Reggae and dancehall is lacking leadership and unity according to multi-instrumentalist Michael Goldwasser. Speaking exclusively with WMV the co-founder of New York based record label Easy Star said a lot of the issues in the genres could be straighten out if there was a focus on the bigger picture and a united voice.
“Me being from the outside and dealing with a lot of Jamaican artist and the people in the Jamaican industry, and I hope no one feels no way about this; me being and outsider critiquing but I do see a certain lack of unity in the Jamaican music community,” Michael said.
Reggae singer Jessie Royal is one of the reggae acts signed to Easy Star Records and the company produced his last two albums Lilly Of The Valley and his Grammy nominated Royal. Michael said even more than a lack of unity is the infighting among acts.
“Or even worst than that competitiveness that is detrimental to the progress of reggae, I feel like everyone is fighting for something small when if everyone could unite on some level they could achieve something big,” he declared.
Dancehall music is often relabeled whenever pop acts dabble in the genre and it hits the charts. Goldwasser says whenever that happens artists from Jamaica must unite and speak out or else it will continue.
“Life is not about what happens to you its about how you react. Yes it stinks that someone, I don’t even know who decided we are gonna call this ‘Tropical House’ or you know a lot of Afrobeats really is dancehall and I know there are some differences but there really would be no Afrobeats without Dancehall, people are labelling it what they are gonna label it but its about what does the reggae community do about that.”
As the genre evolves and many artists from rock, pop, and hip hop incorporate elements of dancehall into their music. For example 105 songs have been certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association Of America and 4 of them are dancehall singles according to their release credits; Justin Bieber‘s Sorry, Drake featuring WIZKID‘s One Dance, French Montana featuring Swae Lee’s Unforgettable and Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You.
These songs are characterized by the electronic drum beats, kick up rhythms, audacious lyrics, and the music videos have culturally unique dances and expressions, which were built on the backs of the Jamaican people.
The examples of mainstream media whitewashing Dancehall’s influence on popular music came from Rolling Stone Magazine’s since-edited review of Rihanna’s “Work” defined it as “a tropical house-flavored track featuring Drake,” while a Wall Street Journal article positioned Justin Bieber’s What Do You Mean? as “pioneering the ‘Caribbean, beach-party vibe’ of tropical house in the mainstream”.
The LA Times, have described pop dancehall tracks as “Caribbean-flavored house beat” or “airy tropical-house bangers.”
Bieber’s Sorry, first released by Def Jam records and produced by Skrillex and Bloodpop, became one of the biggest singles of 2015 and is the most successful dancehall song of all time based on US certifications. The song peaked at No. 1 on the global YouTube charts and spent three weeks at No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100. It made Forbes Magazine’s headlines after it broke sales records in 2016 and also became the most-streamed song in the U.K. since records began. It was also the first song to hit 100 million streams in Britain at the time and according to the esteemed magazine, “helped the Canadian star become the first artist to hold positions Number 1, 2, and 3 simultaneously on the Official Singles Chart”.
The success of Sorry helped to ignite popular music’s interest in Dancehall and several Dancehall-influenced hits followed post 2016, including Drake’s One Dance and Controlla, Rihanna’s Work, Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You which has sold more than 41 million units worldwide.
Micheal, who grew up in New York and spent a lot of time in Tel Aviv Isreal said the steak holders of reggae and dancehall needed to come together and make their voices heard immediately when Justin’s Sorry was released. “If there was some unity when Justin Bieber came out with that tune , if every people in the Jamaica music industry made some kind of statement about it and say look this is dancehall music,” he said.
Sean Paul along with 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.
Justin, prompted by DJ Khaled who asked 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 enquired.
The “What Do You Mean” 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”.
Watch full interview with Michael Goldwasser below :
