Dancehall Legend Sister Nancy Collaborates With New York Rapper MIKE On ‘Stop Worry’

Dancehall legend Sister Nancy has collaborated with New York rapper/producer MIKE, on a new Reggae song titled Stop Worry.

The track, which sees MIKE rapping on the Reggae beat and Nancy deejaying in an early Dancehall style, will appear on MIKE’s upcoming album Beware of the Monkey, which is set for release on December 21.   An accompanying music video for the song has also been released on YouTube, which so far, has racked up just over 31,000 views.  

Over on his Instagram page yesterday, MIKE shared clips of the music video alongside family photographs, with a birthday note for his late mother yesterday, and thanked the Bam Bam singer for her input.

“Another year added onto my mothers eternal life of offerings & love!! happy birthday sweetheart 😇 this is all for u!!!   Thank you to the Queen @sisternancy…,” he added as he went on to praise other members of his immediate family, adding: “my heart is full of love, sadness, joy, confusion and understanding but I am so grateful, so thank you”. 

Over on YouTube, MIKE’s fans have expressed amazement about the fact that he was able to enlist Sister Nancy for a collaboration.

“MIKE x Sister Nancy is something I never thought I would see but I am beyond excited for it,” one man noted, while another added: “MIKE! You just put the cherry on top for Hip Hop this year with this one my brother. This is f**king insane fam! Thank You!”

Sister Nancy, who will celebrate her 61st birthday on January 2, next year, has the distinction of being the first female Dancehall deejay.

A younger sister to veteran deejay Brigadier Jerry, Sister Nancy has the distinction of being not only Dancehall’s first female deejay, but also the first female deejay to perform at Reggae Sunsplash, and the first to tour internationally, something which she still does to this day.

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.

In January this year, Bam Bam was certified silver in the UK, and shortly afterwards, ascended to number one on the iTunes and Amazon Reggae song charts after it was featured in an episode of Netflix’s popular crime Drama Ozark.

In her mid-teens, Sister Nancy performed occasionally on the Jahlove Music sound system, and also worked for three years on the Stereophonic sound system with General Echo.

Nancy, whose given name is Ophlin Russell, recorded her first single Papa Dean for producer the late Winston Riley, on his Techniques label, in 1980.

Among her other singles are One Two, Money Can’t Buy Me Love, and Transport Connection. 

Nancy released her debut album, One Two in 1982 and went on to work with late producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes, where she recorded A No Any Man Can Test Sister Nancy and Bang Belly.  She also recorded Jah Mek Us Fe A Purpose, a collaboration with King Yellowman.

Along with Purpleman and Yellowman, Sister Nancy was a key member of  Junjo Lawes’ Volcano Records camp in the 1980s.  As such, under the label, the trio recorded an album in 1982 dubbed The Yellow, The Purple & The Nancy, which marked its 40th year in January 2022.

The Yellow, The Purple & The Nancy was released by Greensleeves Label and featured 10 tracks including Feeling Irie, Get Ready, Out of Hand and Westmoreland Skank by Purpleman; A No Any Man Can Test Sister Nancy, Dance Pon The Corner and Bang Belly by Sister Nancy and Mr Wong, Baby Father and Mash It Up Now by Yellowman and Fathead.