Trap Dancehall has emerged as the successor to the original Jamaican Dancehall that dominated the airwaves in the 1990s, with several artists laying claim to being the founder of the genre. Munga Honorable said he pioneered the Trap sound within Dancehall with his 2006 hit “Flipin Rhymes.” He credits rap and R&B as major influences on his style. That song, produced by Don Corleon, was part of the High Altitude riddim. Despite his assertion, other artists like Rygin King, Aidonia, and Squash have also claimed to be pioneers in the development of Trap Dancehall as far back as 2017.
A look at the Daily Apple Music Chart in Jamaica shows that 80% of the top 20 songs being consumed are by artists who define their version of dancehall as Trap, a new sound, with Valiant, RajahWild, Intence, and others boasting weekly top ten hits.
Apple Music Jamaica Top 20 Songs pic.twitter.com/uo5zgtA1Ib
— WMV (@worldmusicviews) April 3, 2024
The new sound emerging from Jamaica is a contemporary evolution of dancehall, which itself originated from the lyrical chants of Jamaican deejays like U-Roy, Sugar Minott, and Big Youth, running parallel to the development of rap music in the US during the early 70s. While rap underwent its own Trap renaissance with heavy basslines from Southern American artists like Young Jeezy, T.I., and Gucci Mane as pioneers, Trap Hall in Jamaica shares musical qualities with the UK’s Grime scene, both in terms of lyrics and music. However, Trap Hall distinguishes itself with its local-sounding minimalist piano backing accompanied by the Down South generic hip-hop bassline.
Trap Dancehall artists like Skeng deliver rapid-fire verses in Jamaican patois, portraying gritty narratives. Skeng’s track “Protocol,” featuring Tommy Lee, dominated YouTube Jamaica as the top song for two years until it was surpassed by Chronic Law’s “Empty,” another local hit in the Trap Dancehall genre.
Grammy-winning dancehall artist Shaggy became the first artist from the 90s to declared the end of an era in dancehall music, acknowledging the evolution of the genre away from its traditional sounds of the 90s and early 2000s. Shaggy expressed optimism about the current state of dancehall, recognizing a new sound emerging from Jamaica and embracing its potential for success. This marks a shift from his previous concerns about contemporary artists favoring trap beats over traditional rhythms. “One thing we gotta understand [is] the old sound of dancehall that we know, the old style of dancehall that we know, that was very successful by the way, did its thing, the highest point in Dancehall was that sound. It’s over, that sound is no more, I don’t think people are going to make records like that,” Shaggy said.
Shaggy’s change of heart comes after his earlier statements on The Breakfast Club in June 2021, where he criticized the trend of trap fusion dancehall, emphasizing the enduring popularity of 90s dancehall and its global influence. He urged Jamaican artists to aim for international recognition rather than solely focusing on local achievements.
Since then, Skillibeng, Byron Messia, Skeng, and Valiant have secured record deals with RCA, Interscope, Def Jam and Sony UK respectively and Skillibeng and Byron achieved success internationally, with the songs “Talibans Remix” and “Crocodile Teeth Remix” making appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 and achieving certification in the U.K.
Thats as far as the success has gone for the genre because while traditional dancehall made strides globally during the 1990s and 2000s, Trap Dancehall, with its stripped-down baseline, and indistinct vernacular, appears intent on maintaining its exclusivity for local and diaspora audiences. it should be noted that it was the same way traditional dancehall became the prevailing musical dialect among Jamaican youth both locally and across borders in chelates 80s and early 90s as a dissenting genre from Reggae.
The wheel of music has now turned on traditional dancehall, the same way it came and usurped reggae at a Dancehall showcase, held at the Beacon Theater in 1991. At that showed reggae acts like Steel Pulse had to embrace the new wave Dancehall to keep pace with the tempo of the times. The band which emerged in the late 1970s with revolutionary protest messages about fighting colonialism in African countries, was suddenly opened to performing entertaining songs like “Taxi Driver” which was about London and New York taxis refusing to pick up Rastas with a feel good vibes. The song was the first track on their Grammy nominated album Victims on MCA Records.
Jamaican music consumers are also developing an appetite for foreign albums over their local releases. (of the top ten albums on Apple Music Jamaica are by American Hip Hop and R&B stars for the chart dated April 11, 2024.
See below:
- Masicka – Generation of Kings
- Chris Brown – 11:11 (Deluxe)
- J. Cole – Might Delete Later
- Beyoncé – COWBOY CARTER
- Future & Metro Boomin – WE DON’T TRUST YOU
- Tyla – TYLA
- Ariana Grande – eternal sunshine (slightly deluxe)
- PARTYNEXTDOOR – PARTYNEXTDOOR 4 (P4)
- Bryson Tiller – Bryson Tiller
- Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday 2
