When people search for the meaning of “Dunce Cheque,” they are looking at a 2022 trap dancehall song by Jamaican deejay Valiant. On the surface it celebrates being “dunce,” a Jamaican word for a slow or unintelligent person.
Valiant says it is a joke that takes back an insult. His critics say it makes dropping out of school and making money through crime look good. Both readings, and the debate between them, are explained below.
Release Details and Credits
The single came out on November 2, 2022, under Musiqukrecords and runs 2:36. The listed writers are Raheem Bowes, Armani Bygrave and Tarick Gordon.
Bowes is Valiant’s real name. The track was produced by Music UK Records and Diplomats Records. A November 2022 Gleaner profile said it began as a viral sound online before it was officially released.
The Lyrics Explained
The chorus has a narrator at the back of the class who doesn’t take any school subjects and says money is the only subject that counts.
The title sounds like the “bounce cheque” phrase that opens the hook. DancehallMag reported in November 2022 that the song makes references to lotto scamming and the ‘chappa’ lifestyle.
In a March 2023 report, DancehallMag listed what runs through Valiant’s breakout songs, this one included: references to lotto scamming/fraud, MDMA (molly), obeah (spell casting), moderate gunplay, and/or explicit sexual activity. Valiant said these were the themes Caribbean audiences want to hear.
In a November 12, 2022 interview with Urban Islandz, the 24-year-old denied that he was telling young people to be dunce.
He said: “Well Calling people dunce was used as a way to discourage or hurt feelings of the youth so [I] thought of a way to give kids confidence if they are called dunce.
I want them to know that they can brush off being called dunce and make fun of it because it won’t stop them from achieving their goals.”
He said the same thing in January 2023, when he visited his old school, Oberlin High, according to The Gleaner.
He called “dunce and back of the class” a slang term used to embrace or describe a feeling or situation and said he graduated Oberlin High School with several subjects. He also said: “Dunce Cheque is a song that embraces fun and satire and every youth understands that.”
The Robert Morgan Controversy
The song drew national attention in early November 2022. Robert Morgan, the Information Minister, criticized it two minutes into his address at the National Youth Month Church Service at the Generations Church in Mandeville.
He said he had heard the song playing on his young son’s tablet. Morgan asked: “when did dunce become fashionable?”
In his view, the lyrics were making buffoonery appear desirable to young people. He also compared today’s artists unfavorably with 90s veterans like Shabba Ranks, Bounty Killer, and Beenie Man.
The Music Video
The official video came out that Tuesday, after the minister’s comments. It was directed by KhingCam. Valiant and his friends drive up to school in flashy cars.
The video was shot at a basic school, with Valiant and friends in uniforms, which plays up the lyrics about sitting at the back of the class.
The Gleaner said in November 2022 that the video highlights that many Jamaicans with education still cannot get great opportunities.
Valiant’s Answer: “Scholar”
Soon after, Valiant hit back with another song. World Music Views reported in November 2022 that his song “Scholar” takes aim at Information Minister Robert Morgan and others who criticized the lyrics of “Dunce Cheque.”
Chart Performance and Views
On November 17, 2022, World Music Views reported that Valiant held all five top spots on Jamaica’s YouTube chart, with “Dunce Cheque” at No. 3.
The outlet called him the first artist to have 5 songs in the top 5 on YouTube in Jamaica since the chart was launched in 2018.
DancehallMag later reported that in December, he took the top five positions on YouTube’s Jamaica Music Charts, with “Dunce Cheque” among them.
The view counts have grown a lot since launch. Urban Islandz reported on November 12, 2022 that the video had almost a million views in three days.
Valiant’s YouTube Music channel now lists it as his top song, at 44M views. That figure is not dated and keeps changing.
The 2023 “Dunce” Schoolbag Debate
The argument came back in September 2023, when bags with the word “Dunce” on them began showing up in Jamaican schools.
A Gleaner editorial said the so-called Dunce bags have apparently been made fashionable by the song. It argued the song celebrates the prospects of making money without education, but doing so by criminal means.
The principal of Jonathan Grant High School initially said that students with Dunce bags wouldn’t be allowed into classes.
DancehallMag noted at the time that since 2020, several artists have promoted the word in songs, among them Valiant with Dunce Cheque, and Jamal of Montego Bay.
Not everyone backed a crackdown. Dr Niaah, a UWI lecturer, said the principal’s focus was misplaced and asked: “Why not use it as a transformational tool”?
The Bottom Line
“Dunce Cheque” means different things depending on who you ask. Valiant has called it satire that turns a schoolyard insult into a joke and a boost of confidence.
Critics, including a government minister and The Gleaner’s editorial board, see a song that glamorizes skipping education and making money through fraud. Either way, it became the song that made Valiant famous in 2022.
