Beenie Man Says As “Undisputed King” He Had To Be Present To See Spice Crowned Queen Of Dancehall

Beenie Man says it was imperative that he made sure he was present for the coronation of Spice as Queen of Dancehall at Reggae Sumfest, since she is now deserving of the title, and also due to the fact that he is the “undisputed King” of the genre.

His acceptance of Spice as Queen comes five years after the two faced off over comments he had made, which insinuated that she had not accomplished enough to deserve the label ‘Queen of the Dancehall’.

“I am the King of the Dancehall suh mi haffi deh yah fi Dancehall night.  Mi haffi deh yah fi si dem crown Spice,” Beenie told YouTuber Russhaine “Dutty Berry” Berry, on Concert Night One of the Reggae Festival.

“Congratulations to Spice,” he added.

When Berry asked: “yuh honestly in support of dat Beenie?” the Dancehall superstar replied: “Well, Lady Saw nuh deh yah no more, shi a Christian… Because she come from den, from Lady Saw here.  Shi (Lady Saw) leave us and shi (Spice) still here.”

During an OnStage interview in October 2017, Beenie had said that Spice was the Dancehall Queen designate, as she had not reached the heights of crossover appeal of her predecessor, Lady Saw.  Beenie had told veteran entertainment journalist Winford Williams that Spice was the one who had proclaimed herself Queen.

“Well she is the one that stepped up to the plate but that’s not how you become the Queen. Because if you’re going to take Lady Saw crown then you have to do what Lady Saw did like no disrespect, you can’t do less work,” the Girls Dem Sugar had said, noting that Spice was yet to score a crossover hit to the magnitude of which Lady Saw had done.

“She is Spice in Jamaica, she is Spice everywhere Jamaicans is; she is Spice everywhere Caribbean people is.  She needs to be Spice where American and British people meet.  Mi not talking about watching Instagram and talking about song, reaching the people ears the right way, being that artiste that we can sit down in Jamaica and look on you on MTV and look on you on VH1 and say alright she has done it and she has reached that point. Because Lady Saw did it and she reached that point,” Beenie had added.

An upset Spice had immediately struck back, noting that: “Nothing is wrong with your statement. The Queen got baptized; we all know that. But do you also know that the King is incarcerated right?” she said referring to Vybz Kartel, before adding: “it a bun you bad.”

However, in response, Beenie had taken to Instagram to post a video to explain that his comments were actually a “compliment” and that he was flabbergasted at Spice’s interpretation of his utterances.

Beenie Man and Spice have had a tumultuous relationship from as far back as 2006, when Spice had alleged that he orchestrated her being boxed in her face by his entourage members.  A few months ago, in an interview with YouTuber Teach Dem, Beenie had denied that he masterminded the incident.

As for Beenie’s history with Vybz Kartel, he had most recently claimed that he’s the only King in the Dancehall because, among other things, he was the first person to present Kartel to the world stage via the Billboard chart following their collab, The Specialist (2004).

However, that song, which is sometimes referred to as Picture Dis or Breast Specialist, did not chart on any Billboard listing.  There is a Billboard entry for Picture This (You & Me), a solo single by Kartel on the Black Out Riddim, which peaked at No. 21 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in October 2004.

The Romie artist also boasted about his legacy and achievements, which he said were due to the fact that he’s passionate about his craft.

“It’s not difficult. I was born to do what I’m doing, an’ mi love weh mi ah do suh mi neva work a day inna mi life. There is no reinventing. I am always inventing,” he told Dutty Berry.

The 48-year-old also provided the criteria and key elements he looks out for before considering a collaboration with a female artist. In his view, vocals alone aren’t enough.

“Memba one ting. I’m the girls dem sugar, so wi spot dem when wi see dem. So when a woman have talent—not talent alone do dis; yah fi have the look and yah fi have the shape, and everything to bring off di ting. So when mi ah mek a video, mi nuh haffi shoot a face shot alone…mi can shoot everything,” he said firmly.

Shenseea is one such worthy female with whom he collaborated on the track Henkel Glue which formed part of her debut album, Alpha. Beenie revealed that it took little effort to curate his portion of the song.

“A build mi build the verse; mi never write it. Yeah, mi build it inna di studio. The problem is, dem book mi fi two day fi voice one song, suh when mi guh fi voice di song inna one day—dem have a next day left suh dem find a next song. Di song was with Shenseea…suh mi jus mash up di verse,” he said.