On Tuesday, The STAR reported that an American, Michelle Young, won the 2008 Dancehall Queen title at Pier One, Montego Bay, over the past weekend. Not only that, there was no Jamaican in the top three as another American was second, and a Japanese third.

Earlier this year, at the same venue, Japanese sound system Mighty Crown took its second straight 'Death Before Dishonour' sound-system-clash trophy.

The foreigners are, therefore, not only being attracted in huge numbers to dancehall music and its attendant culture, but they are also excelling at being practitioners. It is the same cycle that saw persons from outside Jamaica being attracted to reggae and Rastafari and then spawning their own home-grown replicas, which led to the hugely successful UB40 band and numerous European reggae festivals.

We cannot help but think that this is in large part due to the fact that the music has its origins in the lower classes of Jamaica's social system. It sprang from those historically closer to the state of poverty. The newly emancipated slaves found themselves in on that first 'Augus Mawnin', which we remember tomorrow.