Dancehall
Bad Boys in the Spotlight
The heat and the glare of the
intense lights that come with stardom are often
too much for some artistes, who are unsure of
themselves and unable to stand up to the scrutiny.
For Busy Signal, Mavado and
Munga Honorable, three hard-hitting dancehall
artistes riding high on a wave of hit tunes,
the attention has never been greater. So far,
they’ve largely managed to keep their cool
under the circumstances.
They represent the new guard
of dancehall artistes who are using tight flows
over hot beats to hold it down for the ghetto
and keep it as real as it is in the streets
of urban Jamaica. They all possess formidable
lyrical artillery and can withstand challenges
from the best in the business. But perhaps the
biggest challenge they will have to overcome
in their careers pertains to the critics, who
say that they are at the forefront in promoting
violence through music.
They’re not the first to
be subjected to such scathing criticism and
they won’t be the last, but their status
as three of the hottest performers doing it
today ensure that they remain in the hot seat.
The Busy
Days
Comfortably clad in a black
T-shirt and jeans, Busy Signal was laid back
and ready for his sit-down with Buzzz. Speaking
to the heart of the matter, Busy made it clear
in that while his lyrics mainly appeal to “ghetto
soldiers”, they should be viewed in a narrative
sense and not as an affirmation of violence.
“The music is basically
telling the story of ghetto reality that is
often overlooked or ignored by mainstream society.
Yuh woulda hear a tune seh kill informer and
certain type a man from Busy Signal, but at
the end of the day is music and ‘fun’.
It is not like we going around and saying kill
people. Defend yuhself, yuh community and yuh
friends, but don’t be the first to cast
a stone in any incident. Don’t over do
it, don’t hype…no man nuh have no
extra life. Simple tings nuh draw out real soldiers,”
he elaborated, his eyes peering over his shades.........
Mavado –
Gangsta for life
Representing the “gully
side” to the fullest, the artiste Mavado
- born David Constantine Brooks - steadfastly
embraces the mantra “Gangsta for Life”.
Hailing from the troubled Kingston community
of Cassava Piece, the early influence of church
singing was eventually superseded by the music
of the warlord Bounty Killer.
“As a youth, Sanchez an’
Wayne Wonder are really my two singer dem, Sanchez
have di voice of an angel. But me an’ my
friend dem always say ‘Yo, Killer ah di
wickedest!’ So long as it’s Killer,
it’s just my song, trust me!”
When Foota Hype introduced the
young singer to his idol, who subsequently schooled
him to the music game and linked him up with
the Daseca production team, things started to
take off. The Killer endorsed the Anger Management
riddim in 2004 and Mavado proved that he was
the “Real McCoy”.........
Munga
Honorable– The Gangsta Ras
The situation with Munga is
somewhat different from his two contemporaries.
His “Gangsta Ras” moniker appears
to be a contradiction in terms to many who find
it difficult to associate Rastafarian “livity”
with the lifestyle of a gangster. But for him,
it’s not that complicated an issue.
“As far as the combination
of the words ‘gangsta’ and ‘Ras’
goes…it a collaboration of two words as
well as two worlds in a sense. How dem connect?
A nuh every Ras a go be the priest pon the altar
weh a go be humble and so nice.
A nuh every Ras a go be born
in a setting weh him have him birthright and
have a kingly or prophetic glory. Some Ras jus’
haffi be a gangsta…a warrior pon the battlefield.
Our sidewalk word is gangsta.”
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