Beenie Man To Young Artists: It’s The Stage Where Legends Are Made

Beenie Man has reiterated his call for younger artists to ensure their stage performances are of the highest standard, arguing that while studio recordings are crucial, it’s the onstage charisma that will make them unforgettable and famous.

“Work hard in the studio and work harder onstage. Because onstage, people remember you the person, and in the studio, people remember the songs. But if you don’t work harder onstage people will not remember you as an individual, but people will always remember your songs,” Beenie told Billboard, after being asked whether he had any advice for younger dancehall acts seeking to follow in his footsteps as someone having “reached the highest heights that dancehall, and music in general, has to offer.” 

Drawing parallels with iconic figures, Beenie Man referenced Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley, two of the most celebrated performers in music history. “Michael Jackson mek an album every two years, but people still remember him for his performance.  I nuh care how many hits Michael Jackson sing, it’s never greater than that Moonwalk. Never greater than that backslide. Yuh see Michael Jackson with spandex? Nobody remember dat. They remember di performance!” he mused.

“Elvis Presley was the greatest entertainer before Michael Jackson. Dem still remember Elvis as in performance, not in song. When yuh go in Las Vegas, yuh find 10 Elvis Presley shows, because of his performance. That is my only advice to any artist,” he added. 

In May this year, in an Onstage interview, Beenie had said that in addition to making music that will last, artists must place emphasis on becoming unforgettable stage performers.

“Yuh si, when you make good music, good music lasts forever.  When you make nice music, it nice.  You have to make certain that when you building yourself as a artiste, you building yourself to last.  So you work hard in studio and hard on stage.  Because is on stage people recognise that talent,” Beenie had said.

“Because, dem have some artiste bad inna studio, but when dem come pan stage dem can’t sing, dem can’t teck a note, dem can’t last fi 20 minutes; dem can’t last fi 25 minutes,” he had said.

Continued Beenie: “Suh wha artiste need fi do is learn fi please di audience, because they are there for you.  Dem come there to be entertained, so is for you to entertain dem”.

The inability of some popular Jamaican artists to properly perform on stage, has been a hot topic over the last few years, and reached a crescendo last year, as Jamaica braced for the full resumption of some of its largest iconic music festivals following the reopening of the entertainment sector.

Among those who broached the subject was Big Belly Man deejay Admiral Bailey.  The veteran artist had lamented the fact that many newcomers’ performances were sub-par, and they were unable to sing on key during live performances, as they and the producers of their music did not know the basic tenets of music, including the seven-letter Musical Alphabet.

That same month, entertainer Tu Lox, who forms one-half of Twins of Twins, had taken issue, particularly with new female artists whom he said had failed to master the art of performing, and so, resorted to having their recorded songs played at stage shows, while they sang along, instead of reciting them from memory.

The issue of lacklustre performances by new artists had picked up steam back in September 2019, after the conclusion of a slew of summer stage shows across the island.  Among those who felt the brunt of the criticisms were Jahvillani, Squash, and Chronic Law.

Like Beenie, the deficit in stagecraft, did not escape the attention of some of the country’s seasoned artists, among them the Fireman Capleton, known globally for his fiery and energetic performances.

“The problem is that when it comes to delivery, di yute dem haffi go work pon dat. Da part of di craft deh, dem haffi go get it together,” Capleton had in an Onstage interview.

“Becaw di people listen di song, and dem hear it pon di tape, or dem hear it pon di video or whatever. And when dem come at a dance or at a stage show, dem yute deh pon di stage an dem naw get da effect deh and dem naw hear di same ting, because through Mellodyne or Autotune put yuh pon key or whateva,” Capleton had said.

Music selector Boom Boom had also recommended that the new artists watch and learn from videos of past performances by the island’s top acts.

“Dem fi do dem homework. Dem fi go watch some clippings with Capleton and Beenieman and IOctane – di man dem weh can perform,” the Grants Pen native, known also as Billboard Selector, had said.