutionalized, that is, formalized, which is that today reggae music is a global phenomenon that has brought new views to the world," said the frontman of the most significant and longest-running reggae band from the ex-Yu area - " Del Arno band" Jovan Matić.
Another Serbian reggae musician, Nemanja Kojić Kojot, believes that reggae has justly received this recognition, because according to him, today it is the only music that still promotes true human values.
"I'm not disparaging other genres, but reggae is the king of victory over time because the topics it explores and the problems it faces are eternal. Therefore, it was about time that culture was recognized at such a level. And I am like a representative, a man who has been very proud of this music for 20 years," he said.
In Montenegro, reggae is still on the sidelines, there are practically no performers, but for seven years now there has been the Montenegro Sun Reggae Festival in Petrovac for fans of this sound. The director of this festival, Vinko Mihajlović, also believes that reggae deserves a place of honor.
"Of all the directions, he was somehow unfollowed, especially in our country, but people understood that love dominates the most in those songs and thoughts. I was happy with that news and we hope that our festival will gain even more importance as a result", he said.
Mihajlović reminded that there are those who experience reggae with prejudices, comparing it to the experience of punk at one time, but added that there are fewer and fewer of those.
"A lot of people grab on to the fact that reggae artists like to smoke marijuana, but from a musical point of view it's a completely different story, with a unique form and a strong message," he added.
And Coyote points out that it is a positive movement that has begun to be accepted even by those who had prejudices about it.
"Somewhere, that music teaches us good manners and a certain lifestyle that is not only what people once thought it was. Reggae musicians are very socially engaged, all of them in Jamaica have their own humanitarian foundations, they give money to the poor, and that's where you can see the general culture of that movement," explained the musician.
The message of peace and fight for freedom that reggae carries and how it was important to him during the 90s when he was a teenager and he was attracted to this music.
"We could find ourselves in that music because it was such a specific time in the Balkans and I think that's why reggae was accepted and people still understand it here. In addition to the subject matter of the lyrics, I was also attracted by the spirituality in that music, which is rarely what popular music can provide," said Kojot.
Dedduh added that he was attracted to reggae by the fact that through it he can express himself as he wants and that this music makes him feel good, while Matić, like Coyote, points to the message of reggae, which according to him is significantly different from everything that was known before , at least in world music.
"That different approach to reality and that certain breadth and the introduction of certain mechanisms to position a person in relation to such reality, that's where, among other things, lies the value of reggae," concluded Marić.More current than ever
Although elements of reggae are present in the world's mainstream music today, Matić points out that the message of reggae makes sense only in its original form.
"The fact that it is commercialized are some tendencies that we cannot influence, but it certainly has full meaning only in that original message, and it is, just as it was at the time when reggae became globally visible, so it is very significant today. If not more significant because of everything that is happening, not only in our region, but in the world, it is perfectly clear that the messages and thoughts offered by that music are more current than ever", explained the musician.
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