Ding Dong’s ‘Bounce’ Takes On A Life Of Its Own
Ding Dong’s prediction of his song Bounce, and its accompanying dance move spreading over Jamaica and the globe and becoming “a major crossover hit”, appears to be manifesting.
The song, which was produced by Dun3well, has taken on a life of its own, injecting itself in official state functions and international sporting competitions overseas involving his Jamaican compatriots.
Now, in the latest round of videos, Carey Bradshaw a Kingston Jamaica native and group travel curator of That Man Travels, shared a video of himself on a beach demonstrating the dance to a group of Maasai warriors in Eastern Africa, who stand looking at him. Close to the end of the video, The Maasai men who are among the tallest people in the world with an average height of 6 ft 3 inches, shyly attempted to bounce.
“I procured 2 camels & 4 Maasai warriors for the #Bounce dance in honor of Jamaica independence. Big Jamaica everytime!” Bungs mi seh!” he wrote on Instagram, to the delight of his Jamaican followers.
Last month Ding Dong had told veteran entertainment journalist Winford Williams that the Bounce track had been recorded two years ago, but that the release had been put on hold as he had not wanted it to be released at the height of the pandemic as it was a song for the streets.
Then last week Ding Dong told The Gleaner newspaper that he was not ready to release new music as he wants Bounce to continue its dominance first.
The song took up steam at the Commonwealth Games where the Sunshine Girlz Jamaica’s netball team danced like crazy, as the song blared from the speakers.
Back home, Scotia Bank Jamaica had posted a video on its Instagram page of their employees dancing up a storm to Bounce, to celebrate sprint queen Shericka Jackson, the financial institution’s newest brand ambassador, following her imperious victory in the 200m race at the World Track and Field Championships on July 22. The video had also featured snippets of Shericka doing the “Bounce”, at a track training session.
Karl Samuda, Minister of Labour and Social security was also spotted doing the Bounce at a Diamond Jubilee ceremony, while at the offices of the Tourism Enhancement Fund, Carolyn McDonald-Riley and her team used the song to promote their celebration of Jamaica’s Diamond Jubilee.
Staff at Montego Bay Airports also had a field day dancing to the song for their own version of a Diamond Jubilee tribute.
Bounce was also one of the songs of choice which were used by school principals to spice up graduation ceremonies across Jamaica, among them Hydel High, Holmwood Technical and even basic schools in early July.
In his Onstage interview, Ding Dong, in explaining how he came up with the dance move, had said it was inspired by God.
“A dream mi dream di dance enuh. Caw mi beg Faada God; mi seh Faada, mi need it now caw wi a guh do di video now and everything. A foreign mi deh a lie down an a think bout di dance weh mi a guh do. Mi dream it an get up an guh in front a di morrow… and call Dunwell an seh ‘mi find it!’ Wi rich; it a guh be di biggest thing,” he had explained.
“Mi confident bout it yu know, like Holiday. Mi did seh Holiday a guh bi di biggest song inna di world – a suh mi confident bout dah song here,” he had added, referring to his 2009 combination by singer Chevaughn.
During the interview, Ding Dong had also lamented the fact that Jamaican Dancehall dancers and creators of dance moves have, over the years, for the most part, been mistreated and sidelined, despite their critical importance to the genre and culture.
He had explained that in light of this, he was using Bounce as a landmark project to promote unity, showcase Jamaican dancers and professionalize the dancing sector of the music industry, as oftentimes many dancers are taken advantage of by artists, who use them for their talent, yet treat them poorly.
He had also issued a message for Prime Minister Andrew Holness who himself had lamented earlier this year that there was a dearth of wholesome Dancehall music being produced.
“Mi need somebody fi tell our Prime Minister Mr Faada Bro Gad, rememba a mi fren – mi waan si him do video too… we need everybaddy within this community of Dancehall fi endorse did because it has the potential go be that big major crossover hit,” he said.