Grammys, Billboard and Mainstream, What’s In It For Dancehall?

Sean Paul along with other dancehall artistes such as Mr Vegas, have complained in the past that dancehall is not getting it’s just due on the international market scene. They too observe that other international acts are dabbling in the genre by using samples and features without giving credit to the people and the culture. The Guardian newspaper, reported that the Dutty Cup artist said “the use of dancehall in pop music is not viewed by him as paying homage, but as exploitation”.

He later commented on The Breakfast Club and on Hot 97 that he has collaborated with many pop acts, but he would like to see more credit given when dancehall is used by mainstream artistes. Mr Vegas was more outspoken when he said that “Drake is a fake” for using dancehall on his album without giving credit.

A Wall Street Journal article described how Justin Bieber’s What Do You Mean? was “pioneering the Caribbean, ‘beach-party vibe’ of tropical house in the mainstream”. Note the use of the words “pioneer”, “beach-party vibe” and “tropical house”. In saying Justin Bieber pioneered anything resembling the dancehall genre in the mainstream pop industry is to disregard the barriers broken by Shabba Ranks, Shaggy, Beenie Man, Elephant Man, Sean Paul, Patra, Ce’Cile, and many others for over 30 years. “Tropical house” is the name some American newspapers were using to describe dancehall whenever it is done by mainstream performers.

Justin got a chance to acknowledge where his inspiration came from during an interview with DJ Khaled on the First One Podcast.

“What inspired you to make that record, are you inspired by Reggae music, Dancehall music?” Khaled asked.

The Sorry singer replied, “I am really inspired by all music but in particular I love Island music, I love the feel of just the percussion. I am a drummer, and that percussion moves me and it makes me want to dance. I want to make music for the world. I don’t want to get caught up being too isolated, I want to make music that impacts all cultures and all ethnicities.”

Sean  Paul reacted to Bieber’s comments during an interview with TVJ’s The Entertainment Report.

“Now we’ve all of a sudden kind of abandoned it [traditional Dancehall] and Bieber is like:  ‘I love Island Music’ and him don’t even call up Jamaica inna it or he doesn’t even call up Dancehall music.”

With no official acknowledgement or doors being opened for the artistes or the people from whom the music came, that affects fair competition and the genre is further sidelined to just “Island music”.

On the other hand arguments about “dancehall is being destroyed” by the youth as positioned by veteran artist Beenie Man has no real basis because those who did well in the past can always record their versions of “real dancehall”. The fight is not with old versus new artists because in order to overcome the dependence on outside support dancehall artists must band together with one mission.

Beenie has the example of Verzus in which he contributed his talent to measure the wealth of his version of dancehall. At its core Verzus is dancehall and hip hop’s clash/battle culture leveraged into a billion dollar deal with streaming company Thriller.

Older Dancehall artists and producers would not be as critical of the younger acts if the overseas markets were fair game and not skewed towards those mainstream acts who exploit the 90s sound of the genre and forget to give credit.

Continued dependence on the Billboard charts, Grammys and other mainstream infrastructure for validation will do little to help dancehall to grow.

Focus instead on the technology because no matter where you are from, you can develop your music and culture, and distribute on all streaming platforms. No permission is needed.

As more technology becomes available, gatekeepers can try to prevent access for dancehall on international platforms but if so dancehall can create, build and support their own systems of validation. Build and support your own media and the music to attract the money. The UK’s GRM Daily is an example to follow. Their YouTube platform with over 5 million subscribers for their Daily Duppy feature is first to highlight many of the top UK acts, many now known internationally.

Power concedes nothing, it must be taken. This magazine concludes that those who have an interest in dancehall and the development of Jamaica’s entertainment industry must stop complaining about who appropriates the culture and place themselves where they can grow. Bashing Drake won’t stop him from singing what he wants and whatever is hot and golden will be used by the top pop acts to fill their coffers and climb the charts. Currently this is Africa’s longstanding genre Afrobeat.

Billboard added an Afronation sponsored Afrobeats songs chart but their Billboard Award show has never acknowledge dancehall and reggae music unless it is done under another name by Drake, Nicki Minaj Or Rihanna, and to make matters worst in 2020 they removed the reggae digital songs chart.

Dancehall does not need more artists, it needs more dancehall and reggae impresarios to navigate the industry and champion artists and hit records. It is time for energetic and smart entrepreneurs to do the groundwork required to break records. It is not enough to depend on the few labels who themselves have no clue how to bring Jamaican independent artists into superstardom.

Dancehall has the energy, reggae has the art, and Jamaica has the universal culture that is translatable. That is worth developing outside of the Billboard charts and Grammy awards. Eventually they will see its magnificence. With dancehall comes a unique language, a unique cuisine, and other indigenous cultural forms like dances and fashion that add value to international markets.

Whenever that cultural capital is organized, the big labels and fashion houses with the bigger budgets will come searching for the next dancehall king in the same way K-pop has risen to the top of the industry. After all, this is a business.

Dancehall, as a genre, is selling millions through streaming, downloads and physical CD sales.

The music industry worldwide had an 18.5 % increase in revenue last year. Latin America and The Caribbean was the fastest growing region so the business appetite is fresh and ready for micro music houses from the region. If you are an entrepreneur doing dancehall music, this is the time to get a great artist and put your music out. With Spotify and Apple Music now available everywhere, all the music of the world can be consumed for less than US$10 per month no matter where you live. In 2014, the music industry’s digital revenue was US$6.85 billion, and last year it was $25.9 billion. Streaming, according to Lyor Cohen, former music executive at DefJam, now a music content executive at YouTube, will increase revenue for everyone in the business.