Elephant Man

There was a very interesting quote near the end of the article 'Ele Gets Physical', which was published in THE STAR on Wednesday. It was addressing his upcoming album with Bad Boy Records and his commitment to dancehall music, Elephant Man saying that "me still deh pon every riddim".

However, a fan said "when was the last song Ele had? Is Munga, Mavado and di likkle yute dem a run dancehall now."

'Likkle yute' indeed. Many people may not realise it, but there is something like a 10-year age gap between people like Elephant Man, Capleton and Beenie and Mavado, Munga Honourable and Assassin. In fact, apart from the rise of Assassin and Vybz Kartel a couple years ago, we are seeing the strongest wave of young dancehall talent to be making a serious push in a long, long time.

Among the youngsters are also Flexx, Einstein, Aidonia and Busy Signal (the last two are a bit ahead, of course). In other words, at prime time at Sting 2007 we are likely to see a strong line-up of faces that 'buss' after 2000.The curious thing about dancehall music is that deejays get replaced instead of promoted. And I use promoted here in the sense of them moving into some sort of elder status. It is the very few, among them Ninja Man, who are respected as 'elders'; most of the times they are deemed to be 'done'.

The notable thing about the younger charge of performers is that their lyrical structure is much different from their older counterparts, even slightly older. The lyrics are much more sophisticated, just as in the early 1990s deejay lyrical content stepped up from cat and bat, world and girl rhymes. However, while this may mean a strong stage show response, it does not mean that they will do better records. No one wants to hear silly lyrics (we hope), but at the same time trying to listen to all the word play and at the same time dance is no fun at all.

Take note of the '90s parties, how they swing.

Munga Honourable

Mavado

by mel