Dancehall meets house music: Is Tolerance already there in the fusion but unrecognised?

Just by basic observation wearing my other hat as a DJ there has been a growing fusion of sorts happening for some time now where dancehall acts and producers have been appearing on and releasing house based rhythms averaging 120 BPMs, beats per minute. Technically speaking this was not so in the early days of dancehall it was practically unheard of for dancehall acts to be doing disco sounding songs as a backlash of sorts was on in the late seventies to early eighties when rhythms were just 30 – 80 BPM with “Riddims” released on the spur from various production houses and producers. Could it be that the dancehall acts are experimenting with the sounds to stay relevant on the European and international scenes due to the pressures of the Stop Murder Music Campaigns in the respective areas?

House music, techno or disco as we label all beats with 120 BPMs or over as gay music so many dancehall acts at that time avoided such rhythms and stuck to the original formula of the double drop beats with the one clap as evidenced in songs like Little Lenny’s “Gun Inna Baggy” or Shabba Ranks’ “Trailer Load a Gal” a formula that is still used on some rhythms today but they hardly are becoming hits. Most tunes today are house or hip hop influenced such as Vybz Kartel’s recent hit “Life We Living”

It was not until a raft artists started signing deals with the major labels in the United States during the nineties such as Lt. Stitchie to Atlantic Records where his song “Man fi Know how fi Dress was remixed into a now hard to find commercially seven minute house stomper which went to number one on the billboard dance music charts then other artists started following suit of course the original 70s/80s disco beat is no stranger to Jamaicans DJs and singers present on it, there were older artists like Denroy Morgan father to the members of Morgan Heritage who delivered his big hit “I’ll Do Anything for You” in the eighties which although not reaching number one on the dance or pop charts is still a staple on radio and club DJ playlists especially the 12’’ extended play.

Jamaicans on a whole prefer the older disco songs like Madonna’s “Holiday”, Donna Summer’s “Hot Stuff” and Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” recent modern house updates like Robin S’s “Show Me Love” and Black Box’s “Everybody” are accepted in the dancehall setting as early spins by disc jocks. On the gay circuit songs like Amber’s “Sexual,” Pusaka’s “The Worst Thing,” Kina’s “Girl from the Ghetto” and a recent 2009 J. Verner remix of Wide life’s “I Don’t Want You” are all time favourites. I will do a complete list some time soon. (dj.howie1@gmail.com)
Let’s not forget other mainstream Jamaican artists and those of Jamaican lineage such as Gwen Guthrie with her worldwide smash “Aint Nothing Goin on But The Rent” another oldie but goodie and the eccentric Grace Jones with “My Jamaican Guy” “I Need a Man” and “Pull Up To My Bumper” who is worshipped by gay men everywhere, then there is Sheryl Lee Ralph (one of the original Dream girls, the Broadway production in the eighties) with her worldwide smash “In The Evening” which has been remixed and re-released on several labels including a serious stomper by Almighty Productions all are cult classics and revered by the gay community worldwide. Let’s not forget the queen of Reggae Marcia Griffiths whose smash “Electric Boogie” is known everywhere it has been adopted by dancers and kept alive by the gay community especially in the United States as we saw in the Noah’s Arc series in season two where at its end the guys danced together doing the Boogie.

Other artists who have been remixed as well include Johnny P, Shaggy and most recently Shabba Ranks who we can remember ran into problems with the gay lobby groups in the UK in the early nineties. His latest effort “Love Me No More” was a collaboration with Bob Sinclar (actual spelling) the song has a flat out Reggae beat at first but morphs into a straight out deep filter house madness which I have spun at a few gigs. Mr. Sinclar is a well respected French house DJ/producer who has been working with other Jamaican DJs and using yard influenced beats on his house tracks. His alliance with former Bob Marley & The Wailers member Gary Pine to produce the unforgettable “Love Generation” has re-launched the interest in the fusion, his biggest hit in my view is “World Hold On” with Gary Pine again on vocals so massive it was that it was used for ads and appeared on Noah’s Arc: Jumping The Broom” movie where Noah and other cast members vogued to it. Speaking of Bob Marley we have seen a steady stream of techno, trance experiments and deep house remixes of his songs chief among them is a delicious loop and sampling of “I am Rainbow Too” taken from his classic tune “Sun is Shinning” of course implying an Anthemic gay theme with its repetitious haunts, I personally love it. The latest bootleg release I have heard is “I Shot the Sheriff 2010” as done by an underground European team.

Even harder cult artists like Beenieman have been mixed by popular house music remixers one can remember “Dancehall Queen” a duet with Chevelle Franklin taken from the local movie of the same name which was redone for a promo CD by the infamous and influential Maurice Joshua, that was an unexpected surprise as the Jamaica stations at the time spun it like it was going out of style. The deep creative orgasmic looping of Chevelle’s voice was infections at the first 2 minutes of the track (Oooh Uh Uh Uh). Ini Kamoze during his short success in the nineties had his songs remixed including the secondary hit “Listen To Me Tick” by one of the early house music pioneers David Morales also other artists like Papa San before his sojourn into gospel had songs remixed and distributed by Mercury Records who at the time had Crystal Waters delivering massive dance stompers like “Gypsy Woman (la da dee la dee da) in 1994 which had a remix with a raga sounding chant. David Morales himself has done some experimenting with Ragga as they call dancehall delivery of the words or lyrics. His major release “Dance Inna De Ghetto” is still spun somewhere in the world on a dance floor. Lets not forget Real 2 Reel’s “I Like To Move It” which was a major New York underground track on an independent label (Strictly Rhythm) in 1994 which also has been remixed and re-interpreted with the infamous Ragga vocals which moves gay and straight floors alike. Classic dancehall DJ Eee-ka Mouse as well has experimented appearing on an underground dance track in 1991 the name escapes me now but the 12’’ vinyl release I recall very well. Big vocals and impressive delivery as Diana King ruled in the nineties as well with club/house interpretations of her hits “Aint Nobody” (Chaka Khan cover) and “Say a Little Prayer for You” (Aretha Franklin cover) the former remixed by David Morales while the other mixed by a UK based set of remixers known as Love To Infinity who has mixed everyone from MJ to Whitney, Diana King was one of the last Jamaican big voice sisters to score big on the Billboard pop and dance charts.

Modern artists who have been mixed despite their songs not becoming major hits include Tami Chyn’s “Frozen” as done by Ralphi Rosario (who has mixed Mariah) then there is Enur that featured the late Natajsha with this massive underground hit “Calibra” aka “Talk of The Town” which has been used by Beenieman and others for remixes of local songs.
The most recent release of Major Laser’s “Pon De Floor with samplings of Vybz Kartel, Busy Signal and others tearing up clubs and dancehall events everywhere in Jamaica I was struck by the impact hence this post. I think we already have fused both music forms at the cultural level then why can’t we just drop the homophobic crap? Other songs that have been doubled as house and dancehall on the turntables and CD mixers is Enur’s Calibra just the first lines get the crowds into a frenzy and people vouging or whining as they feel, it is one of those versatile numbers that have become unforgettable.

At the musical level and even at other levels of entertainment namely the stage productions with gay typed characters namely “The Oliver Samuels, Chu Chu and Shebada effects” on dramatic theatre the meeting of the cultures are proven beyond the shadow of a doubt it is hard to comprehend here some questions that come to mind:

Why this fusion has has not trickled down to the grassroots or to the actual messages in songs?

What could be holding us back as a people to recognise this clearly and just forage into tolerance?
Do we as gay community need to launch some public education drive to highlight the fusions?

So dancehall has already met house music and both cultures are walking parallel these days just listen to the speed, techno and filter electronic sounds of the new tracks from so called hard core acts like Vybz Kartel and others and the proliferations of instructional dance songs inviting the listener to dance via move by move outlines. The fusion though obviously present and which could have been recognised to some extent but as is expected coming out of this new feel are homophobic tinged criticisms and lyrics where males dancing together in groups have been severely criticised by several new songs notably a song “Ladies if You Ready to Party” while on a fierce 128 BPM techno feel track it specifically asks that other males stay far during participation on the dance floor so we still have a long way yet to go as evidenced here. Homophobia and fear have crept in, the perceptions that many of the dancers from the various houses are on the down low is also not lost to many, we have seen the vicious commentary levied at a recent popular dancer and his subsequent removal from his dance team and the physical attacks and feuds between groups with accusations of gaydom levied at each other.

One popular commentator has said something unexpected by hinting that most creative persons are gay and maybe we are going to have to start taking a look again at our entertainment structure, a rather progressive comment given the context here. Let’s watch the trend here folks it may change yet again as our music has always done. Maybe the very call for tolerance my come from the dancehall community itself.

Peace and tolerance

H