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Skillibeng Says ‘Whap Whap’ Is A “Jamaican Cultural Thing”

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skillibeng-holness
Skillibeng, Andrew Holness

While the Prime Minister of Jamaica feels that songs such as Whap Whap should not be allowed to define the island, Dancehall star Skillibeng says his hit track is actually inspired by Jamaican culture.

If you grew up in Jamaica, or anywhere in the Caribbean, you might have had some experience with corporal punishment. For Skillibeng, the sounds of a belt pelting the skin were enough to inspire him to pen the hook of his single Whap Whap.

Skilli, whose real name is Emwah Warmington, was speaking to DJ Carisma on Power 106 Los Angeles when he confirmed the song’s inspo.

“The meaning of whap….I made it have multi reasons, but in Jamaica, it’s all about the belt sound. That’s how a belt sounds. That’s how the whole whap wave came from. It was a Jamaican cultural thing,” Skillibeng said.

An amused Carisma added that it was: “mamas whooping that a–.”

Last week, Prime Minister Andrew Holness had called out Skillibeng’s Whap Whap, when he expressed discontent that much of the new music coming out of Jamaica was sending the wrong message about the country.

“We are being defined by some very limited things. Whap Whap and Chap Chap and Ensure… All of those things have their place, but it can’t define us.  We should not allow that to define us,” Holness had said.

The Prime Minister added that he felt embarrassed when Skeng was banned from public performances in Guyana for supposedly “promoting vulgar and lawless behavior” in his songs.

Skillibeng, who previously cut an election dubplate for Holness based on his hit song Mr. Universe, was on his first trip to Los Angeles, where he performed at Echoplex.

He also released the first official remix for Whap Whap, only a few days ago. This version features American rappers French Montana and Fivio Foreign. NBA Young Boy and Bronx drill rapper Ron Suno had both previously hopped on the catchy tune.

The 25-year-old told Carisma that said that the foreign artists were the ones who indicated an interest in collaborating with him.

“It was a case where French and Fivio wanted to be on the remix,” he said.

“It was two individual remixes, but you know, both of them was cool and both of them was two mainstream artists. French is a mainstream artist—I couldn’t say no to French ‘cause French was the one who made me know Kodak Black, and I listen to Kodak Black music. And Fivio was that New Yorker who was rocking the city. So, it was all about just doing it,” the deejay added.

Speaking on Dancehall’s acceptance in the United States, Skilli quipped: “They said Dancehall is not or Caribbean music overall isn’t like poppin but surprisingly, I am.”