Ten Times Violent Dancehall Lyrics May Have Went Too Far

Undeniably, while Dancehall has done well for itself by primarily ignoring its limits, there are a few times the genre’s lack of clearly defined boundaries made it hard to differentiate which songs were lyrical art, and which songs could double as violence-inciters and studio-recorded confessions.

Essentially, Dancehall music, as we’ve come to know it, largely thrives on going too far.  So, let’s explore 10 of the more memorable times that has happened—as far as violent lyrics are concerned.

10. New Gun Fi Buss – Ninjaman

While this 1989-released track by the now incarcerated deejay, Ninjaman, pales in comparison to the others on this list in terms of violent imagery, the song’s brazenness, considering the time period in which it came out, sets it apart and easily makes it a candidate for placement on this list. Released under the Mr. Doo label, the song details the artist’s fascination with a new gun in a way most would find shocking at the time. While such songs are commonplace now, particularly given Jamaica’s world-leading crime statistics, they were near taboo back then, especially considering that at the time of its release, the nation’s crime rate was not nearly what it is now, with data from the Jamaica Constabulary Force indicating that in 1989, the year of the song’s release, Jamaica recorded just 439 murders. In contrast, just last year, for instance, Jamaica recorded 1,323 murders.

With the lines, “Yuh hear one shot, a two dat lick, outa bwoy head blood start drip..”, the song blatantly challenged the conservative tones of the day, and its catchy tune made it all the more impactful.

Coincidentally, Ninjaman, whose real name is Desmond Ballentyne, was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 for murder in one instance and shooting with intent in another.

9. Shot Mek Yuh Wiggle – Junior Demus

In 1995 when St. Mary native, Conrad McNish, more popularly known as Junior Demus, released Shot Mek Yuh Wiggle, one of his more popular songs, it proved another tick in the column of Dancehall’s progression towards more openly violent content.

“Give mi ah minute, mek mi get mi rifle
Mi ah go show you dutty n-gga, how dem gon’ stifle
Then mi mek another flex in unknown vehicle
And some people dem ah move like some real barnacle, but
Ah come mi come fi give di whole ah dem pure trouble”
Man ah wicked don dat, mi ah go show dem sample
So mi step from Rema, and then mi go ah Jungle.”

The above excerpt from Junior Demus’ song has all the elements that makeup what today can be considered ‘badman music’. It has the reference of owning a gun (mek mi get mi rifle), the self-touting ‘badness’ meant to intimidate targets (Mi ah go show you dutty n-gga, how dem gon’ stifle), the popup confrontation with the unsuspecting foe (Then mi mek another flex in unknown vehicle), and the self-justification of ‘bad’ they truly are (Ah come mi come fi give di whole ah dem pure trouble/Man ah wicked don dat, mi ah go show dem sample). In many ways, Demus’ song represents a kind of blueprint most modern dancehall artists in that category unwittingly use to appeal to their fan base. Demus certainly gets points for being one of the pioneers in this element of ‘badman’ Dancehall music.

8. Warn Them – Mavado

What’s a list about the most violent Dancehall lyrics without Mavado on it? David Constantine Brooks earned his due as one of the godfathers of this sector of Dancehall music, and his song, Warn Them is as good – or bad, depending on your perspective, as any of the hits he churned out at the height of the world-famous Gully vs. Gaza beef. Warn Them projects nightmarish and violent imagery, and with this song being at Number 8, the list, most certainly, gets worse. Consider the lyrics:

“When this squeeze it leff Addi head at ease
Him flat like banana leaf
Mumma bawl please, to how mi evil she cyaa believe
See mi crime and cya believe
Inna middle day, him gang up wid di fish fi get pay
Neva know, so mi AK stay
Addi head buss like bomb bay
Kill dat inna Church when di pastor ah pray
Murder yuh likkle bredda pon di funeral day
Cut di newborn throat cause yuh know mi nuh-
Yuh body float like boat when di seed tek away
B*******e talk straight mek di war set a way
Addi, plus, there is no getaway
Mi a b********t killa and yuh know mi nuh stray…”

From the killing of a new-born, to brazen in-church murders, to committing a murder at a funeral – all of which has coincidentally happened in Jamaica in recent times – Mavado’s ‘Warn Them’ feels less like a lyrical response to an industry beef, and more like a gory foretelling of a future that Jamaica would stumble into. Released in 2007, ‘Warn Them’ did not make its way onto this list purely because of its stomach-turning lyrics, but also because despite being as graphically violent as it is, it soared in popularity at the time, and is hailed by many as a classic from that era in Dancehall history. It, along with a few others, defined Dancehall music around that time, and cemented Movado as one of the Dancehall’s greatest acts, particularly in that era. The Gully vs. Gaza beef knew no limits, and neither did the music from that time. One needs to look no further than to the fact that the music emanating from that era was what essentially sparked debates about banning Dancehall music of that nature from the airways.

7. Psycho – Tommy Lee Sparta

Let’s face it – a Dancehall artist that refers to himself as a demon (‘Uncle Demon’, to be specific) was sure to be found on this list of most violent Dancehall lyrics. Leroy Russell Junior, more popularly known as Tommy Lee Sparta, hails from one of Western Jamaica’s most violent communities – Flankers, in the murder capital of the island, Montego Bay. Currently, one of the most popular Dancehall artists, even while being behind bars on gun charges, Tommy Lee Sparta’s music is unmistakably chilling when it wants to be, and Psycho is one of the better examples of that.

“Buss bwoy head a dem gate daily
In front pastor, school pickney
Try don’t mek yuh luck guh run out
When di demonz come out fi yuh
Soul weh di devil send fi
Rafe a di worse ting yuh will see
Woii dem set duppy pon me
Buss shot inna head arrogantly
Fool”

Whether these lyrics represent a hyperactive imagination or not, Dancehall’s fascination with violence, and by extension ‘badman culture’, seems to be one of the sure-fire ways to carve out a niche in a Dancehall industry that’s saturated with talented folks all trying to do and appeal to the same thing. In a very real sense, appealing to the genre’s lowest common multiple – violence, is a dangerous bet for the individual artiste, but a safe bet for their careers. In the meantime, going against the grain – that is, attempting to chart a course that does not glorify violence, perhaps is the truest and hardest test of genre, and not many take it. Tommy Lee Sparta and his lyrics are incredibly popular, and he may be more so once he’s back on the streets again. ‘Buss shot inna head arrogantly’, especially in Montego Bay isn’t just some lyrics, it’s a calling card.

6. Gvnman Shift – Skeng

“Intellectual, murda people edition…” And that’s all it took to get the entire song playing in your head. Skeng’s Gunman Shift is a staple on almost every listing there is right now concerning Dancehall music, and any list without is incomplete. The former Wolmer’s Boys School student made a rather potent song that, while not as gory as some of the others on this list, easily ranks among the most violent dancehall lyrics, which you could easily miss given how catchy the tune is. Here:

“Listen up
War dem waah tell dem get di tanker
Every guns up, every killa mask up
Travel pon dem endz ’bout dozen claat up
Dozen man haffi dead a weh yuh feel mi lef’ some
No sah yuh mussi mad, mi killa dem nuh work suh
Banger dem a drop food thru Wells Fargo
And a buy bey gun fi anything start up
Fully dark, fully charge and fully crawb up”

The song checks all the boxes: Mass murder (“dozen man affi dead a weh yuh feel”), travelling to eliminate your enemies (“Every guns up, killa mask up/Travel pon dem endz…”), the amassing of firearms (“And a buy bey gun fi anything start up”) and finally, the usual direct glorification of criminal elements (“Fully dark, fully charge and fully crawb up”). It even shouts out a high crime area as a bonus (“Spanish Town, Bobby Lane, Craig Town…”), and, as the cherry on top, it shouts out an actual gang (Ratty Gang). Skeng is young, but he no doubt has the formula and feel for this kind of Dancehall music should he decide to do it more consistently.

5. Talk To Dem – Bounty Killer

A list about violent Dancehall lyrics is fundamentally flawed without any inclusion of the Warlord himself, the original 7 Star General, Mr. Rodney Price, more popularly known as Bounty Killer.

“Gun nuh stick, any stick a shot a stick inna bwoy…” immediately sets the intention of ‘Talk To Dem’, a 2008 track performed by Bounty Killer, which he revealed in an interview on OnStage, was written by Mavado. The song’s potency on the lyrical front, while impressive, benefitted immensely from being performed by someone with Bounty’s reputation. Just how is that reputation perceived? Bounty is described by AllMusic, a comprehensive online music database based in the US, as “one of the most aggressive dancehall stars of the ’90s, a street-tough rude boy with an unrepentant flair for gun talk”. It follows then that Bounty’s association with any kind of lyrical content that appeals to his earlier years of being the ‘Warlord’ effortlessly makes said content dramatically more potent given his reputation.

“We nuh box and kick a shot a kick in a bwoy,
Real McKoy, pop off ice pick inna bwoy…”

Though the 49-year-old has largely pivoted from that kind of content, should he dabble in it again, his Midas touch for that sector of the genre makes any violent lyrics or song a dangerous Molotov cocktail in an already volatile crime-plagued state.

4. Don’t Play With Me – Squash

Squash’s self-touted affiliation with G-City, a known Montego Bay-based gang, makes his already violent lyrics that much more harrowing. Having already danced with the law a few times, Squash, despite his impressive success, has found the going rather difficult, in large part due to his lyrics and associations, especially when it concerns garnering widespread belief that he is just a musician and nothing more. One of his latest songs, ‘Don’t Play With Me’, released on September 30 this year, adds to his catalogue of tracks that paint less-than-palatable images depicting that Dancehall obsession with crime.

“Nuh body cyaan run, mi nuh tump out
Buss it inna mouth, teeth jump out
Blood ah run cold, eye open wide out
Disarm di clown, him d’even have a clip load (Four bullet)
Inna him bdct head, mi drop a big stone
Nuh run from di 5-0, psycho
Press di micro, everyting strike out
Run wanted and mi nah hideout
G-City badness, mi nuh lie ’bout, inna bush dem find clown”

Vividly describing and imagining a murder in which someone is shot in the mouth, with their teeth being blasted out as a result and their blood running cold is something from a crime scene nightmare. Squash then explains, following all of that, that a big stone is then dropped onto the head of the imaginary victim. It’s obvious that these songs would work just as well as horror stories. Squash is no doubt a talented artiste – one of the best in the new school of Dancehall, but his penchant for such gruesome lyrics may indicate that he has another calling – that of being a horror film scriptwriter.

Now for the top three.

3. Squeeze – Masicka

Javaun Fearon, who you might know as Masicka, the Portmore-born and raised artist, is undoubtedly one of Dancehall’s most talented lyricists. True to the genre that barely recognizes its own limits, a force in Dancehall, Masicka is just the same, evidenced by his lyrics. The Genahsyde chief pulls no punches, and his 2017 track, Squeeze – a diss track for Aidonia, demonstrates that in no uncertain terms.

“Yuh nah kill nobody that a lie py stop the noise
Heart cold like happy ice
Cou the shatty size
Shallow grave man a drop in a it
Better watch e hype
Cyah be nuh genna wid yuh py appetite
Pull up! and a knock it right at the traffic light
Brawling have it in a day strap inna the night
Some p***y only bad when dem a chat inna the mic

Rifle buss dem belly buss yuh friend & drop inna yuh tripe
Shane flash on pon a bike brain fly gone pon a kite
Him mother a try shake him but it nuh look right
She shake him she shake him him just a puke white
Eye dem a lock dung what a good sight
P***y talk straight mek mi buss yuh windpipe (boom!)”

Weirdly enough, it is essentially a demerit in this kind of Dancehall if you are not a “killer” or aren’t associated with one… or a few. Stripes are earned in this arena by where you’re from, who you are associated with, and how graphic you can get when it comes on to inflicting pain, of a lyrical nature we suppose, on your foe. Masicka, as an apparent diss, discredits his target, in this case, Aidonia, by suggesting he is not a killer. After that, he intensifies his lyrical assault with the usual elements – a rather descriptive display of his target being killed, brazenness (“Pull up! and a knock it right at the traffic light/ Brawling have it in a day strap inna the night…”), inflicting emotional pain on the target’s loved ones (“Him mother a try shake him but it nuh look right/ She shake him she shake him him just a puke white/ Eye dem a lock dung what a good sight…”) and, of course, a brag show about the gun(s) being used (“Cou the shatty size…”). And given this is Masicka’s catalogue, trust that there are lots more where all that gore came from.

2. Badman a step – Aidonia

Aidonia, given name Sheldon Lawrence, comfortably sits at number two on this list with a firm combination of lyrics and reputation. The Kingston, Jamaica native is one of the faces of Dancehall, and made a name for himself by unflinchingly challenging and fending off challenges from some of the bigger names in the genre. As a result of his continued prominence in Dancehall, it stands to reason that Aidonia didn’t get to that spot, and didn’t get on this spot, by being a saint, at least lyrically. That’s why his song, ‘Badman a step’, rings amongst one of the most lyrically violent songs in the genre.

“Yo, when bad man ah step, we nuh bring machete
You f****t, me rise gun from St. Elizabeth
Badman full head ah shot and crack it
Hole inna head big like egg wey nuh hatch yet
Walk down pon him and slap it up, and me ah knock it
Waste out the clip and all the spare inna me pocket
Catch dem hang out like clothes inna closet

Three piece each inna head unnu ah get
Dat unu ah go get, clap it pon a budget
You hungry fi bullet, nyam it like a nugget
Unnu get, get twenty-one piece like a bucket…”

With repetitions of repeatedly shooting someone/group of persons mercilessly, as well as instances of ‘cracking’ someone’s head open like an egg with bullets, Aidonia casually imagines and vocalizes one of the most gruesome ways of taking a life. In Jamaica more specifically, in a number of instances, head shots are typically used in statement killings, and for Aidonia to flaunt that imagery, coupled with his aggressive delivery style, it leaves little room to ponder the artistic side of such lyrics – if there is any to be found.   

1. Kill Dem – Vybz Kartel

Coming in at number one on this list is ‘Kill Dem’ by the inimitable Vybz Kartel, who now plies his trade behind bars while serving a life sentence. Largely considered the most lyrically gifted Dancehall artist of the modern era of the genre, Vybz Kartel is a master at painting vivid images of some of the most stomach-turning instances of murder, which is why his song ‘Kill Dem’ – regarded as a classic by many, has made the list, and rightfully sits atop it.

“Coof cuff cueff
Bwoy ah choke inna blood
Body stiff like it ah float inna flood
Don’t come inna Waterford wid a slug
Gaza rise di rifle weh soak inna mud
Wen mi ah war, memba seh noweh no deh far
Glot inna mi Jansport, mi dress up inna khaki
Like di seed ah Calabar
Don’t grab yuh gal, mi follow har
Wen she go pick up yuh little bwoy
Like scarface wid di bomb me drive behind har
Him neva dweet but me nuh care who inna di car…”

With a catchy hook that advocates “Kill dem all an’ done…”, Vybz Kartel captures the mercilessness that often accompanies many of the murders in his island state, as criminals indiscriminately carry out their crimes with no regard for possible collateral damage. Given his platform and influence, particularly as the Gaza chief/ World Boss, the lyrics are not only incredibly direct, but the message may resonate with a lot of his followers, some of whom may not necessarily understand the distinction between what’s literary and what’s literal.

Ultimately, a number of Vybz Kartel titles could’ve topped this list. He is undoubtedly versatile, but also unbelievably talented, so it stands to reason that his violent lyrics would also reflect his intellect. And, given his current incarcerated state, no Dancehall career shows the darker side to marrying art with violence than Vybz Kartel’s. That’s why he tops this list.

Dancehall music may not yet soon see a separation from violent lyrics. In fact, so long as the genre continues to reward it, it’ll have a place. Most definitely though, there will come a reckoning for the genre, and any discussion about why it is not as internationally successful as it can be will have to begin at what most Dancehall artists seek to glorify – violence. Dancehall is easily amongst the most popular in the world and can, with sustained effort, be amongst the most lucrative. For that to happen, however, its obsession with violence must take a backseat.