Shabba Ranks Orders Veterans To Leave Younger Dancehall Artists Alone
Grammy Award winner Shabba Ranks has issued a warning to veteran artists whom he says are treating their younger counterparts with disdain, over their lyrical content.
Speaking with veteran entertainment journalist Winford Williams, in an interview following his performance on the Welcome to Jamrock Cruise over the weekend, Shabba said that the situation was a vexing one for him.
“Mi hear some big man inna music now, weh every turn dem turn dem beat gainst di likkle yute dem; an dem fight gainst di likkle yute dem. An dem waan tell di likkle yute dem weh dem mus seh. And dem waaa tell di likkle yute dem weh dem fi do. Mi waa meck oonu know enuh, seh when me did a do music a said way oonu did a gwaan like oonu waan control my mind state enuh. And look what I become inna di face a di world. Because a my music,” the X-tra Naked artist stated.
“So I am saying that to say dis: none a oonu nuh know di distant that the yute melodies or the work dat he say on record is gonna reach. Suh oonu caan gwaan like oonu waan kill di yute dem talent. Give di yute dem a chance wid dem music! Di yute dem nuh haffi do di music like how we do di music. A fi dem music. Come out a di yute dem arena and leave di yute dem meck dem do dem music!” he ordered.
However, the Housecall artist also had some words of admonishment for the upcoming artists, pointing out that they ought to preserve the music, and treat it with the regard with which it is due.
“Suh yuh si di younger yute dem weh a come up, do not remove your forefather’s boundary! Yuh ancient barriers. Keep dem as it is, becaw yuh si di what di forefathers have done for us… if we do not apprecilove and celebrate the work of our forefathers, then we don’t have a future. Dat is di reason why yuh have odda people a tamper wid wi tings. An a gwaan like dem come fi rule wi tings,” Shabba stated.
“Suh yuh si younger yute dem weh a come up, I love them yuh know. Because they are a product of my environment, just like I am product of Josie Wales and Yellowman environment,” Shabba continued. “I just want to young yute them fi know seh, you si weh uno have don’t treat it like silver and copper. It is gold and platinum, regard it as what it is.”
During the interview, Shabba also pointed out that his late mother Mama Christie used to say his music was “buggu-yagga” because it was not like the music of her era, he noted that in spite of that, he ended up copping two Grammy Awards.
Additionally, he said that instead of tearing down the youngsters, the older generation of critics, ought to mentor and guide them in the interest of the music.
“Leave di yute dem alone and meck dem do dem music. Your time nuh pass enuh, but your time is your time. Now is di yute dem time. Let di yute dem have fun inna fi dem future and help guide dem along inna dem future and stop criticize dem, an beat dem dung and fight gainst dem,” he said.
Shabba went on to point out that those who were complaining about the gun lyrics coming from new artists ought to realize that it was just artistry and nothing else.
To strengthen his point, he used his own Shine and Criss gun song which called for gunslingers to, among other things “shoot to kill,” while noting that he was a “bad man with and oversized clip” as an example.
“Caw mi hear oonu dung deh a talk enuh, bout gun dis and gun dat enuh. Mi seh ‘oil up di gun dem’, but mi neva buy a gun yet! Mi chat bout gun but mi neva buy a gun yet! Mi talk bout pum p-m an oonu seh mi slack, an a weh mi a deal wid? Nuh fi a man love a woman. Well oonu fight gainst dat nuh an si if a nuh man a guh love man. Fight gainst dat an si weh a guh happen,” Shabba said.
Shabba, who received the Order of Distinction (Officer Class) national honour, from the Government of Jamaica in 2016, was condemned nationally in the 1990s for his numerous salacious songs including Needle Eye Pum Pum and Love Punany Bad.
On his Grammy-winning 1991 album As Raw As Ever, Shabba had addressed the issue of him being blamed for the rawness of Dancehall in a song titled Where Does Slackness Come From, which was the second track on the production, in which he asked the question:
“Where does slackness come from? me no know/An a me dem waan put de blame pon, wrong bang/Where does slackness come from me no know/How nobody no blame e pon Yellowman?”
As Raw as Ever, which comprised several ‘slack’ songs, went on to win a Grammy in the Reggae category for Shabba, making him the first Dancehall artist to take the American honor. The tracks on the album included Flesh Axe and Gone Up.
The following year Shabba released X-tra Naked, which gave him his second Grammy Award. That album was even more explicit than As Raw as Ever, with songs such as 5-F Man, Muscle Grip, Bedroom Bully and Coc-y Rim.