Title: Jamaica: The loudest island on the planet?

source:bbc

Excerpt: Everywhere you go in Jamaica, you hear music - loud music. Although authorities recently enforced an island-wide musical curfew, there is a growing campaign to relax the restrictions. Why has the Caribbean nation gained a reputation for being the loudest island on the planet?

Excerpt: Welcome to the loudest island on the planet - up until 02:00 anyway. Recently, after so many sleep-deprived tourists complained about the noise, the government began to enforce legislation which curbs all music publicly aired beyond the early hours of the morning, especially in and around resorts.

Excerpt: Jamaican musicians haven't just chronicled events - they have also tried to change society. The Wailers' 1963 hit Simmer Down was a call for rude boys - violent petty criminals who terrorised their communities in the 1960s - to lay down their arms. It's much the same advice offered by the DJ Beenie Man more recently, who warned in the song If You Live by the Gun, you will also die that way.