By Krista Henry, Staff Reporter
Squingy (left) of Bass Odyssey collects the winner's trophy from last year's 'Death Before Dishonour 5'. - Contributed
Battle of the sounds, an interplay of competitive music and dubplate selecting is what is known as 'sound clashing'. With the implication of rules, time limits and rounds, sound clashing can easily be recognised as a sport that has been revolutionalised by the World Clash series.
World Clash competitions are where rival sounds from across the globe compete through the use of dubplates to crown the best clashing sound system. Irish and Chin Inc. is an entertainment production, promotions and management company that created and stages the event. According to Chin, co-owner of Irish and Chin Inc., "We started in 1988 with World Clash, its like the Grammies for sound systems, every competitive sound wants to be a part of it."
According to Chin, World Clash started in New York. "We're Jamaicans who lived abroad and started it abroad. The second World Clash was held in 2000/2001 in Jamaica. We did it for the love of the music. We grew up in New York where the biggest sound clashes was held. We help put more organisation into it. They never used to have trophies and bragging rights. But we created an enterprise, with websites and magazines. We created a level playing field and turned the industry into a sport. These people contend month after month, year after year."
As with all sports there are guidelines that must be adhered to.
The competition is from the moment the selectors take the stage, it is judged by the crowd, sometimes with the help of a referee and, "sometimes we'll say no profanity for this round or not to play any singers compared to what they normally play," Chin explained. "In a sound clash you would normally never hear another song being played again, once a song is played you can't play it again."
However, Chin says sometimes the crowd is not the most accurate judge. "Sometimes using the crowd to judge is unfair. Some sounds have more fans than other sounds. So if their sound played decent but the other sound played better, they still gonna cheer for their sound. We have to eliminate them cause the people will mash up the clash." The crowd is without a doubt an important factor, though, Chin says. "What makes a selector good is the creativity, a lot of other elements such as crowd control."
Main contenders
The competition has extended beyond Jamaica and New York to Canada, England, Antigua and other countries, but the main contenders are Jamaicans. "They are the crowd puller, they know how to move an audience," Chin says. Among the most popular selectors and sounds are Tony Matterhorn, Bass Odyssey, Ricky Tropper and Black Kat. Japanese sound Mighty Crown is also a crowd pleaser, Chin says.
There are five World Clashes per year in the different countries, once you win you don't have to defend your title for another year.
Black Kat has the most wins, with five world titles between 2004-2005. Tony Matterhorn follows with three straight titles.
"These men and others is what we term as the 'upper class men'. If you haven't competed against them, then you're never really competed," Chin says.
Montego Bay hosts one of the larger World Clashes in the region. "World clash series draws thousands of people, the biggest one is at Pier One, there are no artistes just sounds. When you win World Clash you win a trophy and the world title, which is worth more than you can imagine. You get consistent bookings, you get worldwide fame. There is a demand for that person, if you were booked for US$1,500 J$97,500, you're going to get a lot more after. You're booked across the world," Chin says of the value of the crown.
Despite its popularity, though, clashing is still an underground sport, not one that all sounds partake in. "There has not been commercial infiltration. Which means we don't get sponsorship, we're not accepted."
There are downfalls to entering into an underground sport too. "Once your name is labelled as a clash selector, it pulls you away from the juggling scene, from the party scene."
But the upside is a popularity outside which no juggling selector can boast. "As a clasher you get more booking, the journey to popularity comes quicker. For example Mighty Crown's name is bigger than most sounds who perform for 15 years who don't clash," Chin says. "A clash sound can play one night and everyone knows their name overnight."
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