Top 30 Modern Dancehall Songs About ‘Badmind’
There is nowhere else in the world where the term ‘badmind’ is an actual word, except in Jamaica. The expression is a staple in Reggae & Dancehall Music and evidently a never-ending source for musical inspiration among our deejays, as much as being or feeling blessed.
Badmind is a state of jealousy, envy, and/or hate. A ‘badminded’ person is someone who is resentful of the fortune or success of others, wishing for their ruin, downfall, or failure.
For any youth growing up in the ghetto, a career in Dancehall music is a sure ticket out of the slum. And while it is a game of chance, when one is lucky to achieve success in that capacity, the fame and fortune that come brings about jealousy from others especially in the community that bred them.
Take it from a guy like sprint legend, Usain Bolt, arguably one of the most successful personalities to walk on Jamaican soil. In a recent Instagram post, he took a break from a midnight video shoot, in freezing cold temperatures somewhere across the globe, to urge his 9.9 million followers to work hard for what they want in life and “stop badmind people”.
Experiencing the wrath of a badminded individual can feel quite daunting and frightening as the outcome often results in a person’s injury or in severe cases their demise. But for a ‘badman’, which every Jamaican deejay claims to be, these persons are often a mere nuisance, in fact, they better watch their backs.
Here are 30 of the most riveting Dancehall tunes about badmind over the last 25 years.
Listen to tracks from this list on DancehallMag‘s playlists below.
(Editor’s note: Sasco’s ‘Dem Bad Mind’ is currently mislabeled as Tanya Stephens’ ‘Work It’ on Apple Music.)
Capleton – Bad Mind (Fed Up Riddim) (1996)
It takes a brilliant missionary to really teach against wrongdoing and Capleton has proven to be the best of them all. On the topic of Bad Mind, the straightforward title of his 1996 hit single, he warns: “Badmind a go kill dem, and the envious? It a go mad dem. Tell dem fi free up dem conscious, cause just like a rope it a go heng dem,” before going into his teachings.
Like reeling out commandments, the Fire Man tells his people, don’t be grudgeful for other’s belongings, “You heart haffi clean and you must not corrupt,” further adding his creative metaphors to impart his profound words.
Beenie Man – Badmind is Active (1997)
It’s safe to say Beenie Man was responsible for coining the popular Jamaican phrase, “Badmind Is Active” with this 1997 single. In the track, the deejay sings about taking the high road despite what the badmind people are saying about him.
After gaining major success with his hit single Girls Dem Sugar a year prior, he questions: “Everybody’s talking all this crap about me. Why they just don’t let me live? Tell me why? – He’s the girls dem sugar – It is my decision. And that’s my prerogative,” mimicking Bobby Brown’s 1988 hit single My Prerogative.
Ward 21 – Haters (Badda Badda Riddim) (2000)
Featured on the hypnotic Badda Badda Riddim, created in 2000 by producers and Dancehall pacesetters Ward 21’s Suku, Mean Dog, Kunley and Rumblood, the single Haters was the group’s lyrical whipping towards the ones badminding them for their ‘platinum decked wrist and iced out fingers.’
In the track, the tetrad said, hate them all you want but don’t let them find you: “A bwoy chat off it mout and we a ask dem a who. All now, nuh man nuh answer cause dem know what we will do. We Black Talon nuffa dan animal a zoo.”
Baby Cham – Bun Bad Mine (2002)
The iconic Baby Cham has contributed several classic hits in the Dancehall genre, especially during his reign in the late ’90s and early 2000’s. One very well known track was his 2002 hit Bun Bad Mine on the Mi Nuh Know Riddim, which was later featured on his 2006 Ghetto Story Album.
Cham expresses his intolerance to badmind people by melodically playing the title of the track on the hook and in instances elaborates, “Let dem know it is Baby Cham’s desire to bring this heat and fire … let it go and allow ghetto yutes to progress. Just allow me to show my prowess, ain’t nothing can make us stop …”
Elephant Man & Delly Ranks – Headache (2000)
In this 2000 release with Delly Ranks, Elephant Man flosses his, definitely not fake, icy jewels, fat bank account, and many cars to activate a Headache among the badmind people who simply can’t handle seeing it.
Zipping down the Hellshire Highway on their eye-catching Kawasaki Ninja sports bikes while passengering two very lively hot girls, the deejays would unleash even more flashy rhymes. Like Ele flosses, “To how tings bright, Stevie Wonder can see it…”
Elephant Man –Bun Bad Mind (2004)
Rounding up his church brothers and sisters, Elephant Man released this energetic gospel-inspired single Bun Bad Mind later in 2004 to repress and ward off the hypocrites and badmind people, and in several verses also refers to them as Satan.
Chanting phrases like “rebuke dem” and “trample dem,” he adds popular doctrines from the bible, “any weapons that rise against we shall fall” and “slew heathens like Goliath and Saul.”
Agent Sasco – Dem Bad Mind (Rebirth Riddim) (2004)
It was the time when Dancehall artiste Assassin was ripping up the airwaves and for some reason, when singing in opera-style chorales was a thing. Joining the likes of Buccaneer and even Bounty Killer’s Hip Hopera , the masterful Assassin (now known as Agent Sasco) gave us a slight fusion of such in his 2004 single, Dem Bad Mind.
On the hook, he would lament about badmind people, “They, never yet have nothing good to say, they take joy in a dismay. Yo, they would like to take my life away,” he voices in long-range singing. Then surges into spitting a precipitated rant to condemn them.
Shane-O – Lightning Flash (Applause Riddim) (2004)
Shane-O first came to prominence in 2004 with this smash hit Lightning Flash. To all the pagans, badmind and discriminatory people out there, the deejay rebukes them, slinging fireball verse like, “Jah make him thunder roll and him lightening flash … and the pagans dem drop down, oh my gosh. We burn badmind, like paper, down to trash …”
Lacing his abomination on the thrashing beats of the Applause Riddim, Lightning Flash is to date, a perpetual party starter.
Sizzla –Solid As A Rock (2006)
Sizzla Kalonji takes a potent approach to talk about his experience with badmind people in this 2006 single, regarded as one of his greatest hits. By listing the many ways they try to create havoc in his life, he retorts in chanting, “Cause I’m Solid As A Rock … they just can’t stop me now.”
Further modeling himself as a force to be reckoned with, he adds, “They can’t keep a good man down, always keep a smile when they want me to frowns, keep the vibes and stood my grounds, they will never ever take my crown”.
Blak Ryno – Badmind (Nuh Fear Riddim) (2009)
In all the ways one could badmind you, Blak Ryno shared some insightful examples in this 2009 track before he left the GAZA empire. Badmind wants to see you lay down, 6 ft. 6 under the ground, grudge you for your shoes, fruits and (2) girlfriends, they don’t want to see the gold chain around your neck or even on you “two hand dem.”
In fear of their reign, the deejay cries to “Father God” to help find the remedy, the last thing he wants, is to end up in a grave at the cemetery.
Popcaan – Dem Sell We Out (2010)
Popcaan’s 2010 track Dem Sell We Out was a profound dispatch about how easy it is sometimes for these badmind friends to “sell we out.” The deejay explains that their disloyalty and treachery can come at the cost of just a serving of “chicken or pizza”. Poppy always has a way of captivating his listeners; in this case, he simply relates what was apparently real-life incidences of betrayal. In one instance in the song, he asks “Peter”, “why you use mi fadda [Vybz Kartel] fi get visa?”
The badminded “Peter” was thought to be Blak Ryno who had split from the Vybz Kartel-led Gaza Empire. Ryno responded to the blatant diss with an anti-badmind track of his own, U Vex Ee, in which he deejayed, “How dem mean mi sell out? Freedom ova bondage mi sey, life ova death, good ova evil.”
Konshens – The Realest Song (2010)
Released in 2010, this is in fact one of ‘The Realest Songs’ you will ever hear to date. By admitting that he too could contract the ever-plaguing disease of badmind, Konshens croons this humbling prayer “to the father.”
The singer asks his creator to “Keep badmind out a mi heart, keep negative out a mi thoughts. Mi know seh it easy to pree the wrong way so Jah Jah please guide me everyday,” – a deliberate message for many.
Vybz Kartel – The Best of Them (2011)
Vybz Kartel has more than two dozen songs about badmind or the variants of it, i.e. hypocrites, backstabbers, haters, etc. One of his most resounding tracks of them all is none other than The Best Of Them in 2011.
To date, Kartel’s intro, “Badmind get the best a dem” sung in his tuneful high-pitch bar is one of the most familiar sounds among Dancehall music lovers. In the track, the Worl’ Boss says he sees right through the ”hypocrites and parasites” that tell him they have nothing but love for the deejay, but their heart is dirty he stresses to the grassroots.
Chan Dizzy – Hello Badmind (2011)
One of the most popular badmind tunes ever is Chan Dizzy’s, 2011 track Hello Badmind. Singing the title of the track on the hook, “Hello badmind, how you doing today?” in cheery tones, he takes an unusual approach to admonish the “dutty badmind” people.
Keeping his circle tight and maintaining an independent and unsolicited lifestyle, he finds is the best way to eliminate these individuals from his space.
I-Octane – Badmind Fi Di Year (2011)
Octane delivered Badmind Fi Di Year in 2011 counteracting claims that he too is the culprit of badmind behaviour. This he addresses saying, “Even if dem say mi badmind, ah ketch me ketch it, cause nuff bwoy born with it.”
He then résumés true attributes of the trait taking himself out of the equation, “Dem boy deh badmind dem self, badmind dem wealth, badmind dem health. Dem boy deh criticize everything, dem want stop the voice weh make me sing.”
I-Octane Ft. Bounty Killer – Badmind Dem A Pree (2012)
Teaming up with the Warlord, Bounty Killer the following year, I-Octane shows you exactly how far the wrath of ‘badmind parasites’ range. The two deejays delivery on Badmind Dem A Pree, gives an all-too-well tale of people’s watchful eye, which in the end, yields their attack.
But the two savvies are quick on their feet and already have a plan for revenge in place to take down their enemies.
Chronixx – Behind Curtain (2012)
Leave it Chronixx to gash some lyrical flames under these so-call friends out there. His 2012 single Behind Curtain is a way of scolding these badmind- murderers by sneering his heavy message, “Best friend a come fi take you life, ah the worst ting you could a ever see … how can man weh you a par wid from you born, turn round be yuh enemy?”
“We nuh wan nuh friend from dem cah dem heart full up a jealously,” he continues. He goes on to scenario the evils and audaciousness of badmind ‘friends’ laying down life lessons and cautionary words to his people.
Beenie Man – Clean Heart (2012)
Off the Overtime riddim, the clean-hearted King Of The Dancehall returns to proclaim all the ways he is certainly not badmind.
“Ambition is a privilege(zaga) whe nuff man nuh have, Badmind is a disease whe some man wah ketch,” Beenie Man says in the intro of Clean Heart.
Jesse Royal – Modern Day Judas (Rootsman Riddim) (2013)
Modern Day Judas was one of Jesse Royal’s mega releases a few years back. The single debuted in 2013 and would eventually go on to be a huge hit, establishing Royal’s voice in the Reggae and Dancehall fraternity.
On the heavy pounding Rootsman Riddim, he describes the “backbiters, hypocritical two-side lass” reprobates as modern day Judas, “the spreader of rumors.” Chanting his verses while swirling his tongue on some of his words for emphasis, Royal’s musical creation takes on an ear worming effect.
Beenie Man – Badmind People (2014)
Beenie has continued to express his trials in dealing with envious individuals over the years. Another big hit for him on the same topic was in 2014 with his single, Badmind People.
This time he verses his experiences with them on a lighter note. Basking in his riches and achievements, he laughs in the faces of these “badmind people” around him.
Mavado – Kill Dem Slowly (Dancehall Sings Riddim) (2015)
Released in 2015, Mavado’s Kill Dem Slowly associates the state of being badmind as if infected by a disease. “Badmind a go kill dem slowly, Badmind a go kill dem only,” he promises on the hook of the single.
Quoting verses in the bible, pooled with his personal experiences and how to identify the markings of a badminded person, he imparts a wealth of knowledge while warning his audiences against these individuals.
Romain Virgo feat. Agent Sasco – Fade Away (2015)
In this melodic teaming, Romain Virgo joins forces with Agent Sasco in 2015 to demonstrate how incurable the ones laden with badmind-traits are. Playing on creative similes, Romain states “dutty heart cant sweep with broom, they are like the trees weh cant bloom. … dutty heart cant wash with soap, the meditation twist up like rope.”
Sasco chimes in “badmind stuck in a dem head like a tumour,” to meet the flows of the hook “They shall surely Fade Away.”
Alkaline – Red Eyes (2017)
Synonymous to badmind is the term Red Eyes. Alkaline’s take on the topic in this 2017 single, journal the hustle and the sleepless nights he endured during his rise to the top. Now, subsisting in the clout, the red eye onlookers have set their sights on the Vendetta Boss.
But he’s no push-over, “Mi nu give a f**, mi pop it off and every man dead. Never ever try use intimidation pon a mad head. Me a get to dem before dem get to me.”
Alkaline – Dutty Badmind (Money Order Riddim) (2018)
In another silver-tongued execution, Alkaline blazes his haters, releasing Dutty Badmind in 2018. This time around, he expresses an unbothered flow of verses directed at the ones that “underrate” and continues to call up his name.
Go right ahead he says, “Just nuh underpay we … just talk the facts when uno conversate mi – Mi seh dutty badmind cya intimidate mi. Try all you want that nah go phase me.”
Popcaan – Silence (2018)
Now, if you want to know the real pains that can come from people who are badminded, then ask this guy – Popcaan. Known to have some of the most profound badmind tracks ever, Poppy’s 2018 single Silence, off his album Forever is a shrewd assembly, merging impactful lyrics and rhythmic tones to exude heartfelt emotions.
He is as skeptical as they come, untrusting of his own family not to mention his friends, “ A nuh anybody pour my drink, a nuh anybody buy my dinner….,” he sings in the track to express some of his woes even around the people he should trust the most.
Popcaan – Firm and Strong (2018)
Just ask any of the 16 million YouTube viewers who have already listened to Popcaan’s reflections in Firm and Strong, he is ever plagued with the afflictions of badminded individuals.
In this additional single from Forever, Poppy is more in a saddened state as he laments some personal problems with his girl and disappointment with his so-called friends, “This music business is like a battle to me, so much hatred and grudge,” he laments.
But his faith is strong, avowing in melancholic tones: “In the midst of all his enemies, Jah you keep me firm and strong. Badmind and jealousy just get defeat.”
Vybz Kartel – Badmind (One Don Riddim) (2019)
Released in July 2019, Vybz Kartel unleashes another musical slaying on the ever-present and infectious badmind entities around him. “Not even a gal nah lap slap tail like uno … Badmind- wickedest disease weh you could a find,” he deejays.
He goes on to question their blatant evil in well-known Jamaican slangs that any local would be accustomed to hearing during these types of spats.
“How you badmind suh? Crosses-bwoy, how you badmind suh, and you fren dem too? Carry-news bwoy what di f–k do uno?” Kartel questions in the chorus.
TeeJay – From Rags To Riches (2020)
As his career embarked on new heights, Teejay, the Up Top Boss dropped what he dubbed From Rags To Riches in 2020 to croon about his come up. “Man ah G inna e game, badmind excuse mi,” he sings about his current status.
The opening scenes of the recently released visuals contrast a zinc fence with the classic double doors of a hilltop mansion to set the stage for an unfiltered look at what it took to get ‘from rags to riches’.
Owning his gritty truth, TeeJay had shared a photo of his humble childhood home with the single’s release with the caption, “What you know about. You see the glory but deeply you don’t know the story.”
Ding Dong Ravers – Watch Dem (2020)
Ravers Clavers vibes master, Ding Dong in another of his energetic compositions, launched Watch Dem in early 2020 to warn his do-gooder peeps to watch out for the fake friends lurking around.
No matter how much you do for them, they will turn around and say you’ve never helped them, Dong says. The moment you start doing good in life is also when they prey on you, “When you did bruk (broke), you and everybody alright, start make likkle money now a bare fight … Mi nuh want none a dem pu**y deh fi rate me, ah bare badmind ting a gwaan lately.”
Rygin King – Ruption (2020)
Just a mere two weeks before Dancehall rising star Rygin King was seriously injured in a deadly shooting on June 28, 2020, he released the single, Ruption – an ode expressing an astute consciousness to the badmind and hatred that surrounded him at the time.
All the badmind people cause is “Ruption” [corruption] he says, while condemning and shooing them off in lyrics. Who would have thought, it was just a matter of time that they would catch up with him.