Jamaican Slang EditorialTHE Blog for Jamaican Slang, Patois, Reggae, Rastafari, Real T’ing dem and Jamaica

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Reggae, especially dancehall reggae, is highly competitive and territorial. Similar to hip-hop and sports, there are rivalries. Most of the rivalries develop out of something small and then blow up, but there are definitely some people like Bounty Killer and Vybz Kartel that attract drama all of the time. With the Vybz Kartel and Mavado beef continuing to escalate like Ja Rule and 50 Cent or Nas and Jay-Z, I thought it was time to shed some light on some classic dancehall beefs. Here is Jamaican Slang’s interpretation of Complex Magazine’s list of the Ten Biggest Reggae Beefs. We have reduced it to the five best, zeen!?:

#1 - Beenie Man vs. Bounty Killer :

This one is the grandfather, king, and still champion of feuds inna di dance. They’re both legends, and they’ve found more things to squabble about over the past 15 years than a long-married couple. Whether it’s Beenie kissing RuPaul on an American talk show, Bounty appearing in a No Doubt video with a naked man, or most recently Beenie marrying Bounty’s longtime girlfriend D’Angel, they’re the Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant of reggae (except they’re both alive and neither of them has a she-male for a daughter). Their dysfunctional relationship is the defining thread of modern dancehall, even going so far as to entangle their younger protégés (the beef between Bounty’s protege Mavado and Vybz Kartel intensified when Kartel attended Beenie’s wedding).

#2 - Vybz Kartel vs. Mavado :

This feud started back in 2006 when Vybz left The Alliance, an unofficial group of artists (with Mavado, Busy Signal, Wayne Marshall, and a few dozen other DJs) started by Bounty Killer. At the time of his departure, Vybz Kartel was a member of the Alliance along with Mavado. Once separated from The Alliance, in typical Vybz Kartel style, Vybz started to diss members of The Alliance and it was the rising star Mavado that responded. There are dozens of diss tracks recorded by both artists and although, the beef take a breather in 2007, the heat was on again in 2008 with Sting 2008 as the battle of all battles to decide who would win. Four months later and people are still debating who won on stage at Sting 2008. This beef is pretty personal because both know each other well.

#3 - Beenie Man vs. Capelton:

This feud made it to the top because it’s like the Crusades. You have the Bobo Ashanti Fire Starter vs. The King of the Dancehall. Two ideologies against each other. Truthfully, this stems from Beenie calling out Capelton’s Bobo Ashanti rhetoric on the song “Hypocrites”. Capleton fires back with a CLASSIC track called “Who Dem.”

#4 - Vybz Kartel vs. Assassin & Spragga Benz:

Kartel and Assassin clashed first as a friendly rivalry, but then things got heated. Eventually, Assassin’s big homie Spragga Benz (pon di ends) had to get involved for the feud’s climax over the “Stepz” riddim. This one turned out like 50 vs Game: both landed stinging shots, but both also lived to fight another day. It just seems like Kartel is looking for fights!

#5 - Mavado vs. Beenie Man:

Mavado’s line in the song “How High” mentions “Baby Brian” (“give him some fat teflon fi try on/mek him madda cry ‘cause him die by my han’”)—and even though the song was released before Beenie’s half-brother Brian was murdered in 2006, Beenie understandably caught feelings. Based on the timing, it might be Mavado making a 50 Cent move going after the King of the Dancehall. For those that do not know, 50 Cent dissed Jay-Z well before Get Rich or Die Trying. Later on 50 admitted that by dissing Jay-Z he figured Jay would come back, which he did, thus helping 50 get on the map. The Alternative view is that Bounty Killer sent his new top soldier to go after the reigning (self-proclaimed) King of the Dancehall.

Here are some other honorable mention beefs in dancehall:

Ninja Man vs. Mad Cobra

Vybz Kartel vs. Bounty Killer

Ninja Man vs. Pretty Much Everyone to Step on Stage

Super Cat vs. Bounty Killer

Super Cat vs. Nitty Gritty

Deva Bratt vs. Munga

Merciless vs. Bounty Killer vs. Ninja Man vs. Beenie Man

To hear more of the songs associated with these beefs to learn more about them, visit the Complex Magazine Feature. Complex probably needed to link up with www.jamaican-slang.com to get better with the Jamaican Patois, zeen?!

I know that alot of people think that all reggae sounds the same, but nothing could be further from the truth. Yes, there are definitely some similarities among all of the types of reggae, but there are really two dominant forms of reggae that come out of Jamaica, Ragga aka Dancehall Reggae and Roots Reggae. So what are the differences?

To begin with, Ragga which I will refer to as Dancehall is largely played with digital instruments. Most of the beats which are called Riddims are made digitally. Dancehall has been the most commercially successful Jamaican music over the years. Many Dancehall artists have experienced cross over success with mainstream music. Artists like Sean Paul, Beenie Man, Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, Vybz Kartel, Bounty Killa, Elephant Man and many more are all examples of dancehall artists with some experiencing worldwide success. In addition, to artists known strictly for dancehall, some Roots artists also record dancehall tracks. Sizzla, Buju Banton and Capelton are roots artists who also appear on dancehall tracks. Dancehall is unique in that it draws on all aspects of Jamaican culture and is often the sound where authentic Jamaican Patois can be heard (to hear some authentic Patois on Dancehall Tracks, check out the JA Mixes). The subject matter in the songs ranges from politics in Jamaica, sex, women, violence, Jamaica or a new dance. Dancehall gets its name from the event or place where people go to hear ragga tracks and as the word implies, people dance! Many of the most popular dancehall tracks have dedicated dances with choreography. Recently, one of the most popular was dances was Pon di River, also a song by Elephant Man. In addition, to Pon di River, there is also a dance for Signal de Plane (click here to see the steps for Signal de Plane!) Dancehall tracks come out at a frenzying pace and some are classics while others leave much to be desired.

Roots reggae is the largely rasta influenced form of reggae. Many roots tracks are recorded with live instruments, although many are also digital. As mentioned before, some of the most well known roots artists who venture into the dancehall world are Sizzla, Buju Banton and Capelton. Other popular artists who focus almost exclusively on roots include Morgan Heritage, Ritchie Spice, Jah Mason, Anthony B, Luciano and many more. One thing to know is that many of these artists are also rastas. Sizzla, Capelton and Anthony are all Bobo Ashanti, a very unique and obscure sect of the Rastafarian faith. Most roots songs address issues such as Rastafari, Ganja, Jah, H.I.M (His Imperial Majesty), Africa, Jamaica and other realities that face the Jamaican people. As far as learning to speak Jamaican, Roots is important for understanding the roots, reality and culture, but is much more likely to have English lyrics. From a cultural perspective, Roots songs often have Nayabinghi sounds and other instruments of the Rastafari faith.

So is one genre better than the other? Absolutely not. I go in and out of phases. Sometimes, I want to listen to roots to relax and other times I want to listen to dancehall to get energized like Elephant Man. Dancehall is great to learn to speak Jamaican and Roots really gives you insight into the culture of Jamaica and Rastafari!