Rapper Tula Pays Tribute To Shabba Ranks With ‘Shabba Dance’

Rapper Tula is ecstatic about his latest single, ‘Shabba Dance,’ his tribute to the Dancehall superstar Shabba Ranks.

“I needed to create a new dance and honour Shabba Ranks at the same time. So I came up with the idea to do ‘Shabba Dance’. I am very excited with thuie idea because Shabba is a legend and a lot of that dancehall stuff and Jamaican music came from him. I feel like he doesn’t get a lot of credit which is part of the reason why I decided to do this song,” Rapper Tula told DancehallMag.

Shabba Ranks is known worldwide as one of the first Jamaican dancehall artists to break through the mainstream market. His albums ‘As Raw As Ever’ and ‘X-Tra Naked’ won him consecutive Grammys in the Best Dancehall Album category in the 1990s. Those albums both won a Grammy Award as Best Reggae Album in 1992 and 1993, respectively. He is notoriously popular for “Mr. Loverman” and “Ting-A-Ling”, which were globally acclaimed and deemed his signature songs.

Rapper Tula is also songwriter and producer, releasing projects under his label, O Masters.

He grew up in Lionel Town in Clarendon, with his maternal grandmother, Pearline Robinson. He attended Bustamante High School, where he rose to become the head boy of the institution.

After graduating from high school, Oneil went on to further his education at the Northern Caribbean University (NCU), where he graduated with his associate degree in Hospitality Management. Thereafter, he attained his Bachelor of Science in Cyber Security at the Penn State University. However, despite the academic accolades, it was music that remained his first true love.

“I grew up hearing my family singing at weddings, funeral and various community events, which further encouraged me to pursue music,” he said.

In 2012, Rapper Tula started his own label, O. Masters Entertainment. Under his label, he has released a myriad of projects largely as a producer, but also a rapper and songwriter.