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Dancehall “ Bashment ” Genre Research. What is Dancehall?.
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What is Dancehall? • Dancehall is a popular Jamaican genre which when introduced in the 1970’s was a less religious and political version of reggae. At this time it was influenced by the Rastafarian movement but since the 90’s with the rise of famous dancehall Rasta artists like Sizzla and the common use of digital instrumentation in the 1980’s changed the sound of Dancehall vividly by using faster rhythms and little connection to the roots of reggae.
Dancehall gets its name from its "set-to-party" patronage; generally referred to as "dance halls". History In the late 1970’s in jamaica there was a shift away from the roots of reggae to a style more towards local consumption influenced by music performed live with sound systems due to social and political changes, The Themes: social injustice, repatriation, and the Rastafari movement were replaced with lyrics about dancing, violence, and explicit sexuality when with Edward Seaga's right wing JLP government replaced Michael Manley's socialist PNP government. Well known reggae stars such as Barrington Levy and Frankie Paul, worked with the “Roots Radics band” produced by Don Mais who used old beats to create new dancehall beats. Older rhythms from the late 1960s were recycled, and Sugar Minott was recognized as the originator. Sound systems soon took over in the 1980’s (e.g., and Aces Internationald), deejay records became more popular than singers as they released new tunes before the singers.
KEY ARTISTS IN THE INDUSTRY! • The biggest deejay stars of the early dancehall era include Yellowman and Eek-a-Mouse, interesting in humor rather than violence • Yellowman was the first Jamaican deejay to be signed to a major American label and he was a rival of Bob Marley • In the early 1980’s female deejays such as Lady Saw & Sister Nancy were introduced bringing a new vibe to the Dancehall scene. • Key artists in the industry at the moment who are widely recognized in the U.K include: Elephant Man Vybz Kartel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancehall
A serve taken from Facebook asked 16-19 year olds who there top 4 favourite “Bashment” artists were and Movado, Mr. Vegas and VybzKartel came up in 85% of the respondents answers. Suggesting that these have the biggest profiles as they are known by many people.
Record Labels Early producers: Linval Thompson, Gussie Clarke, Jah Thomas Record labels: • VP Records – one of the most popular and recognised record labels with artists such as Sean Paul, Elephant Man • Atlanta • Island • Bigyard Music • Madhouse Records • Greensleeves Records • OJ 36 Records
Public perception of the genre - is it a popular genre with mainstream appeal or more niche? This genre of music is more niche, it has a more specific appeal to younger people, mostly of a Caribbean/African family background, where as other genres such as hip-hop and pop have a wider age and ethnic audience. The genre has a tendency to sometimes be sexually explicit which some people may find offensive lowering its public perception, but then again some of the songs are not like this and feeling of people being able to relate back to their roots and also for others to be able to connect with their friends background makes it very appealing.
Cross media – what other media covers that genre? TV stations / shows? Radio stations / shows? Websites? Newspapers? Films? Events? T.V channels such as MTV Base and more relatively u.k urban channels such as “Channel AKA” display “Bashment” music videos, this is one of the most popular forms of media along with sites such as YouTube and ... Used because with a lot of dancehall music contains specific dance moves which are performed alongside the songs, so watching the videos provides the audience to learn the dance moves. Radio stations such as 99.1 broadcast the newest songs in the U.K and many websites based on this specific genre can be found.
Predictions for the future? How might the genre develop? What direction does it appear to be heading in (e.g. consider its demographic – is it getting older or younger?)? I think that as it is mainly my generation and younger that consume this genre, so this genre of music will move with us as we grow older meaning that unlike the older people now, when we are adults this will be part of out music consumption becoming more popular.
