Jamaican Dancehall
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The foundational Jamaican dancehall sound of the 1980s and early 1990s: stripped-down, bass-heavy riddims (first from live rhythm sections, then early drum machines) topped by rapid deejay 'toasting' in broad patois. Tempos sit around 90-100 BPM with sparse, hypnotic arrangements that leave space for the DJ's chat, chanting cadences, catchphrases and call-and-response hooks. The mood ranges from slack and comedic to rude-boy tough and cultural, with the mic performer, not the singer, at the center. Signature devices include riding recycled Studio One and Treasure Isle riddims, live sound-system energy, and rhythmic vocal 'riding' of the beat.
History
Dancehall emerged at the turn of the 1980s when producers such as Henry 'Junjo' Lawes and studios like Channel One and King Jammy's stripped roots reggae back to the raw riddim, and deejays who had honed their craft on sound systems moved to record. Yellowman became its first superstar, while singers like Barrington Levy and a wave of deejays including Josey Wales and Charlie Chaplin ruled the dances; the 1985 digital 'Sleng Teng' revolution then accelerated the form. Through the late 1980s and 1990s Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, Buju Banton, Beenie Man and Bounty Killer turned Jamaican dancehall into an internationally charting, endlessly self-renewing genre that seeded ragga, bashment and hip-hop's Caribbean lineage.
Defining artists
Essential listening
Sources
- Norman C. Stolzoff, Wake the Town and Tell the People: Dancehall Culture in Jamaica (Duke University Press, 2000)
- Beth Lesser, Dancehall: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture (Soul Jazz Books, 2008)
- Sonjah Stanley Niaah, DanceHall: From Slave Ship to Ghetto (University of Ottawa Press, 2010)
- Kevin O'Brien Chang & Wayne Chen, Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music (Temple University Press, 1998)