Dancehall Music

its rise - The late ‘70s

5-minutes on the history of Dancehall music

A Dive into Jamaica's Immortal Music Genre: Dancehall

Few music genres had withstood the test of time like dancehall.

Rising into popularity in the late 1970s' in Kingston, Jamaica, Dancehall has evolved and become one of the most ubiquitous music genres out there, mixing and mingling with other genres to become a keystone in music...

But why?

While we may never know the exact reason dancehall was and is so popular, we do see a lot more about it - everything from its history to its political significance to its top hits.

So, interested in learning more? Keep reading for a complete history lesson into Jamaican Dancehall music.

What Is Dancehall Music?

Like a wide variety of popular contemporary music, Dancehall music can trace its roots back to Jamaica in the 1970s. It is a form of popular Jamaican music with influences from reggae. However, these influences are lighter than some other genres such as roots, which became popularized in the earlier parts of the decade, or Jamaican dub music, which existed almost simultaneously with Dancehall music.

Dancehall music underwent many changes in its journey to popularity. The 1980s brought digital instrumentation that revolutionized the dancehall music industry, creating a digital dancehall known for its fast rhythms. It quickly grew into mainstream success in Jamaica, and, by the 2000s, it became an international keystone of music. Even within the 2010s, it continued to be innovated and influence the world of music.

The Characteristics of a Typical Dancehall Music Song

There are two significant characteristics of the typical Dancehall music song: electronic or digitalized instruments and riddims.

One of the main instruments to revolutionize and innovate the Dancehall music genre would be the Casio MT-40. When you first look at the Casio MT-40, it doesn't appear like anything special at first. Released in the early 80s, when digitalized Dancehall music grew in popularity, the keyboard had limited options.

However, sometimes, it's not the size of the tool that matters but how you use it. And that's true in the case of the Casio MT-40.

If you were to stretch the history and popularity of Dancehall music on a tangible line, you would see a substantial spike in 1985 when King Jammies' hit, "(Under Me) Sleng Teng" by Wayne Smith, came out. This song used the Casio MT-40 to build what many considered to be the first wholly digitalized rhythm hook.

We talk about this more below in the section under the heading of The Popularity of Dancehall Music, so keep reading to learn more about "(Under Me) Sleng Teng" by Wayne Smith and its role in cementing the Casio MT-40 in history.

The other key aspect of Dancehall music is riddim.

Riddim is the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the English word "rhythm." In Jamaica's music culture, music is made up of two parts: the riddim, the instrumental aspect of the song, and the voicing, which is the deejay's vocal contributions to the music.

Riddims can be used in a wide variety of songs with a wide variety of lyrics and vice versa. No single deejay owns a riddim, as seen with the "(Under Me) Sleng Teng" riddim, which has been used in over 200 songs.

The Dancehall Music Culture and Scene

Dancehall culture is the culture of Jamaica, and it's founded on the beliefs of highlighting and bolstering spaces for cultural creation. From its use of Jamaican Patois to the different cultural symbols and ideas that make their way into the music, dancehall is founded on people's unity with a shared history. It also builds directly off of several other genres popularized and originating in Jamaica, such as reggae.

As seen further below, Dancehall music has been used as a tool of empowerment for women. The fashion involved embracing femininity for self-empowerment rather than for the male gaze and involved women expressing themselves through wearing flashing or revealing clothing that made them feel confident and assertive.

Dancehall music also involves a deep dance culture, with teams of women coming together for competitions. As a result, several forms of dance have originated in the Dancehall music scene, including those formalized and popularized by songs, and include examples such as:

"Like Glue"

"Bogle"

"Whine & Dip"

"Tek Weh Yuhself"

"Whine Up"

"Shake It With Shaun"

"Boosie Bounce"

"To Di World"

Like dancehall itself, these different dances continued to evolve and change until they grew into a large music scene. Today, many moves still seen in the hip-hop music scene are either variations of these dances or have been directly derived from them.

The Popularity of Dancehall Music

Dancehall music was born and grew from Jamaica, even down to its name, derived from the dance halls popularized in the 40s. The birth of dancehall was even steeped in political roots, representing the change away from socialism in Jamaica.

Like Jamaican dub music, another popular genre that emerged simultaneously, Dancehall music relies on the recreation and recycling of popular music from earlier decades. These songs were remixed or spoke over to create new pieces that matched Jamaica's musical and creative atmosphere during the time of dancehall's rise to popularity.

As Dancehall music became more digitalized, it grew into a globally appreciated music genre.

Music is a revolutionary tool, and every single song produced has the potential to shake and change a genre (though we all can agree this isn't always a good thing). While there is the occasional oddball song that throws a genre out of popularity or changes the genre into something unrecognizable and unwanted (I think we can all name a few right now), it's safe to say that King Jammy's hit from 1985, "(Under Me) Sleng Teng" by Wayne Smith, is not one of them.

With an entirely digital rhythm, this dancehall song took the world by storm and completely changed the Dancehall music scene. It is praised as the first song to hit the digital rhythm scene in reggae; thanks to its digital keyboard composition, this song innovated the industry. The "Sleng Teng" rhythm became highly popular and was used in over 200 subsequent recordings.

Unlike other genres, which have gone through seasons of being famous and fading into almost obscurity, dancehall has almost always been present in mainstream media. We can even see it in today's music culture, with several hot tracks such as Rihanna's "Work" or Drake's "One Dance" and "Controlla" all being released in 2016. New Dancehall-based or inspired songs are even being released in 2020.

The Politics of Dancehall Music

Music has always been a politically charged tool. It's been used to oppress and fight for freedom, and it's had a keystone position in many conflicts throughout history.

However, Dancehall music's politics isn't as black and white as we'd like it to be.

On the one hand, Dancehall music has been a tool of empowerment. It encourages women to not only reclaim but demand the respect they deserve from the very people who wish to oppress them. It is a mode of self-expression, one that sparks dance and emotion, and unity. It has also been used to unify Jamaica in one common national music identity and fortify and innovate music on a global scale, bolstering the creative culture in the country.

Nevertheless, dancehall has also been used to oppress and incite violence on marginalized groups of people.

Now, we think we can all agree that every genre has its bad apples, right? Take a look at some modern pop songs, for example. It's unfair to judge an entire genre based on a handful of musicians' opinions and productions, so we can encourage you to keep that in mind before reading further. While certain Dancehall songs themselves have been used for exclusive purposes, dancehall itself originates in the idea of unity through struggle and embracing identity.

One of these songs includes Buju Banton's "Boom Boom Bye," which he no longer supports. The song features homophobic language, including lines about murder.

Instances like this were more common than many people think. However, most popular deejays have begun to apply spirituality and love-based ideologies to inspire and lead their new works.

It's also important to know that Buju Banton has since removed this song from his catalog. In several interviews, Buju Banton has mentioned that he recognizes the pain the song has caused listeners.