Aidonia Says He And Vybz Kartel Are Among Few Leaders In Dancehall
Aidonia says the tendency of Jamaican artists to jump on the latest musical trends is nothing new, as piracy and mimicry have characterized Dancehall, which has been comprised of a few leaders and mainly followers since its inception. The Yeah Yeah artist offered up himself and his rival Vybz Kartel—whose inflections and lyrical content has been copied with impunity by many upcoming artists—as examples of true creators in the industry.
“Dancehall music has always been a pirate music. You have few creators and once something hot, everybaddy falla it – from di 80s to di 90s,” Aidonia pointed out during a recent interview with Television Jamaica’s Anthony Miller.
“From you a listen Dancehall – a pirate. One style, one sound, five million different song inna di one sound. Suh it always been dat way. Anything weh hot, artiste falla. If a dah sound yah hot, whole heap a artiste a guh work wid wha hot because everybaddy waa hot,” he explained.
“A suh it work. An yuh haffi understand seh a nuh whole heap a leaders inna Dancehall music, a mostly followers. Suh anything weh dem si a work – even when Kartel a seh fi him ting everybaddy falla him. Suh anyweh di shift deh.”
In November 2014, Vybz Kartel had declared that Dancehall was in jail as, since his incarceration, Reggae had “taken over because it’s a refreshing alternative to dancehall for the young kids who realise the artistes of dancehall are just recycling Kartel lyrics and flow”, a situation he deemed pathetic.
But according to Aidonia, he remains among the cadre of artists who take the time to create their own styles and patterns and bring new ideas to Dancehall, and thus can never be deemed irrelevant.
“A few man like we weh know di real ting and know seh yuh can stan up pon yuh own. Cause everytime di music guh left, me guh right. An once mi guh right yuh haffi si mi,” he stated.
One of the most longstanding feuds in Dancehall began as a result of a piracy, after Bounty Killer said he found out that Beenie Man had pirated his song Spy fi Die and recorded Bad Man Wicked Man.
Bounty Killer had said in an interview years later, that while copying other artists melodies was not a problem back in the day, he had been upset because Beenie, in his interpolation, had used many of the words and phrased his rhymes exactly as he did in Spy Fi Die.
The Warlord had also said that the feud was not personal but was a musical issue in which Beenie, after pirating the style, began acting as if he were the originator, and so he had to prove that the style was his.
During the TVJ interview, Aidonia also took responsibility for starting the Trap trend in Dancehall, after being quizzed by Miller, as to whether “the Dancehall baton was being passed to younger hands”, and whether the upcoming artistes can “cut it on the bigger stage.
“People who know music know seh I created this sound. A we seh Trap. A we rap pon Dancehall beats from di get-go. Dat a our sound. Di Biggy Small, di flow pon di beat. Suh if yuh guh suh and check di ratio, a we kinda create dah sound yah,” he said.
“But a di end a di day di music haffi grow enuh. Yute haffi buss; food haffi mash up. Yuh haffi low di yute dem meck dem buss, meck dem grow. Some a dem figure it out; some a dem nuh figure it out, yuh zimi,” he explained.
He added: “A yute buss, once him guh pon di road, once him start travel, him wi figure it out because dem a guh run out a some place and di song dem weh dem feel like hot a Jamaica, naw guh hot dehsuh. Den when yuh hear di sound now, yuh know seh yuh haffi mix dis and dat and come wid a more international sound. It will get dere man; di yute dem wi get dere.”