Dancehall producer Rvssian says Afrobeats would be in trouble if dancehall artists put up a unified front and attacked the music market with tours, consistent quality output along with support from the Caribbean fans.
Speaking on the Let’s Be Honest Podcast, the multi-millionaire producer shared that he believes Valiant, Skeng, and RajahWild are among the new school leaders but shared the major problem is selecting one person to run the genre.
“I think the problem with Dancehall is the man them always want to pick one person to lead. That’s actually mashing up the whole genre. One man can’t push a genre no matter how big you are. One man is not pushing hip hop, one man is not pushing Latin music, one man is not pushing Afro, one man is not pushing pop; it’s consecutively 10-15,” the multi-talent producer assessed.
“The problem with what we have in Jamaica is ‘who him alone a run the place’; the music can’t be that big with one man, it has to be 8 hot artists pushing at one time so the world can say ‘what is this movement,’ because trust me it’s 20 hot Afro artists, not just Burna Boy; it’s Rema, it’s so much,” Rvssian stated.
During the interview the Miami native said part of the reason he get around in the industry has to do with the wya he carrie himself like wearing a million dollar watch and he explains that the mentality of Jamaican fan base is also apart of what is holding back the artists. “We need to get rid of that, if we really love the music and want to make it grow, we have to come out of that mentality of saying ‘one man’.”
“Realistically we haffi support all a the man dem,” he said.
Dancehall is the coolest
Rvssian contends that dancehall is the coolest genre in the world. “Dancehall is cool, bro. Everywhere I go in the world, dancehall is respected, the culture of dancehall, Jamaica, and dancehall are cool, it always has been cool. Nobody can’t tell me nuttn; we set the trend. Nuff a the music we look up to, them watching us. All a dem. What I think is the difference now is maybe it is not as profitable as the other genres because it’s a niche of the people who actually love dancehall and actually not streaming it as much, but if ten hot artists are popping at this time pushing dancehall, it will blow up, the same way Afro has ten hot men, and it blows up,” he said.
The continent of Africa is one of the fastest growing regions for music in 2023 and the huge population of its countries does make the genre more lucrative in the streaming era with acts like Burna Boy , Wizkid and Rema streaming in the Billions. But the Rich Immigrant CEO who has deals with Sony and Universal Records says there is increased interest in Jamaican dancehall music over the past two years. “In the last two years, it’s probably the best state dancehall has been in, in terms of interest from the labels; five years ago, no label was caring about signing a dancehall act. They are investing in artists too, but the thing is more labels are still looking, but as I say if we have more artists doing the right thing to make it successful, you will see more investment,” he said.
Just this week music executive Ali Niaz who got Skillibeng his recording contract with RCA Records told WMV that labels are willing to spend up to a million dollars for album deals with dancehall artists. “ If you are an artist that’s hot, and doing great stuff, labels are more than happy to throw half a million USD for an album with the option for another, if you are hot property, sometimes that can get you to a million.” Ali said.
Ali also agrees with artist taking a more organized approach to the industry if they expect to have a chance at success internationally as their music ownership is fragmented.
“It’s still a business; they do analytics” says Rvssian. Adding, “when they’re (labels) investing, they’re investing millions. I tell you if we have 15 man running the thing, Afrobeats in a problem,” he professed.
1993 was the most successful year on the Billboard chart for reggae and dancehall music when the genres occupied 3.9 % of the Billboard charts. While in 2023 only one dancehall song Byron Messia’s Talibans managed to chart for one week at No. 98 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Meanwhile 217 Afrobeats songs charting charted on the US Billboard Afrobeats chart during its inaugural year.
Rvssian’s signee Shenseea was the last female dancehall act from Jamaica to hit the Billboard Hot 100 in 2021 by way of Kanye West’s Ok Ok Pt. 2 and Pure Souls in 2021. Before then, it was Miss Thing 17 years earlier with Beenie Man’s “Dude” which peaked at No. 26 on June 12, 2004.
