'Beenie Man' says 'sorry' (through gritted teeth) ...

... Homophobic rap artist 'Beenie Man' has issued a statement through his record label, Virgin, which is quite obviously a cynical manoeuvre to try and minimise the commercial damage he is suffering (concerts cancelled, etc):

"It has come to my attention that certain lyrics and recordings I have made in the past may have caused distress and outrage among people whose identities and lifestyles are different from my own. "While my lyrics are very personal, I do not write them with the intent of purposefully hurting or maligning others, and I offer my sincerest apologies to those who might have been offended, threatened or hurt by my songs. "As a human being, I renounce violence towards other human beings in every way, and pledge henceforth to uphold these values as I move forward in my career as an artist."

What's all this nonsense about may have caused distress and outrage; there is absolutely no doubt that it caused both conditions mentioned and it is inconceivable that the writer of the lyrics (aka 'Beenie Man' himself) did not deliberately use such foul lyrics both to appeal to his depraved fans and with the specific intention of causing the maximum distress and outrage amongst his targets that he now tells us was not done with the "intent of purposefully hurting or maligning others". Pull the other one, mon!

If he lives up to the promise implied in his final paragraph above not to indulge in such foul behaviour in future, nor to use again any of the lyrics in songs already written which have caused so much offence and distress, then it will perhaps become clear that his 'apology' has real meaning and is not just a crass attempt to pemit him to resume his concerts and then, little by little, return to his old foul ways.

UPDATE: (Thursday 5AUG04 00.43 BST) It seems my cynicism about the motives behind this so-called apology were fully justified. According to this report in 365gay.com a different line is being peddled in Jamaica, Beenie Man's home country. There the story is that it is not an apology. It seems clear the sole motive for the statement issued through Virgin is to try and protect the commercial viability of the Beenie Man brand in Europe and North America. Stuff that, is what I say!!