Dancehall Club for Gays

Yes believe it or not there is a Dancehall club for gays. We couldn't believe it ourselves,  but it appears to be true in the liberal country of Sweden.

But if you think  the concept of a reggae club for  gays is surprising, even amazing, wait to you hear the name of the club, talk about totally changing around the language.

The following is a post taken from scandi dancehall, the top dancehall website in Sweden

Scandinavias First dancehall club for gays in Sweden

An article for discussion:

Petter Wallenberg and Daniel Björk, the writers of the book "Bögjävlar" that was released a few years ago has now started up a new club concept called Batty Boy, on the well-known gay bar"Jävla Bögbar" in Stockholm.

"Batty boy" is a curse word for gay and a word that is often mentioned both in the music and daily life in Jamaica.

But is it right to exclude a whole group of people to listen to a music genre?

In an interview with Tove Leffler in DN (swedish paper) the boys wants to make it clear that all reggae and dancehall music are not homofobic, wich many people believe.

Before Beenie man came to Sweden in june (2010), the whole concert was in danger to be cancelled because of protests and campaigns against his "homofobic message" and texts.

"Both me and Daniel loves reggae music. Now it feels slaughtered and thats what we want to change"'

The club will only play gay-friendly music, or in other words none "bun batty tunes".

In Jamaica, wich is the hardest country in the world to be gay and the prime minister played T.O.K's "Chi chi man" tune on the election meeting, the discussion of "batty boy" twisting to a positive word is not even close to being a subject, but all the income from the "Batty Boy" club in Stockholm goes to Jamaicas organisation for gays and transexual, J-Flag - that arranged the first gay parade on the island earlier this spring. A big step on the way of making it more acceptable to be gay - also for people in Jamaica.

"We wants to show solidarity with them, through spreading joy. Reggae is afterall a happy genre." (-Daniel Björk)

Its also a political thing and a good start to something better, because music should promote joy and not hate.

The parts of the interview is shared with permission from journalist Tove Leffler and founder of "Club Batty Boy" Daniel Björk. Read the whole interview here. 

http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/nyheter/reggae-ar-ju-ganska-fjollig-musik

Check out another interview in Stockholms web magazine Allt om Stockholm Here.  

http://www.alltomstockholm.se/start/article1292528.aos

Our Swedish is not where it should be so we are asking all our Mad Music fans out there if anyone is familar with this story or the accompanying article or you are actually living in Sweden, if you can say if it was just a one off event and or it is a regular club night.

Regardless of your views on homosexulaity you have to admit it is maad, who ever thought the music would have taken it this far.

Actually Sweden is no joke in regard to its appreciation of the music and actually has active reggae and dancehall community. Although all in Swedish check out this small feature on some of the stalwarts of Swedish reggae:



The host Peppe Eng apparently is also a Dancer, sorry they didnt include footage of him in action. Even if you cant  follow the language it is a worth a watch, the highlights include a Jamaican dancer, Fire Di Blackz (at the 2:00 mark) who has now made Sweden the home for his dancing skills.

The appreciation is maaaad and we mean that in a good way.