Beenie Man Lashes Trap Dancehall, Says Young Artistes Want Nothing To Do With Him
Beenie Man had some scathing comments to make recently, about the upcoming artistes who are engaging in what is commonly being referred to as “Trap Dancehall”.
Speaking with Television Jamaica’s Anthony Miller on The Entertainment Report television programme, which was aired on Friday night, the Heart Attack singer said the artistes, with their continued heavy reliance on Trap beats, were threatening Dancehall’s survival.
“Right now dem trap di music, because dem seh dem a duh Trap Dancehall,” Beenie Man declared. “An if yuh trap Dancehall, dat mean yuh lock it up inna one place. Dem nat dealing with di worl; dem dealin wid demself and dem need fi stap. Dem need fi find di foundation in music; keep di music authentic and don’t try to mix it with somethings.”
“Cause di music always a mix enuh; it always a fuse wid suppm. Fusion a music is nice, but come on man…get back to where Dancehall is coming from an build some more Dancehall beat, so we can be known as di people dem weh always keep di music real,” he added.
When asked what his relationship was like with the younger artistes, Beenie Man said he engages in very little or no interaction with them because of their poor mannerisms.
“Mi talk to some a dem enuh. A nuh everyone a dem yuh can talk to. You have some a dem weh born black and get brown and dem tattoo all ova dem face an dem stop talk to people. Dem man deh nuh know me. Dem nuh waa know me. Dem nuh waa hear nuttn from me,” he said.
“Yeh, but a suh it guh; dem nuh chat to mi. Trus mi. Dem young but yah, dem nuh chat tuh mi. But mi nuh care caw mi nuh beg fren. A suh my ting guh. If you waa learn you can learn, yuh nuh waa learn, a suh it guh,” Beenie added.
Beenie said, however, that he is friends with Romeich Entertainment artiste TeeJay, who, unlike his millennial counterparts is not a wanna-be rapper, but an authentic, hardcore Dancehall recording artiste.
“Mi chat to TeeJay caw a mi bredrin, yu seet. Caw him is a deejay weh actually waa deejay. Him actually waa duh Dancehall music. Di res a man dem a rappa man. Hip Hop artiste; R&B superstar, yuh zeet,’ he said sardonically.
“Di only young generation dem weh wi chat to a fourth generation dem like Popcaan dem, Aidonia dem. A dem wi deal wid because wi know dem from dem likkle-bit, an den wi show dem respect same way right through. Dem likkle yute yah weh a still likkle yute, dem a move like dem a bigga man fi yuh. When dem si yuh dem a look pon yuh like dem want fi shub a knife inna yuh chest,” Beenie Man said.
On the Entertainment Report’s Instagram page where the interview with Beenie Man was shared, Dancehall fans’ comments were polarized.
While some agreed with the Nuff Gal artiste’s sentiments, others accused Beenie of not stretching a helping hand to help uplift younger artistes, but instead spending time to publicly criticize them, whilst expecting them to be respectful of him.
“Respect goes where respect comes from Mr. Beenie man… u keep on hating on the man them style a music so u think they will respect u, if u a do authentic dancehall do that lowe the youth them mek them do trap not everyone will be doing reggae or authentic dancehall , if a man wah bleach or put on tattoo a fi him skin…,” one man said.
Others said Beenie was jealous of the young artistes as he had failed to move with the times and was foolishly expecting Dancehall fans to gravitate to his outdated singing styles.
“Why does Beenie Man still behave as if his opinion is gospel? E man really think seh him a king a ntn? Music keeps evolving bredda dancehall in the late 70s don’t sound like dancehall in the 90s where u reined, so how u can a bash man fi nah sound like back inna e days? Music cya stop n u can’t control e direction it ago,” another annoyed man said.
“Stop talk you sound foolish ppl always like something new. You old stly na work,” another follower, oneilanderson60 scolded.
There were some like @wizzdayone who agreed with Beenie, noting that the trap artistes were watering down Dancehall music.
“Beenie is not the only artist saying these things, this is coming from all dancehall veterans. Bounty says the same thing , the yutes need to know them history, this is why them music so water dung and have no longevity. As killa seh “it’s like fast food, no substance nuh ina it,” he said.
Beenie has been at odds with new artistes from the Montego Bay-based 6IX camp since August last year, after members of the group failed to perform at his “Summer Sizzle” show in Clarendon. At the time, the group’s manager Junior ‘Heavy D’ Fraser, had said in their defense, that the 6IX’s absence from the show resulted from unprofessional negotiations by Beenie.
A few months ago, there were also widely publicized allegations that the 6IX’s Daddy1 was boxed by a member of Beenie’s entourage at the Big Yard Studio in Kingston, which elicited an outpouring of condemnation and threats from 6IX fans. Beenie confirmed the altercation last week but denied responsibility for the incident.
During an interview in May, Beenie had also jeered Daddy1, claiming his trap dancehall lyrics were difficult to understand because they were too much like rap music, while declaring that: If you ah do Dancehall, you do Dancehall. If you a rapper, you a rapper.”