Who Are The Stars Of UK Dancehall?

Dancehall music has touched the world since it’s start in the 70s in Jamaica.  With a large migrant population from the island, the United Kingdom is another epicenter for the music and its new emerging artists.

Some of the UK names linked to dancehall come from the old school. For instance, Tippa Irie was the DJ of the reggae Soundsystem Saxon Studio International in South London, or Sweetie Irie well known for his single Call Me and his collaborations with UK underground scene during the 2000s.

Other artists have emerged through mainstream hip-hop such as Stefflon Don, who came to the scene in 2017 featuring the rapper French Montana in the hit Hurtin Me.  And there’s Stylo G, who reached fame with his hit Call Mi a Leader and Soundbwoy which featured Sister Nancy in a new and energetic version of Badd.

Stylo G also collaborated in the single Touch Down featuring the rapper Nicki Minaj and Vybz Kartel, and more recently the remix of the hit Dumpling with Spice and Sean Paul.

Culan’s hit Easy To Love You received unexpected commercial success when it was released in 2018. The London based artist has been active since he was a teenager thanks to his uncle’s proximity to the British reggae scene. He achieved his fame with the rewrite of Ed Sheeran’s international hit Shape of You in 2017, going viral on mainstream radios including Kiss FM, Capital Xtra, and BBC 1Xtra, and gaining 7 million views within 4 weeks.

British songstress Lisa Mercedez is best known for her collabs with Stylo G and Ms Banks, and now Jamaican dancehall artiste Vybz Kartel. She was born in Jamaica and migrated to London as a teen.

Kojo Funds, born as Errol Bellot, jumped in the UK music scene in 2016 with ‘Dun Talkin‘ featuring London rapper Abra Cadabra, and being nominated in 2017 for Best Newcomer at MOBO Awards.  His evolution as an artist now sees him celebrating the Caribbean and African diaspora in his music. He reached the Top 40 of the U.K. album chart with his 2018 full-length debut, Golden Boy.

The artiste Alicai Harley shines with her music thanks to the combination of pop and dancehall. She was nominated to Best Newcomer (UEA Awards ) 2018, and since then she has kept her style of catchy and fresh melodies with powerful lyrics ready to twerk like Tek It To Dem.

Pushing hard verses Trillary Banks gained her skills as a lyricist by emerging first as a young MC in London. In 2017, Come Over Mi Yard brought her to the front line reaching almost 1.5 million YouTube views. Patois with a mix of rap in a dancehall style gives her music identity.

More in the line of new afrobeat, singer J Kaz presents himself as an emerging artist opening the door for both of his music styles. Always dealing with Caribbean sounds, and in a combination of active freestyles and sweet melodies, the young artist sees himself growing in this 2020.

One of the most prominent new artists in this new dancehall wave in the UK is The Rara. Although he has been present in the British dancehall scene since 2010, his growth has been exponential thanks to his single Elegance in 2018 , which was greatly claimed by an underground audience, and raptly escalated to the United States and Canada. In an interview for Young Voices he said “The man just released it without me knowing and I saw triple the number of views and I thought, ‘What is going on here?’.  ‘Elegance’ was later remixed by Kranium and WSTRN.

The young singer represents a splash of originality in the dancehall music scene. Her sounds are full of vibes and girly style. As she shows Jodian Natty became known for not keeping the word in her mouth. Energy and straight lyrics push her into the dancehall female line.

The Nigerian born female artist and songwriter, Darkoo, started her music career when she was still a teenager. In 2017 she dropped her debut ‘Gas Station’ at the age of 16. Her voice and approach quickly reached the wave of new dancehall stars in UK as well as the attention of other Afrobeat artists such as Wizkid. She counts on a Youtube channel with more than 30,000 subscribers. Her last song ‘Gansta’ featuring Davido was a hit in 2019, and it is still on radios around the world.

The vocalist Doktor has a long way of influences in the London music scene being previously working on grime sounds. Coming back to his dancehall roots pushed him to rediscover himself as an artist full of potential with eclectic vocal style ranges from smooth and sensual.