Sister Nancy, Lady G, Junie Ranks Among Six Dancehall Legends ‘Ready To Rock Stage Shows’

sister nancy lady g junie ranks
Sister Nancy, Lady G, Junie Ranks

Dancehall icons Sister Nancy, Lady G, 1996 Reggae album Grammy nominee Sister Carol, Shelly Thunder, Junie Ranks and Angie Angel, have teamed up in a six-the-hard-way promotional effort, making it clear to promoters that they are ready to rock stage shows.

The women, half of whom honed their skills as sound system deejays in the 1980s, have taken to Instagram to promote their offerings, pointing out that they are ready for bookings, which spurred their fans to tag Reggae Sumfest executive Skatta Burrell, urging him to book the women for the summer event’s Dancehall Night.

“Female dj legends still open for bookings.   DM us for your next event… salute to some of the trend setters of Dancehall,” one of the promotional messages read.

“We coming from the sound system era; Female dj legends open for bookings; pick your choice (or) book all six,” another notes, while yet another post read: “Promoters if oonu want to make money, put ona veteran female artists show and promote it right.  Nuff a we still baaad”.

The sextet’s show of unity comes in the aftermath of an imbroglio involving their junior counterparts in the industry, namely Spice, Lady Saw, Macka Diamond and Tanya Stephens, who had taken to social media a few weeks ago, to vent about longstanding issues they had with other, of deceptions conspiracies and double-crossing.

Junie Ranks who, has in the past hailed General Echo and Sister Nancy, as her two musical influences, has been the most active in the promotional bid by the Dancehall six.

She shared an image of Sister Nancy deejaying on a sound system in Spain, spurring claims by followers that none of the current-day Dancehall deejays will be able to rock any stage shows in 40 years like Nancy has done.

“@sisternancy first time in Spain, 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 SALUTE MUMA.  Female dj legends open for bookings,” Junie wrote.

Lady G

Of the six female deejays, only Lady G has performed in Jamaica in recent times.

She had put on a commanding performance at Rebel Salute 2020, which was talked about for months.

Lady G who won the Female DJ Of the Year award in 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1994, and 1998, gained prominence following her breakout hit single Nuff Respect, which was produced by Gussie Clarke in 1988.

Nuff Respect, which demanded that all women including those from the ghettoes be respected, irrespective of their mode of dress or mannerisms, became an anthem for Jamaican women and propelled the Spanish Town Native to national stardom, and made her one of the most respected deejays of all time.

That same year she featured in a clash with Lady Mackerel (now Macka Diamond), the late Sister Charmaine and Junie Ranks, and in 1989 she clashed again with Patra, Sister Charmaine, and Lady P.

She also teamed up with her close friend and parishioner Papa San, to record two other Dancehall classics Legal Rights and Round Table Talk.

Lady G joined Danny Browne’s Main Street label in 1994, under which the hit single Breeze Off on the legendary Filthy riddim was recorded.  Among her other hits were Provide the WineWhen we Rock BackMoschino and VersaceThe Gun, Perform and Man A Bad Man which she recorded in 1997 for the Jamaican film Third World Cop.

In 2002, Lady G she formed her own production company, G-String, under which she released the Bellyskin riddim featuring Sizzla, Capleton and Ce’Cile,  and the Flava riddim featuring herself, Macka Diamond and Lady Saw.

She was recognised by the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) with an ‘Iconic Artiste in the Music Industry’ award in February 2020.

Sister Carol

Hailing from Denham Town in West Kingston, Sister Carol is considered a foundation and cultural deejay.  A Rastafarian, she is known to blend Dancehall riddims and conscious lyrics.

Raised in Brooklyn, New York, she was the first female Dancehall deejay to be nominated for the Best Reggae Album Grammy back in in 1996, for Lyrically Potent, which included a mixture of straight deejay tracks on some of the popular Dancehall beats at the time, as well as Reggae songs on which she sing-jayed.

Among the tracks on that album were Dancehall tracks Red Eye, Dread Natty Congo, Strong and Fit, and the Dancehall/Hip Hop-fused Can’t Stop Reggae.

Junie Ranks

After recording her first single Counteraction for Techniques on the stalag riddim, Junie Ranks, Dancehall’s most risqué female deejay of the 80s era, scored with hit singles such as Gimmie Di Buddy, Cry Fe Me Boops, Big and Ready and Dibby Dibby Man.

Junie, who has recorded for some of Reggae/Dancehall’s top producers including King Jammys, Steelie, Bunny Lee, Patrick Roberts, Black Scorpio and King Tubbys, received the Father Bins award for Female Dee Jay of the Year in 1989.  She also collaborated with Penthouse records on several occasions at the end of the 80s and performed on major stage shows such as Sting and Champions in Action.

Junie rose to stardom after she voiced Gimmie Di Buddy, as an answer to Admiral Bailey’s Gi-Mi Punany and Cry Fe Me Boops, in response to Super Cat’s See Boops Deh.   

Her other releases include Careful Who You Love on the Pon Me Nozzle riddim, Nyam Him Down, Stop Distressing Woman/Lick Out Against The Man on the Taxi riddim and Sweetest Girl with Wayne Wonder, all of which were released in 1989.

She followed up with X-Rated in 1990 ion the Workie Workie/Mud Up riddim.

Angie Angel

Born Angela Cameron, in Kingston, Angie Angel released her debut single Settle Yuself, on the Black Solidarity label in 1987.

She rose in popularity after she released the sexually-charged Agony, on Patrick Roberts’ Shocking Vibes label in 1990, which went platinum when it was given a jungle remix in the UK.

In 1993 and 1994 Angie Angel was honoured as Best Cultural DJ and additionally won the Canadian Reggae Awards in the Top International DJ category.

She also recorded Life, a collab with Judy Mowatt and ‘Gu Whey Done’ with Bunny Brisset, and in 1995, became a Red Label Wine brand ambassador where she featured in several television commercials.

She also graced major Reggae/Dancehall shows over the years such as Reggae Sunsplash, Rebel Salute and Sting shows.

She released her debut album also titled Life was released in 2001, and included tracks such as People with Bobby Blue and a cultural remake of Patra’s Workerman’, re-titled Rastaman.

Shelly Thunder

Shelly Thunder became popular in the dancehall with songs like Kuff and Break Up, and Working Girl  from her Dancehall album Fresh Out the Pack.

A past student of the Harbour View Primary School and the Excelsior High School, she migrated to New York at age 16 after completing third form.

Her breakout hit single Shock mi a Shock peaked at number one on the US Reggae charts, after which she followed up with classics such as Small Horsewoman, 85 Vision and Man A Rush Me.

Sister Nancy

Sister Nancy, who celebrated her 60th birthday on January 2, has the distinction of being the first female Dancehall deejay.

A younger sister to veteran deejay Brigadier Jerry, she has the distinction of being not only Dancehall’s first female deejay, the first female deejay to perform at Reggae Sunsplash, and the first to tour internationally.

Her most famous song is Bam Bam, a remake of Toots and the Maytals winning Festival song, is the most sampled Jamaican song of all time, having been sampled more than 80 times across genres.

In her mid-teens, she performed occasionally on the Jahlove Music sound system, and also worked for three years on the Stereophonic sound system with General Echo.

She recorded her first single Papa Dean for producer Winston Riley on his Techniques label, in 1980.

Among her other singles are One Two, “Money Can’t Buy Me Love”, “Transport Connection” and “Bam Bam”.

Nancy released her debut album, One Two in 1982 and went on to work with late producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes, where she recorded A No Any Man Can Test Sister Nancy, Bang Belly, Jah Mek Us Fe A Purpose, a collaboration with King Yellowman.