Beenie Man: “We Need To Keep The Authenticity Of Dancehall”

Veteran Dancehall deejay Beenie Man has expressed annoyance that the genre simply isn’t the same anymore, because of the amalgamation of genres by young artists.

“We need to keep the authenticity of Dancehall, brethren,” the 48-year-old entertainer told UK-based radio presenter and DJ Robbo Ranx, as he questioned the effectiveness of merging international genres with Dancehall.

“Dancehall nuh authentic no more. Dancehall a HipHop, and short drop, and one next drop and wah other drop, and dem nah mek no one drop enuh. The youth dem nah gwaan bad…dem a gwaan like dem nuh learn. Yuh cyaa come inna a business weh yuh doe learn bout. Yuh cyaa come inna a business weh yuh nuh know bout. Yuh just come fi change a music, weh yuh nuh know bout yet? Dat nuh mek nuh sense,” the Girls Dem Sugar deejay added.

He also said many young Jamaican acts are ignorant as to how the business works.

“A nuh ill-informed. You cannot come inna man business, weh yuh nuh know bout man business and a try change man business. So weh you woulda seh, weh we did a do inna the 90s did a foolishness? So you come fi mek the music better? So why we nah go no further? Why we nah get no higher? Why we nah get no better? Unuh go weh and come outta man business.”

A passionate Beenie Man, who has been in the business for almost four decades, emphasized the importance of learning the roots of the game, before attempting to become part of the rigorous industry.

“Nuh badda hitch nuh ride. Yuh haffi know weh the bus a come from…suppose a pure murderer inna the bus? Yah go tun murderer? The youths dem nowadays nuh show Dancehall no respect. We cyaa beat dem enuh; but dem nuh show the business no respect.”

The King of the Dancehall did not shy away from naming those whom he deemed as ‘accomplished’ in the modern-day. He even said that only those who stay committed to the genre from day one can classify themselves as true Dancehall acts.

“Popcaan and Aidonia dem, dem a the last artists weh buss…Chronixx buss inna Dancehall and then him tun Reggae international star. Koffee do the same thing, then them tun Reggae international star. That’s why we a the dancehall artists cause we stay. A dat dancehall artist mean enuh—all who stay with the people, inna the struggle and fight the struggle. A dat it mean.”

Watch Robbo Ranx’s full interview with Beenie Man below.