Ole
people use to say, “When one door close, another one opens” This writer grew up with the perception that
Reggae’s best markets are the United Kingdom, Europe and Africa while Dancehall
(its offspring) had better successes in the United States, the Caribbean and
Japan.
Dancehall music came about around the
late 1970s when social and political changes shifted away from roots music and leaned
towards local preference, centered around ‘the Jamaican experience’ when sound systems
performed live and more appealing to locals.
The early 1980s saw the emergence of deejays
in dancehall music, two of the biggest deejay stars of the then dancehall era,
Yellowman and Eek-a-Mouse, chose humour rather than violence. The United States became the place young
Dancehall artistes strive to make a significant impact in order to gain
International recognition and many fought hard to stake their claim in the Big
Apple. Yellowman became the first
Jamaican deejay to be signed to a major American record label.
Thereafter Reggae was now overshadowed
locally by dancing, hardcore and sexually explicit lyrics. This shift in style brought
about a new generation of artists, such as Buccaneer, Capleton, Shabba Ranks, Lady
Saw, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, Mad Cobra, Ninja Man and Buju Banton. The early
2000s saw the success of newer chart topping acts such as Sean Paul, Shaggy and
Elephant Man, who achieved mainstream success in the U.S. bridging the gap between
‘Popular and Internationally Acclaimed’ as their successes produced several top
10 Billboard hits.
New York may have arguably been the
place internationally where Dancehall music first got recognized but at the
turn of the decade (2010) many witnessed the birth of a new trend. Underground Dancehall music, the one that was
said would never make it past the Jamaican airports have seeped into the European
markets and seems to have soared in the past two years. Some may argue that the US visa revocation of
several Dancehall and Reggae stars have forced the artistes to look elsewhere
to sell their product but this writer believes that the most significant factor
that contributes to this new trend, is the controversial and highly publicized,
“Gaza/Gully” feud between Vybz Kartel and Mavado.
The Dancehall music that is accepted
internationally, even though commercial is polished in comparison to the
underground music heard in the streets of Kingston. This type of music has been criticized for
years as many have said and are still saying that this music does not reflect
the Jamaican culture. But like certain troubled issues that affects the
Jamaican artistes and their music, the constant pounding of the underground
genre has bore fruit. Just recently, Vybz Kartel performed on the Amsterdam
Reggae Festival and he was one of the most anticipated acts on that show, one
of the annual Reggae Festivals in Europe that is usually dominated with
performances by Reggae acts. The controversial
Dancehall artiste is said to be booked for appearances in Suriname and Africa, markets
usually reserved for popular Reggae acts.
The Gully/Gaza feud and its negativity have opened up a new market for
hardcore Dancehall artistes and so it is indeed a fact that, ‘when one door
closes another one opens’.