April 20th 2005: it will go down in history as the night when widespread looting and chaos brought Albert Street and the entire downtown Belize City to the brink of a full fledged riot, even as the riot squad waited for further orders across the bridge. And while it may take years for historians to fully analyze the events of that night on Albert Street, one lyricist has already found a way to culturally contextualize it. Veteran rapper Dan Man has come upon a breakout hit penning a song to the chant that started it all 'Albert Street.' We met Dan Man on where else but Albert Street and he told us why his tune has become the soundtrack of the not-so-velvet revolution. Keith Swift Reports:
[April 20th, 2005] 'Crowd on Belcan Bridge shouting Albert Street'
'Albert Street' - it was a grim portent that went out across the city on the night of April 20th. Half hour later after it was heard on the Belcan Bridge there would be looting, chaos, and a wild, unchecked spree of lawlessness on Albert Street and the general downtown area. Now these moments which were gainful and celebratory for some, traumatic for others, disgraceful for a few, and historic for us all have been immortalized in song.
[Dan Man Rapping: 'Attention! Deh di talk 'bout tief, he noh practice what he preach. Where we gren right now? Where we gren? Albert Street! Albert Street!']
Dan Man, Rapper
"The song Albert Street actually is just a historical event that I document in the form of a song so that when people play their music they could always refer back to it as to say this occurred in history on Albert Street. It will go down in history Keith and it's a live event that happened in Belize and it's a very serious one, people could have been more badly hurt than they were. But I sought the need to make a song of this simply because it's a historical event-Albert Street."
It's a history that Trevor Hemsley, who raps under the name Dan Man, says he played no part in. This rapper says he is only cataloging the events which he watched unfold on 7NEWS from the comfort of his home in Lord's Bank Village.
Dan Man,
"I was not on Albert Street, I was at home in Lord's Bank. My information that I got from Albert Street was simply through the television and from the people who might have been the participants or who were the witnesses of the riot. I just got my information from the people of Belize, Belize City."
And what he captures in the song with wit, lyrical precision, and a few stinging political jabs is instantly and uniquely recognizable to the culture of Belize City where today's tragedy is always tomorrow's comedy.
[Dan Man Rapping: You see me shirt and me pants. Albert Street! How me tennis and me fan? Albert Street! You see me DVD? Albert Street! How me brand new TV? Albert Street! You see me camera phone? Albert Street!]
Dan Man,
"Its like this song was already made out by the people of Belize City and placed to me because as I said it had occurred. I am not making any suggestive terms, I am not endorsing violence in any kind of way, I am just merely making a song off an actual event that took place in Belize City."
As we talked to Dan Man on Albert Street, and by coincidence it was during a real time riot squad drill, he says he isn't glorifying the events of April 20th. Rather with the song's up tempo beat, catchy hooks, and vivid lines he says he wants to ensure we never forget what happened and more importantly why it happened.
Dan Man,
"Its not something that you can easily forget because as far as I'm concerned the reason behind Albert Street still exists. The struggles that the people are in which provoked them to be on Albert Street still exist, there's still tension in the air. As Belizean musicians we need to be realistic and sing about things that are happening in our country. I would like the Belizean people to know that violence is not the solution, unity is, and the one thing that struck me the most in order to write the song were the unity that the Belizean people had. I would like to see more unity. I wouldn't want in no way for this song to provoke anybody to violence or to be telling anybody to go into the next nearby store as a mob and break into it and help yourself. In no way I condone violence. I would like this song Albert Street to just make a mark in history."
And that mark may be as the inevitable soundtrack to the night of April 20th.
The single will be in stores next week. The song was recorded at Enigma Studios.
7NEWS produced for broadcast by News Director Jules Vasquez
Edited and Prepared for the internet by Keith Swift
