Dancehall Songwriters Being ‘Treated With Scant Regard In Jamaica,’ Says Joey Lyric

Dancehall music producer Joey Lyric says Jamaican songwriters from the genre are not being respected by artists, and, in many cases, are not given recognition for their contribution to the success of recordings, but are instead relegated to ghostwriters.   

The producer, who recently left Jamaica to ply his trade in Los Angeles, had created his Lyrics Rhoom Entertainment record label last year, after playing the role of a ghostwriter for artists for years. He said that the issue was huge in the Jamaican music industry, with egotism being at the core.   

“That’s a colossal problem in the industry in Jamaica with songwriting, because… songwriters are treated with scant regard in Jamaica.  So it’s not a thriving business in Jamaica,” the Baay Woman deh Yah producer said during a recent interview on the Dale Elliot TV podcast.

“The thing with songwriting in Jamaica, I think it’s not big because of the egotistical nature of Dancehall artist.  For instance, we know that Chris Brown wrote Disturbia for Rihanna; Pharrel wrote Blurred Lines for Robin Thicke; Neyo wrote Unfaithful for Rihanna; Irreplaceable for Beyonce.  In Jamaica, you have people who write for artiste you know,” the Lyrics Rhoom Entertainment producer said.

Joey’s sentiments about the treatment of Dancehall songwriters, is akin to that of Dark Room artist Shane O, who spent more than a decade working exclusively as a songwriter, before returning to the music scene, long after his breakout song Lightning Flash.

Shane O had also said that the trigger for him to discontinue writing songs for other artists, was the day an artist for whom he had written songs, stared in his face and walked past him as if he did not know him at the airport.

“I am not going to; trust mi, mi naw dweet.  Becaw di last time mi write a big song fi smaddy an mi si dem walk pass mi, suh mi nuh think mi a dweet again,” he had said in a past interview.

“It hurt mi at di time, but not again… dat person come si mi inna di airport, dem look right inna mi an dem nuh si mi.  Mi just a show you how people stay, but yyuh si mi, mi nuh too want put out mi all to nobaddy right no.  Mi justa deal wid my career…,” he had said. 

Shane O is the writer of Yanique ‘Curvy Diva’ Barrett’s single Lifestyle and Mavado’s 2008 hit Touch Di Road, which he said in an interview a few years ago caused friction between himself and the Gully Gad.

Touch di Road was produced by Foota Hype and Daseca on the Gully Creature Riddim Instrumental and was added to Mavado’s Gangster For Life: the Symphony of David Brooks album, after it received heavy radio rotation across the Caribbean.

“Di whole world know seh Shane O a me write Touch di road and mi nuh get no props fi dat… big up di artiste said way,” he told Onstage’s Winford Williams in a past interview.

The writing credit for Touch Di Road was later sorted out, according to Shane O.

A February 2014, Gleaner article about songwriters, noted that “more often than not, it is the singers – and the musicians, to a lesser extent – who are mentioned whenever a recording hits, while the writer dwells in the realms of the unknown”.

It noted, however, that this was not the case decades ago, with Jamaican music.

“Whereas an overwhelming majority of current-day deejays and singers write their own songs, many of the earlier artistes had their songs written for them.   There were persons at that time who just entertained a certain level of egotistic pride in writing songs solely for the purpose of having them sung by others,” it noted.

Legendary Madhouse producer, Dave Kelly was also known as a prolific songwriter, who penned the majority of songs that he allowed Dancehall artists to record, among them Beenie Man’s Old Dog, Frisco Kid’s Suzuki and Think Wi Nice and Bounty Killer’s Look into My Eyes, without any problems.