Female Dancehall Legends ‘Ready To Rock The Stage'

By: Claudia Gardner

Dancehall icons Sister Nancy, Lady G, 1996 Reggae album Grammy nominee Sister Carol, Shelly Thunder, Junie Ranks and Angie Angel, have teamed up in a six-the-hard-way promotional effort

The women, half of whom honed their skills as sound system deejays in the 1980s, have taken to Instagram to promote their offerings.

Junie Ranks has been the most active in the promotional bid by the Dancehall six.  She shared a video of Sister Nancy deejaying on a sound system in Spain.

1.

Lady G

Of the six female deejays, only Lady G has performed in Jamaica in recent times. She had put on a commanding performance at Rebel Salute 2020, which was talked about for months.

Lady G gained prominence following her breakout hit single Nuff Respect, which was produced by Gussie Clarke in 1988.

Nuff Respect, which demanded that all women be respected, became an anthem for Jamaican women and propelled the Spanish Town Native to national stardom.

2.

Sister Carol

Hailing from Denham Town in West Kingston, Sister Carol is considered a foundation and cultural deejay.  A Rastafarian, she is known to blend Dancehall riddims and conscious lyrics.

Raised in Brooklyn, New York, she was the first female Dancehall deejay to be nominated for the Best Reggae Album Grammy back in in 1996, for Lyrically Potent.

3.

Junie Ranks

After recording her first single Counteraction for Techniques on the stalag riddim, Junie Ranks, Dancehall’s most risqué female deejay of the 80s era, scored with hit singles such as Gimmie Di Buddy, Cry Fe Me Boops, Big and Ready and Dibby Dibby Man.

Junie rose to stardom after she voiced Gimmie Di Buddy, as an answer to Admiral Bailey’s Gi-Mi Punany and Cry Fe Me Boops, in response to Super Cat’s See Boops Deh.

4.

Angie Angel

Born Angela Cameron, in Kingston, Angie Angel released her debut single Settle Yuself, on the Black Solidarity label in 1987.

She released her debut album also titled Life was released in 2001, and included tracks such as People with Bobby Blue and a cultural remake of Patra’s Workerman’, re-titled Rastaman.

Angie rose in popularity after she released the sexually-charged Agony, on Patrick Roberts’ Shocking Vibes label in 1990, which went platinum when it was given a jungle remix in the UK.

5.

Shelly Thunder

Shelly Thunder became popular in the dancehall with songs like Kuff and Break Up, and Working Girl  from her Dancehall album Fresh Out the Pack.

Her breakout hit single Shock mi a Shock peaked at number one on the US Reggae charts, after which she followed up with classics such as Small Horsewoman, 85 Vision and Man A Rush Me.

6.

Sister Nancy

Sister Nancy, who celebrated her 60th birthday on January 2, has the distinction of being the first female Dancehall deejay.

A younger sister to veteran deejay Brigadier Jerry, she also has the distinction of being  the first female deejay to perform at Reggae Sunsplash, and the first to tour internationally.

Her most famous song is Bam Bam, a remake of Toots and the Maytals winning Festival song, is the most sampled Jamaican song of all time, having been sampled more than 80 times across genres.

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