Stop Murder Music

Murder music is a term coined by British gay rights activist Peter Tatchell in the mid-1990s to describe the homophobic work of certain Jamaican musicians, primarily dancehall and ragga artists who called for and encouraged physical violence and murder of homosexuals.

The Stop Murder Music campaign is jointly run by Outrage!, the Black Gay Men's Advisory Group, and Jamaican gay rights organization Jamaica Forum of Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays (J-Flag).

The Stop Murder Music Campaign have accused Beenie Man, Elephant Man, Sizzla, Bounty Killer, Vybz Kartel, Capleton, T.O.K., Buju Banton and others of promoting anti-gay violence, harassment, and bigotry through their music.

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Tatchell has called for laws against homophobic music and the Campaign participated in protests outside concerts. The Campaign has especially objected to lyrics which seem to support violence, including murder, of gay men. Tatchell's campaign began in the early 1990s when Buju Banton's song "Boom Bye-Bye" was released and has continued to date. Dennis Carney, chair of the Black Gay Men's Advisory Group, argued that the MOBO Awards had a responsibility to exclude anti-gay artists because, "homophobic lyrics in music normalise hatred towards black gay men." Tatchell picketed the MOBO Awards ceremony to protest at their inviting performers of murder music. Tatchell received death threats and was labelled a racist. Tatchell defended himself by pointing to a life's work campaigning against racism, and stated that his statements on Jamaica were in support of terrorised black groups within Jamaica.

Tatchell has also criticised the rapper Eminem, commenting that "it's not hard to imagine Eminem as a woman-hating, self-loathing, repressed gay man" on the basis of his appearance and "obsession" with gay sex. However, most of those assertions went away after Eminem's performance of "Stan" with Elton John.

Reggae Compassion Act
The Reggae Compassion Act was an agreement signed in 2007 by artists including Beenie Man, Capleton, and Sizzla, so as to stop the Stop Murder Music campaign.


 * Brian Williamson
 * LGBT rights in Jamaica