Shabba Ranks Says Dancehall Producers Avoid Him Because He Wants Ownership Of Masters For Any New Music

Dancehall icon Shabba Ranks says he has been avoided by numerous Dancehall producers and labels, due to his stance that he will have to be paid, as well as be the owner of his masters for any forthcoming music.

According to Shabba, he has made the decision to record music solely on his terms, based on past experiences where he had been taken advantage of due to his then ignorance of the business side of the industry. 

“Mi tell yuh already; yuh si di free issue: Paul McCartney nuh gi weh him music free enuh.  Yuh get dat?  Mick Jagger nuh gi weh him suppm free enuh; Bruce Springsteen nuh gi weh dem ting free enuh.  Mi gi weh enough free.  Suh yuh si if a guy naw pay me fi Shabba suppm, well, my yute dem a guh release Shabba suppm.  Mi have nuff tings pon tape…” Shabba said, in response to queries by Onstage host Winford Williams, about new music from him.

“I work hard an meck Dancehall – dis music yah – be a multi-billionaire.  Multi billions inna dis music yah and yuh si di people dem weh a di gatekeeper, a dis music yah, a gwaan like seh dem si every odda artiste an dem don’t si Shabba.  Suh hear wha me want all a di people dem fi do: mi want onu fi chat to di people dem weh a produce Dancehall music and Reggae music an meck dem know seh oonu want some Shabba music,” the Bedroom Bully artist added. 

According to Shabba, some of the “gatekeepers” have been shying away from him as they do not want to take a formal approach, but instead, prefer to engage in a type of hustling behavior.  His new approach, he emphasized, is a means of creating generational wealth.

“Caw, because me a deal wid business, an some man a deal wid hustling, dem a gwaan like dem nuh waa deal wid me.  Because dem have a ol’ rule weh dem a use pan new fool.  But because mi a ol’ fool weh undastan di old rule, dem gwaan like dem nuh waan deal wid me.  But mi nuh business man; mi a businessman!” he declared during the interview, which followed his performance on the Welcome to Jamrock Cruise over the weekend.

“An if a guy naw deal wid business, I naw deal wid no business.   Becaw whateva I do from now on, is not fi me.  I have done fi me, already.  Is for mi children’s children!  Is not for me; is not for my children. It’s for my children’s children,” he emphasized.

The Seaview Gardens native insisted that he would make no compromises and that the farthest he would go, would be to lease his masters in periods of five years, with the possibility of extensions, as any other route would be reminiscent of slavery.

“Suh oonu rob me, of me, already.  But oonu caan robe me of mi children’s children.  Mi naw f-ck around,” the two-time Grammy winner said in ‘Gypsy’.  

“A music mi a deal wid and if a guy nuh come come buy Shabba suppm, or lease Shabba suppm, suh mi can lease mi ting fi a five years and den afta five years him re-up again an give me a new business plan, but I own di masters of my recordings.  Because if you do not own di masters, you are a slave.  And I refuse to be anymore slave.  Because dem seh dem emancipate we, but me haffi emancipate myself,” the Twice My Age deejay said.

He added: “Suh if dem nuh come like dem know seh me emancipate myself, den I will…Weh God bless me wid, tenk yuh puppa Jeezas, no bwoy caan teck it weh again… It cemented inna di face a di earth where it will always and forever be Shabba Ranks!  Bob Marley seh dem a guh tired fi si him face, but let me tell oonu suppm tonight: Shabba Ranks still a guh deh bout”.

Shabba Ranks, 56, emerged in the 1980s and would go on to garner global success as a household name. His biggest hit single outside of Jamaica was the reggae fusion smash Mr. Loverman and Slow and Sexy with Johnny Gill, which is certified Gold in the United States for sales of over 500,000 units.

Other big tracks include Housecall with Maxi Priest, Respect, Pirates Anthem, Trailer Load A Girls, Wicked Inna Bed, Caan Dun, and Ting A Ling.

He has recorded over ten studio albums, five of which were released on Epic Records, with whom he signed in 1989.

Under Epic Records, which is owned by Sony Music, Ranks won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 1992 for As Raw as Ever and repeated the feat the following year with X-tra Naked.  Both albums are certified Gold in the US.

Shabba’s song Dem Bow , which appeared on his Just Reality album in 1990 and was produced by Bobby ‘Digital’ Dixon, is widely regarded as the song that paved the way for the Reggaetón genre.  Elements of the song’s riddim are believed to be incorporated into over 80% of all Reggaetón productions.

Dem Bow had used the beat from Poco Man Jam, a 1989 record by the Jamaican vocalist Gregory Peck, produced by Steely and Clevie on the Fish Market riddim.

In 2021, Steely and Clevie brought a major lawsuit against Luis Fonsi and others, alleging that several of the Reggaeton singer’s songs (including Despacitio—the song with the most-viewed music video on YouTube) infringed on the Fish Market riddim, which is known internationally as “Dem Bow” after Shabba’s hit track.