Reggae superstar Shabba Ranks is coming out guns blazing as he addressed several topics in a post performance interview at the recently concluded Welcome To Jamrock Cruise. The Mr. Lover Man DJ says although he has been treated unfairly in the industry he came from nothing and used what he had to achieve success and is now looking to provide opportunities for his future generations.
Shabba Ranks
Promptend by Winford Williams of Onstage the DJ said,
“Paul Mckartney nuh give weh him music free inuh, Mick Jagger nuh gi weh him things free,
Bruce Springsteen nuh gi weh him ting free. Mi gi weh enough free, so you see if a guy nah pay me fi Shabba sumn, well my youth them aguh release Shabba sumn.”
The deejay, whose real name is Rexton Rawlston Fernando Gordon rose to fame in the late 80s and early 90s and was signed toEpic Records in 1989.
During his Jamrock Cruise monologue, Shabba instructs his fans to call on the gate keepers to include him on the music that is being made in the reggae and dancehall community of today. “I work and make Dancehall be a multi-billionaire, multi-billions innah this music yah, and you see the people them who a the gate holder or the gate people them innah this music yah a gwan like seh them see every other artists and them don’t see Shabba, so hear what I want all of the people dem fi do”, as he paused. “Me want inuh fi chat to the people dem who a produce dancehall music and reggae music and make them know seh unuh want some Shabba music.”
Shabba’s biggest hit singles outside of Jamaica are the reggae fusions “Mr. Loverman“, “Housecall” with Maxi Priest, “Slow and Sexy” with Johnny Gill which is certified Gold by the RIAA for selling more than 500 thousand units, “Respect“, “Pirates Anthem“, “Trailer Load A Girls“, “Wicked inna Bed“, “Caan Dun“, and “Ting A Ling“.
Shabba says the reason he is excluded from producers and record label’s list of artist to work with to day is due to his strict business principles.
“Because me a deal with business and some man a deal with hustling them gwan like them nuh wah deal with me. Cause them have a old rule weh dem a use pon new fool, but because me a old fool weh understand the old rule dem gwan like them nuh wah deal with me,” he said to much cheers in the background.
“If a guy nah deal with business, I nah deal with nuh business cause whatever I do from now on is not for me, I have done for me already, it’s for my children’s children”, he added.
In a sober toned, the 54 year old Bed Room Bully artist emphasized the importance of owning the Masters of one’s music recordings, as that is the only way to ensure success and freedom. He also states that he will not be a slave to anyone else, and that he will emancipate himself if necessary.
“So unuh rob me of me already but unuh cyah rob me of my children’s children…a music me a deal with..If you do not own the masters you are a slave, and i refuse to be anymore slave, because them seh them emancipate we but me haffi emancipate myself.”
According to Data provided to WMV by Luminate, Shabba’s ’92 and ’93 back to back Grammy winning albums “Raw A Ever” and “Extra Naked” have sold 679 thousand units of pure Album Sales TEA/SEA: 679K with a total stream count of 87.1M, and522 thousand units with streams of 52 million in the US respectively as of December 7, 2022.
The masters to both of those albums are own by Sony Records as ownership of masters were not given to dancehall artists in the 1990s.
In 1993, Ranks scored a hit on the Addams Family Values soundtrack to which he contributed a rap/reggae version of the Sly and the Family Stone hit “Family Affair”. His third album for Epic, A Mi Shabba, was released in 1995. He was dropped by the label in 1996. Epic went on to release a greatest hits album, entitled Shabba Ranks and Friends in 1999.
Shabba’s contribution to music’s development goes outside of dancehall and reggae genres with his influence being the stylistic base of reggaeton music which can be traced back to the 1990s hit “Dem Bow”, from Ranks’ album Just Reality. The song produced by Bobby “Digital” Dixon, on the Dem Bow riddim became so popular in Puerto Rican freestyle sessions that early Puerto Rican reggaeton was simply known as “Dembow”.
Shabba Ranks
Ranks made a partial comeback in 2007 when he appeared on a song called “Clear The Air” by Busta Rhymes, which also featured Akon. Shabba released a single on Big Ship’s Pepper Riddim called “None A Dem”, in April 2011. In 2012, Shabba was featured on Tech N9ne’s EP E.B.A.H. on the track “Boy Toy”. In 2013, Shabba was also mentioned and made a cameo in the music video for the A$AP Ferg’s song “Shabba,” which has surpassed 100 million views on YouTube and was certified 2 times Platinum by the RIAA last October. Ranks Other Gold RIAA certification is for the song Slow & Sexy.
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