Skeng Calls Himself The New Shabba Ranks
With a trailer load of hits and celebrity endorsements over the last year, Skeng appears ready for crossover success and is in a Shabba Ranks state of mind, according to his latest song. The fast-rising Dancehall star has teamed up with fellow Spanish Town native Govana for the new track titled Gvnman Spaniard, which puts another spin on his highly successful Gvnman Shift narrative.
The RD Studios-directed music video, which was released on Saturday, May 7, captures the Spaniards with a large entourage as Skeng surfs on the highs of his newfound success, singing in verses: “Right now mi feel like mi a di new Shabba Ranks…”. Govana co-signed Skeng’s rise in his second verse with the line, “Skeng ah lead, yeah mi feel proud.”
Skeng is not the first artist to compare himself to Shabba Ranks, who captured major crossover success in the 90s thanks to a slew of hit songs and his personal style.
Kanye West compared himself to the Trailer Load A Girls singer when he rapped, “I hit her with Jamaican d-ck, I’m the new Shabba” in Guilt Trip (2013) with Kid Cudi off his Yeezus album. Alkaline also called himself the new Shabba Ranks in 2015’s Whey Yuh Have, where he deejayed “Right now me feel like the new Shabba Ranks.”
More recently, Lil Wayne mentioned Shabba on Ludacris’ S.O.T.L. (Silence of the Lambs) (2020), when he rapped, “Sh-t ’bout to get ugly like Shabba Ranks, Mister Loverman, damn.” A$AP Ferg and A$AP Rocky’s Shabba (2013) was an extended tribute to the Dancehall Emperor, with lyrics like, “Eight gold rings like I’m Shab-Shabba Ranks // Four gold chains like I’m Shab-Shabba Ranks,” while Lord Finesse referenced Shabba’s use of dark sunglasses on Big L’s 5 Fingers of Death (1997), rapping “Get rude like Shabba, make moves behind my blockers”.
Other shout-outs and comparisons to Shabba include Cam’Ron’s Leave Me Alone, Pt. 2 (2004), KRS One’s I Can’t Wake Up (1993), Shyheim on Big Daddy Kane’s Show and Prove (1994).
Shabba Ranks, who won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album twice, has himself paid respect to “elders” before him in songs like Respect, which hailed U-Roy, Super Cat, Brigadier Jerry, Admiral Bailey, Papa San, King Stitt and others.
On the flip side, another rising star, Jahshii, had criticized Shabba and other superstars for not supporting up-and-coming Dancehall artists in Jamaica. “Personally, I am not a fan of Shabba, mi nuh know nuh Shabba song,” the 21-year-old subsequently told Onstage host Winford Williams in an interview.
Produced by DiTruth Records and 3 Kings Music Group, Skeng’s new track comes complete with prominent Mexican/Spanish guitar instrumentals and has so far picked up over 600,000 views in two days.
Skeng is the second most viewed artist in Jamaica over the last 12 months, behind Chronic Law, who is No. 1, according to YouTube’s Music Charts. His single Protocol with Tommy Lee Sparta, which Nicki Minaj has hailed as the “baddest” song in years, has neared 25 million views on the platform. Heaven Passport with Intence has locked in 12 million views, while Gvnman Shift has 24 million, and Street Cred (another Nicki favorite) has 11 million views on YouTube.
Skeng other recent tracks are London and Taibhan, his collab with Stalk Ashley.