Picture Jamaica in the late 70s: A dance hall in the country’s capital, Kingston is filled with working-class people. The crowd is dressed in their best waiting for the DJ and the selector to set the vibes. All of a sudden the DJ spins an instrumental vinyl record or what the Jamaican calls as riddim. With a mic in his hand, the DJ steps forward to raise a toast and deliver his best lyrical piece to get the crowd more excited. And, with every word he uttered the crowd gets even more excited.
This is how Dancehall’s roots began as it informed Kingston’s lower and working-class people’s life experiences. The music that came out speaks volumes. Dancehall music is not just about the melodies but also about the fashion, art, and dance that comes along with it. It was a way of life.
Origin:
In late 1970s Jamaica, the music base drastically shifted from its reggae roots towards a more contemporary and modern-age display of culture. The new trend was popularly coined as Dancehall. And, it was the emergence of a global phenomenon. Physical venues for Dancehall had existed in the 1950 and 1960s that blasted out popular rock-steady and reggae sound. There were live performers, huge custom, food, alcohol, and speakers that attracted the Jamaican masses to the party.
Dancehall is considered to be the product of hip-hop and it owes its name to the places where the Jamaican recordings were being aired and also readily consumed from, the ‘dance halls’. The genre Dancehall is also considered to be the creation of Henry Junjo Lawes in 1979. It was further refined by King Jammy in the early 80s when there was a transition from dub to dancehall, and there were original attempts made to digitize the hooks to toast by the Jamaican DJs.
Reggae is considered to be the predecessor of Dancehall and was influenced by the ideologies of the Rastafarian culture. It was also influenced by the socialist movements of the era. Many became resentful by such movements and the harsh economic realities that they brought to the island. It was during this specific period that the focus shifted to the Jamaicans that eventually spawned into the bling-bling form of entertainment.
Typically, Dancehall was spotted in the urban side of Jamaica. The term dancehall comes on a grand scale and suggests that the institution of the entire genre or culture that includes dance, politics, community, and music must collide.
The 1980s was a critical period for the genre of Dancehall
With rolling time, up-tempo cadences laced with engaging lyricism became the core of Dancehall’s records and gave much insight into the Jamaican social climate. The 80s was a significant period for the genre as it started distinguishing itself from the conscious-minded genre of Reggae that preceded it. Unlike Reggae that spoke to sovereignty and black liberation, Dancehall emerged as the rebellious cousin!
It was after the death of Bob Marley, that the style of music began to shift from being government-focused to a more individualistic style.
It spoke about different aspirations and beliefs. It was raw and unfiltered, and the music highlighted the gritty realities of Kingston’s minority groups with themes that explored the 6 G’s: Gyal, Ghetto, Gun, Ganja, Gays, and God.
The records explored a diverse amount of musings and it often shared the crude truths about the pooer in Kingston, their connection to God, the recreational benefits of dragging Gaja (weed), the state of homophobia that wrapped the nation, the violence that the people had to encounter every day, and the numerous women they aspired to have.
Dancehall in 1984:
In 1984, the genre encountered its ever first watershed moment with the emergence of Sting. The clashes in sound presented the DJs with an opportunity to test their skills against the other sound systems in Jamaica, stage shows became an important part of the process. The artists needed to perform in bigger stages to entertain bigger audiences. And, one of the biggest stage shows was Sting, often called ‘The Greatest One Night Reggae and Dancehall Show on Earth’.
Sting was held annually on December 26th and the event was started initially because Isaiah Laing, a popular cop-turned-promoter in Jamaica started feeling unsafe during his commute home, as he frequently encountered shootouts. Hence, Sting was started as a dance in 1982 to collect money to buy a car so that he could avoid guns and violence.
Surprisingly, the dance event went so well that he decided to continue hosting the event and after two years, he rebranded it as Sting that gave fans a hardcore experience of one night with their favorite DJs.
Some of Dancehall’s biggest names have done face-offs on the stage of Sting, including Yellowman, Supercat, Ninjaman, Shabba Ranks, Buju Banton, and others. During Sting, a trail of DJs was invited to raise a toast in front of the massive crowd. No matter how fiery two opposing artists were on the streets, it was based on how they performed freestyle against each other on the stage that became the deciding factor.
DJs like Shabba Ranks and Yellowman boasted of their musical prowess and looks, which was a form of individual advancement for the urban poor. Since there were technological advancements around the art of DJing, it also meant faster rhythms that could be produced easily and more DJs could emerge into the scene.
Dancehall in 1985:
In 1985, Dancehall had its second-biggest milestone instance with the debut f its first-ever digital riddim, ‘Sleng Teng’. Rumors have it that Sleng Teng was originally built in 1983 on a Casio MT-40 keyboard by the iconic producer Lloyd ‘King Jammy’ James and keyboardist Noel Davey. However, forged around a slightly modified version of a present rock style, ‘Sleng Teng’ sounded completely different. Artist Wayne Smith had performed ‘Under Mi Sleng Teng’ which became a solid hit. The introduction of digitized riddims became a revolutionary moment for Dancehall as it sort of democratized the music-mixing style of the genre. This step made it much more accessible to the producers to create new sounds.
However, no big genre has ever shot to fame without some sort of controversy!
In Dancehall, the lyricists were being accused of slackness or for promoting misogyny, sexual bragging, violence, homophobia, and sometimes objectification. There used to be moral panic surrounding the gangsta lyricism and gun tunes that led to dancehall to be considered as degenerative and a catalyst for fueling violence in Jamaica.
Moreover, numerous dancehall artists had made homophobic comments and this was a significant problem that was in all ways unacceptable. However, aside from the artists, the genre of Dancehall was loud, vibrant, and of course colorful. It was quite empowering for the Caribbean people who were being marginalized to face the trials of history. Dancehall was always known to go against societal norms and fixed standards of decency.
The popularity of Dancehall was vast and it helped to make the parties and stage performances more energetic and vibrant. Numerous dance moves that are spotted in hip-hop are actual depictions or variations of the Dancehall genre. Few examples of such dance styles are Wine & Dip, Like Glue, Tek Weh Yuhself, Drive-By, To Di World, Whine Up, Pon Di River, Keeping it Jiggy, Wacky Dip, Bad Man Forward Bad Man Pull Up, and many others.
Few world-renowned artists who have elevated the aura of Dancehall globally are Beenie Man, Busy Signal, Vybz Kartel, Aidonia, Mavado, and Konshens.
With so much history, controversy, and uniqueness, Dancehall has changed the face of the music industry forever. It is one of the most versatile genres of music with so many artists from around the world collaborating on tracks that feature the best of the Dancehall riddims.
In today’s world, a vast majority of the audience that comprises students as well consumes Dancehall music knowingly or unknowingly. In 2006, it was Rihanna’s song ‘Work’ was the first song that topped the charts since Sean Paul’s ‘Temperature’ in 2006. Beenie Man and Sean Paul could be heard in every throwback room.
Today, Dancehall has taken the world by a storm both as a musical genre and as a dance style that influences numerous artists and other genres around the world.
2020 was indeed a great year for Dancehall with several new players coming on board to give big new hits.
Some of the best Dancehall artists over the years are:
- Vybz Kartel
- Popcaan
- Buju Banton
- Stone Bwoy
- Mavado
- Sean Paul
- Damian Marley
- Shabba Ranks
- Tommy Lee
- Sizzla
- Beenie Man
- Alkaline
- Shaggy
- Busy Signal
- Winky
Even though there have been ferocious competition over the years, there have been constant ups and downs. Both mass and style play an important role in the success of a Dancehall composition. Here are some of the best Dancehall compositions over the years:
- Girls Dem Sugar
- Sycamore Tree
- Pon De River, Pon De Bank
- Gimme The Light
- Duty Wine
- Murderer
- Hold You
- Punanny
- Action
- Ghetto Red Hot
- Saddest Day of My Life
- Dat Sexy Body