Gay-bashing reggae singer Capleton ousted from Oakland concert

By Randy McMullen
Contra Costa Times

Updated: 02/19/2010 05:40:21 PM PST

A raggae/dancehall singer who has drawn fire for lyrics that critics say advocate violence against gays and lesbians has been removed from the lineup of the Ragga Muffins festival, which comes to the Fox Theater in Oakland on Feb. 20.
The Bay Area Reporter, a newspaper serving the gay community, quoted organizers of the tour as saying Jamaican-born singer/rapper Capleton has been dropped from the lineup at each of the reggae tour’s California stops. Organizers did not say why Capleton was dropped, although the move was made after the Reporter sent translations of Capleton’s lyrics to Moss Jacobs, a co-producer of the Oakland Ragga Muffins Festival show. The festival will still go on today, with performers including Gregory Isaacs, Barrington Levy, Michael Rose and Cocoa Tea.
Capleton, 42, whose real name is Clifton George Bailey III, has been under increasing fire for his lyrics of late, which have quoted as saying that gays and lesbians should be killed.
“Yow, string dem up and hang dem up alive,” he sings in one song, according to the group Stop Murder Music, which protests artists that it says malign gay and lesbians. Capleton has had shows canceled in Arcata and San Luis Obispo because of protests against his lyrics, the group says.

Capleton’s manager told the Reporter that the singer does not advocate killing or hurting gays, and that his Biblical/Rastafarian beliefs are being misinterpreted. Capleton was one of several artists who reportedly signed a Reggae Compassionate Act petition in 2007, saying the genre would not tolerate hateful lyrics against any group.