Royal Rift Between Dancehall Kings Yellowman And Beenie Man Widens

The ‘royal rift’ between the two Dancehall kings, Yellowman and Beenie Man, is getting bigger, with the original king launching another broadside against the Girls Dem Sugar deejay.

During an interview with veteran entertainment journalist Anthony Miller, which was aired on Television Jamaica last Friday, Yellowman, whose given name is Winston Foster, branded Beenie Man as a pest and reaffirmed his stance that at age 65, he, remains the undisputed King of Dancehall.

The latest dispute between the two began after Yellowman said several weeks ago, that he was displeased that Beenie Man had been chosen to do the remake of his 1982 dancehall hit Zungguzungguguzungguzeng, which is part of Jeremy Harding’s Dancehall Anthems compilation project, produced for VP Records.   The Blueberry Hill singer had said it would have been better if his song had been remade by dancehall megastars Sean Paul or Shaggy.

Beenie had responded to Yellowman’s comments last week during an interview with YouTuber Teach Dem, saying that he felt insulted by Yellowman’s rebuff, including his reference to him being a ‘common mango’ trying to appear to be of the East Indian variety.

He explained that all he had done was to publicly pay homage to Yellowman after VP Records executives had contacted him and asked for his input on the Dancehall Anthems Project, which was to feature remakes of hit songs from the 1980s.

“Mi show di man honor and respect an him disrespect me,” Beenie had lamented.

The Who Am I singer had also said whilst he respects Yellowman, the I’m Getting Married artiste, had not acquired as many musical accolades and awards as he, and gave a reminder that he was also a Grammy Award winner.

However, during Friday night’s interview, Yellowman countered Beenie’s arguments, pointing to the fact that unlike the Craig Town native, he was not crowned king by organizations or the media, but by the ordinary people of Jamaica.

Added to that, he also reiterated that he has the biggest song in the history of dancehall in the form of Zungguzungguguzungguzeng and pre-COVID he was constantly touring as he still remains in high demand.

“Every man is a king and when I say I am still the king of dancehall, I am not saying it because I am on TV… I am saying it because of the people who call me the king of dancehall, not di media; not a group a people; not friends, normal Jamaican people and it spread across di globe,” Yellowman declared.

“When you are a king, people follow you and every Hip-Hop artiste follow mi back in di days,” Yellowman said, in an apparent reference to the fact that Zungguzungguguzungguzeng, since its release in 1982, has been sampled by some of the numerous American Hip-Hop artistes including the two biggest names in that genre.

Among the American Hip Hop mega-stars who have sampled or used the rhyme schemes of Zungguzungguguzungguzeng are Notorious BIG in his 1995 Player’s Anthem collab with Junior M.A.F.I.A; Tupac in Hit em Up, and Jah Rule in Niggas and Bitches.

“I don’t do a Hip Hop artiste song, just like somebody who say dem is king duh my song,” he added in another jab at Beenie.

Yellowman’s original Zungguzungguguzungguzeng, was produced by the late Junjo Lawes, and was released on VP’s Reggae Sound label in 1982.   According to Yellowman, the song, which helped to propel him to global stardom, has also been a favorite for dubplates from sound systems all over the world.

When asked by Miller why he was unhappy with Beenie’s cover, when the artiste was perhaps simply “praising him”, Yellowman said the self-proclaimed Doctor’s intent was not to honor him, and pointed out that he had done a sub-par job with the track.

“I wouldn’t call it praise.  He do it for himself.  Listen my version; listen fi him version.   My version is rock solid.  His version is cardboard, paper,” he said.

When Miller pressed Yellowman for answers as to why he was “so angry” with Beenie Man, the veteran artiste, who is known for hits such as Mister Chin, Who Can Make The Dance Ram, Body Move,  Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt, immediately dismissed the 2000 Grammy award winner as insignificant, claiming he was a fake Beenie Man, as his name was not even original.

“No, I don’t angry wid Beenieman.  Because him is not Beenie Man.  I angry wid him; not Beenie Man.  Beenie Man is in England – the real Beenie Man.   Di one back in di days.  Di likkle five year old guy who used to go round wid Barry G.  Dat was Beenieman. I don’t angry wid him.  I don’t know him.  Him ongle jus pop up pon di scene, like a little ants,” Yellowman said.