The Tribune

By LESH

IN THIS year's general election, political campaigns are constantly being energized and kept alive, not by the speakers alone, but by the support from local musicians. Singing their hit songs, artists are transforming rallies into mini concerts every chance they get. For many artists, it is just business, but not all.

Having the opportunity to perform at both Free National Movement (FNM) events and Democratic National Alliance (DNA) events, Willis Knowles lead singer of the Illest said it is all for entertainment. While he made it clear that his band has not endorsed any political party, and has not plans to, he said his fans appreciate them wherever they chose to play, whether it is for the FNM, DNA or Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).

"Certain artists would make political songs and sing them, but we just go out and play our originals and play the music for the people and that is it," said Willis.

When asked about how their rally performances are affecting the band's image, he said: "I would not say it is effecting the band's image in anyway because I think the message of our music itself is so free and so separate, we are just entertaining."

"A couple of our fans made jokes about it. There was one that said: 'So the only one that you have to perform to is the PLP?' But not in a serious light at all. A lot of our fans, we have seen some of them at the DNA and the FNM rally and the reception from both of them has been positive. They come up to us and let us know how it's nice to have us there," said Willis.

Musicians supporting politics is nothing new to the campaign scene in the Bahamas or the world at large. Some musicians even take their efforts as far as creating songs for specific parties. According to the Marquee Blog on CNN Entertainment, having a motivating, popular campaign song is one way to connect with voters and supporters.

American song writer and singer, Will I.Am assisted in President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign with his popular song "Yes We Can", named after Obama's official campaign slogan.

When Bahamian entertainer, writer and producer Kirkland "KB" Bodie was asked to produce a song for the FNM party, he took his talents into creating the well known song, "We Deliver." After performing the song to a number of FNM rallies, it has reached the ears of many voters, becoming one of the FNM's top rally songs.

He told Tribune Entertainment: "This is what I do. I write songs and I write for a lot of people, so the party asked me to write a song for them. And of course when you are on the stage performing, the crowd is going to love it. The point is they like what you bring to them. The song is talking about their party and 'bigging'" them up, so you are just doing your job."

Whether a musician is performing for one party or many, KB said at the end of the day, they are all asked to entertain the audience.

"Some musicians look at it as fun. I look at it as work. No one is never going to come up in your face and say get up out of here. I think Bahamians are really understanding that you are doing a job. They enjoy what you're doing because they like your music," said KB.

For KB, he said he prefers to simply just focus on one specific political party during the election season. "I am speaking from my perspective, not anyone else's. Earlier this year, I have done PLP and DNA events, but at one point I have been doing only FNM jobs. The reason why I would decide to let's say 'work for one party other than working for all of the rallies', is because I don't want to ever go on stage and miss and call the wrong name," he said.

Local music artist MDeez Knight added that his performances at the political rallies are just a good way to make money. "This is my job and I have to support my family, so at this moment it is just me doing my job and I let my fans know that," he said.

He said he finds that people are just going out to party and have a good time. "My fans have been asking, 'Where you performing next?' There are a lot of the same people going to PLP and FNM rallies," he said.

So far, Bahamian artist Puzzle said he has been getting a lot of positive feedback from his performances at PLP rallies during this election season. " I have been "vibing" with the PLP right now, so all of the rallies they have been doing all over the island, I have been pretty much working with them," he said.

Encouraging all Bahamians to go out and vote, earlier this year, Puzzle released a single called, "Vote 4 Me." The song urges Bahamians to exercise their constitutional right by marking a ballot on voting day.

"It is not a PLP, FNM, DNA song. I basically wrote the song to encourage Bahamians to get out there and vote because it is our right. We all need to come together and vote because that is the only way we will be able to see some kind of change in our country," said the musician.