Beenie Man Confronts Boom Boom For Favouring ‘Trap Dancehall’

King of the Dancehall Beenie Man did not mince words on Sunday night, as he reprimanded music selector Boom Boom for dedicating a disproportionately large amount of time to playing “Trap Dancehall” music while shunning “real Dancehall” at his Boom Sundays event.

In a video that has been doing the rounds on the internet, Beenie, whilst standing in the middle of the audience, took the microphone and sternly warned Boom Boom and his sidekick Harry Hype about the role they were playing in “mashing up” Jamaica’s music.

On Tuesday, Boom Boom told DancehallMag that he meant no harm and was only looking out for his generation.  “The problem is, yuh have some people nuh like si when di yute dem a rise.  Dancehall nuh live a nuhbaddy foot.  Me and you born come si Reggae music an wi a guh dead lef it,” Boom Boom said.

“An mi naw point no finger pon Beenie,” the 37-year old added. “Caw Beenie a mi bredrin like dat.  Beenie just express himself and him did have fi dweet. Yeh. But me an Beenie good.  Mi an Beenie nuh have no vibes.”

“Beenie just haffi talk, because at di end a it, who feels it knows.  An whole heap a people woulda feel like Beenie a bash mi an dem ting deh.  No.  Mi play Beenie Man song dem right through, Bounty Killa – you can name it.  Assassin, Mr Easy, Mr Vegas – all a di 90s artiste dem.  Once dem reach out to mi wid a new song, mi play it.  An everybaddy know dat,” he said.

However, on Sunday, Beenie Man openly vented about the lack of support for traditional Dancehall at the events.

“Yuh have Chap Hip Hop; you have Chap Pop.  Suh everybaddy just put Chap inna it… oonu chap up Dancehall.  Don’t blame we; blame yuhself. A wha happen to oonu man?  Wi meck good Dancehall song gi oonu and oonu don’t play it!” he declared.

According to Beenie, the Trap artists—who are being favored by Boom Boom—have not even been attending his event, unlike the authentic Dancehall artists who regularly patronize the parties.

“A whappen to yuh Harry Hype?  When man come gi oonu Dancehall song oonu don’t play it.  Oonu play Trap Dancehall.  Dem man deh naw come a oonu party enuh.   An we weh deh yah, oonu naw play we.   Di man dem weh nuh deh yah, oonu play dem.  One hour and two hour and three hour.  A dem a f_ck up di music!   A dem alone oonu play bredrin!” the Grammy Award winner said.

In response, Harry Hype faulted the authentic Dancehall artists for not being prolific in the releasing of songs, unlike their younger Trap counterparts.

In his defence, Boom Boom told Beenie that he was only giving young artists a “helping hand” to ensure that they do not turn to a life of crime.

“Di yute dem a turn to violence.  Yuh haffi understand Beenie, caw yuh a talk seh wi a play f-ckery.  When last yuh gi mi a song?  Di yutes dem, wi haffi endorse dem!” he stated.

But, in counteracting Boom Boom, Beenie affirmed his Dancehall legacy and outlined his recent musical exploits where he attracted 21,000 patrons in one venue during his Ghananian tour, and highlighted that he has had numerous new Billboard hit songs, among them Girls Dem Sugar, which the Grant’s Pen selector had sidelined.

“Oonu nuh play it!  Nuh tell mi nuh f_kery!  Oonu mash up Reggae music.  Hey bwoy, oonu nuh ramp wid mi enuh!  Billboard selector, oonu nuh ramp wid mi music!  Oonu a ramp wid mi life!  Mi a di king a dis!  Yuh jus play di music!  Boom Boom, weh di b-mboclaat do oonu man?” he said.

“Boom Boom, yuh tink mi nuh know di p-hole dem nuh like mi,” he sang, from the Showtime Riddim‘s Hypocrit.  “Weh yuh tink mek mi sing dat Boom Boom?”

“Weh di b-mboclaat duh yuh Boom Boom?  Play Dancehall music!” Beenie ordered.

Boom Boom then hailed Beenie and Bounty Killer as living legends and took Beenie’s counsel in stride.  “Mi haffi blame myself to… mi teck talk enuh.  Das why yuh si mi suh powerful enuh,” he said.

Payola: “No man caan pay me fi play dem music”

Boom Boom, whose real name is Marlon Wizzard, also told DancehallMag that the long-held belief that music selectors have a pay-for-play system, under which they unethically extract from sometimes struggling artists, and to which the Trap artists were complying, was not true.

He also rejected assertions made in the past by some veteran artists that older entertainers, who do not conform, had their music stifled, as selectors selfishly engage in their greedy pursuits.

“Fiction.  Fiction,” he said, in rejecting any notion that he was engaged in any corrupt practices.

Boom Boom said that no Trap artist can bribe him to play their music, but that sometimes the artists do take it upon themselves to give him monetary gifts of appreciation for his support.

“No man caan pay me fi play dem music…  More time wi endorse di yute dem, an di yute dem have a money, dem wi come an do dem likkle money pull-up and dem guh a di bar and dem buy dem liquor.  More time a yute wi sen a ting come gi mi.  An every money weh dem gi mi, oonu si weh me do wid di money.  Mi give it back to di people dem in di street,” he explained.

“An yuh caan wrong di odda DJ dem from a do dem likkle hustling.  Becaw dem have dem kids fi tek  care a an dem family fi feed,” he added in reference to his counterparts who engage in payola.

However, Boom Boom said that some of the artists who were complaining about selectors engaging in pay-for-play, were themselves unscrupulous.

“An a nuh DJ alone a hustle.  Everybaddy a hustle.  All di artiste dem weh yuh hear a talk, producer voice dem an give dem money fi gi we as DJ, and dem tek di money and den dem come a beg wi fi play di song.  An more time when we nuh play di song, di producer dem reach out to we and a seh: ‘yow mi gi da man deh a money fi gi yuh enuh, yuh get it?’  An wi seh ‘no’,” he said.