Lt. Stitchie Declares Himself Dancehall’s Greatest Of All Time
While Beenie Man and Yellowman continue their ongoing verbal battle, about which of them is the “King of Dancehall”, veteran dancehall deejay and Minister of the Gospel, Lt. Stitchie has declared that he is “Dancehall’s G.O.A.T.” (Greatest of all time), in an apparent bid to ‘settle all arguments’.
The 55-year-old artiste, whose real name is Cleve Ling, spent the last several days reminiscing on his social media pages about the times when, in the secular world, he used to ‘ram Dancehall’.
In one of the posts, on Instagram, Stitchie, also self-styled as Dancehall’s Governor, posted a video clip of a vinyl record on a turntable, playing his hit song Dress to Impress. He also bragged of his accomplishments, which included two major pioneering moves made by him, in the caption.
“Dancehall History: 1989 – This was the first Dancehall Album entitled “THE GOVERNOR” to be on a Major Label, Atlantic Records and the first Dancehall Song to hit the Billboard Chart entitled “DRESS TO IMPRESS” Lt. Stitchie Dancehall’s G.O.A.T.,” he wrote.
Stitchie also made another post about his own influence on Hip Hop and Rap music, using an almost two-minute video clip featuring Busta Rhymes who recently heaped praises on him and fellow veteran deejay Papa San, noting that he had emulated their rapid deejaying style.
“Old, Young, Current & Aspiring Dancehall Artistes, plus Fans & Supporters. Listen keenly, watch closely and pay attention. More irrefutable and empirical evidence of the power of Dancehall’s Music and our influence on Hiphop/Rap music! What say you?” the Wear Yuh Size deejay said.
In the Busta Rhymes video, the American, who is of Jamaican descent, attributed his fast way of rapping in songs such as Can You Keep Up and his 2001 hit track Break Ya Neck which has the distinction of being labeled ‘the fastest rap song ever” to the influence of the two iconic sons of Dancehall.
“To be honest with you, going back to the Dancehall culture… there are two artistes that I first ever seen do the million words in like one sentence in like two seconds. This one artiste named Papa San and this other artiste named Lieutenant Stitchie,” Busta Rymes said before the clip cut to show a clip of Stitchie and Papa San in their element at Sting 1989 deejaying on rapid to cheers from the crowd.
Gramps Morgan of Morgan Heritage, who co-produced Stitchie’s 22nd album Masterclass which was released last year, also expressed agreement with the Spanish Town native’s bold G.O.A.T. statement.
“Jah know DI GREATEST,” Gramps posted, to which Stitchie replied: “@grampsmorgan nuff respect king, I receive this honor humbly. You have said and been saying that from Day One, as one of Greatness yourself!”
Stitchie, who is a graduate of the GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, has had an illustrious Dancehall career. He recorded his first album Wear Yuh Size for King Jammys in 1987, which but also named Great Ambition by the producer, for the overseas market.
During his time at Atlantic Records, Stitchie recorded a total of three albums, namely The Governor in 1989, Wild Jamaican Romances in 1991 and Rude Boy in 1993. All three albums copped the Album Of The Year awards in Jamaica. At the time he was also was featured on LL Cool J’s 1993 Gold Album 14 Shots to the Dome on a track titled Straight From Queens.
In 1993, after leaving Atlantic, he recorded Bun It Down for producer Patrick Roberts of Shocking Vibes which topped the local music charts and was later followed by a slew of number one songs. In one calendar year Stitchie even ended up with 14 number one songs.
One of Stitchie’s greatest moments in Dancehall was at Reggae Sumfest 1997 when he, following a car crash which occurred en route to the festival, still turned up at the venue in Montego Bay, with a bandage over one of his eyes, and put on an electric performance which earned him seven encores. He was dubbed the best performer of the night and the best performer of the festival.
Stitchie was also the first Dancehall artiste to be a brand ambassador. He became the face of Red Stripe Beer’s You’re Right campaign in 1987, the Jamaica Tourist Board’s Anti-harassment campaign in 1988 as well as Cremo’s Buckingham Orange Juice campaign that same year.
The Tivoli Gardens High School old boy’s discography is very extensive, but his most memorable track is the hit Wear Yuh Size, a comical song produced by King Jammy, about a love interest who forced her feet into a tiny pair of shoes and ended up embarrassing herself. Among the others are Broad Hips, Romance, Woman Fe Get Lyrics, Natty Dread and Hot Like The Sun.
He has worked with a wide range of Jamaica’s best producers including Bobby Digital, Danny Browne, Donovan Germaine, Sly and Robbie, and Steelie and Cleevie.
After the 1997 car crash, Stitchie became a Christian shortly afterward and moved away from secular dancehall, and started the gospel reggae movement.
His first gospel reggae album was To God Be the Glory which was released in 1999. In 2002, he won the ‘Outstanding Male Reggae Vocal Performance of the Year’ award at Caribbean Gospel Music Marlin Awards.
In 2012, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Cornerstone Christian University in Orlando, Florida, in recognition of his contribution to gospel reggae. He published his autobiography, The Power of Determination in 2014 and was subsequently inducted into the Gospel Hall Of Fame in January 2016, in Kingston.