What g'wan?



I grew up in the US listening to hiphop, started DJ'ing in the US around the early 90's, and got into dancehall in '93.

I have seen the influence of hiphop artists seriously cripple the vibe of the JA scene over the last couple of years. JA DJ's now monotone listless 4 bar chorus's every bit as tired and played out as what passes for hiphop in the US today.


see, in the US it works like this-

Dancehall = badass yardie == ultimate sociopathic gangster == hiphop legend == money.

The money in the US scene goes to whomever is the biggest baddie on wax. You *NEVER* heard about Jamaican dancehall in the US until the Jamaican gangs in NYC started getting into full blown wars over drug turf in the mid to late 80's.

As soon as the heaviest dudes on the corners wore dreads and had west indies accents, hiphop began to emulate them and use the yard mentality to augment its facile preoccupation with romanticizing the underdog.

See, if the Bader Meinhoff popped up tomorrow and started the mass liquidation of Germany's economic upper caste, rest assured that the chorus of next weeks Ja Rule cut would be sung in slurred, raspy teutonic, and would be blaring out of half the cars in middle America within days. Thats the physics of American pop culture ,for the time being at least.


Now, Japan's interest in dancehall is NOT rooted in the romanticising of sociopathic gangsters, it is based in a deep love of genius and creativity, and that, in a nutshell, is why Im moving to Japan come spring to rock every goddamned club that lets me rush the tables.

As long as there is suffering in Jamaica, the pressure will cook up wicked dancehall. It may take more effort to dig up, but as long as we all make an effort to support scenes like Japan's, I am positive we can provide JA dancehall the financial impetus required to keep exporting its undisputed genius to hot sweaty dancefloors around the planet, while providing immeasurable talents the opportunity for a better life without whoring themselves to the banal tastes of America's middle class.

See you all in Tokyo,
Ichi The DJ