Don Corleon Says Songwriting, Not Trap Beats, Hindering Many New Jamaican Artists From Becoming Hitmakers
Like many of his fellow Reggae/Dancehall producers have been lamenting over the last few years, Dropleaf producer Don Corleon has agreed that songwriting, and not necessarily the beats or genres of music, is what is preventing many new Jamaican artists from becoming hitmakers.
Several days ago, Corleon shared a video excerpt of Beenie Man’s recent interview with Onstage’s Winford Williams, in which the Dancehall veteran cautioned upcoming artists that success in music was not about the numbers or (YouTube) views they got but, instead, was “about how long the music goin last and how far yuh a guh carry di people dem.” Beenie had also assured artists that once they “think about the fans and music listeners in general, “everything will be alright”.
In response, Don Corleon commended Beenie for his sage advice, and went on to give his analysis of the predicament in which Jamaican music has found itself.
“This is the most on-point argument I heard about the state of dancehall @kingbeenieman. I salute you my Boss. Me personally, I’m always supporting change in music and I don’t bash younger producers or trap dancehall. At the end of the day, it’s all art to me,” the Good To Go riddim producer said.
“Riddim don’t matter. It’s the full production that’s counts!! The end-product. U can produce a total dancehall beat and it doesn’t buss or go nowhere. For example, Kartel song Si mi a Seh it’s not a dancehall beat nor bounty It’s a party which is one of my favorite songs from him, or [Mad] Cobra girl Flex. The one thing all these songs have is they are hit songs and what they saying on it is totally authentic Jamaica lyrics so the moral of the story is PRODUCE HIT SONG SIMPLE AS THAT!!!” he added.
As he continued his elaboration on the matter, Don Corleon, whose given name is Donovan Bennett, like his compatriots Jon FX and Nigel Staff did months ago, zoned in on proper songwriting and structure, as the key element which is missing from songs, which, is to the artists’ detriment.
“All of that, the beat, the juggling, the trap, has nothing to do with it. The songwriting is the main problem. Look into my eyes (Bounty Killer) is legendary and the beat has no dancehall element. But the lyrics makes it dancehall. It’s written perfectly… good written song is a good written song and I can give u tons of examples like that. Also, there is no quality control,” he explained.
Also weighing on the discussion was Miami-based radio broadcaster Papa Keith who lamented that the topics in the new music coming from Jamaica’s upcoming artists are limited to “scamming, killing and rough sex”, in comparison to their predecessors who used to “cover many topics”.
“Bounty, Beenie and other Artists would have songs talking about love, sex, reality, culture, politics and badman tingz. Producer like @doncorleonie , Dave Kelly, and others would record several Artist on a Riddim that would cover those topics too. Unfortunately most of the songs now exclusively cover topics like Scamming, Killing & Rough Sex. There’s no LOVE in the music and not enough balance,” he noted.
“So that’s where Afro Beats had the opportunity in music and Soca at parties. The Artist & Producers need to be more multidimensional. If not, it will continue to limit and shutout a lot fans of Dancehall Music.
I enjoy the current music too but find myself going to 90s Dancehall or other genres of music for what’s missing, when Dancehall use to have it ALL!” he said.
Don Corleon agreed with the sentiments of Papa Keith.
“@papa_keith Ma bredda facts!!!! you one of the gate keepers who from day one always Promote and supported our genre. We jamaica can’t thank you enough for your support,” the producer replied.
Corleon, in his final comment on the matter, insisted again, that beats do not matter.
“It’s not the beat it’s the song-writing. That’s what lacking. U can put anybody on all these classic beat (but) if it’s not written properly and in a way where all can relate to, not gonna work,” he said.