The 6 Best Dancehall Songs of All Time

Dancehall became a subgenre distinct from other styles of reggae around 1977, a time in Jamaica when deejays (equivalent to stateside MCs) were becoming as prominent as singers. In turn, the singers began adopting the call-and-response hooks and improvised couplets of deejays, creating a whole new hybrid style of singing they called “sing-jay.” Those vocals became a defining feature of dancehall, along with harder, sparer rhythm sections and an emphasis on “slackness” (raunch or decadence).

Another major driver of dancehall’s development, as a culture and artform, has been the competitive sport of soundclash. Soundclashes are gladiatorial face-offs between rival soundsystems, or mobile DJ crews who vie for the biggest crowd reactions (or “forwards”). Each attempts to fortify their position with higher walls of custom-built speaker boxes. Song selections are delivered with taunting microphone commentary in a war of words—something like a cross between a hip-hop DJ battle and a playground game. Some soundsystems are also record labels, and may bring affiliated singers or deejays to represent them.

Occasionally, notorious artists go head-to-head. Beenie Man’s 1993 face-off with Bounty Killer at Jamaica’s long-running Sting festival may be the single most infamous onstage clash, but the history books will also forever record epic match-ups like Super Cat versus Ninja Man and Vybz Kartel versus, well, everybody.

Listen 6 of the best dancehall songs of all time below:

What Are Some Of The Best Dancehall Songs of All Time?? Here are a few of our picks. @kingbeenieman ________________________________ #best #songs #bestsongs #dancehall #alltimebest #instabest #caribbean #music #entertainment #beenieman #supercat #tenorsaw #waynesmith #chakademus #pliers #sisternancy #oldskool #djstefanomusic @skattaburrell @footahypemusic @largeupdotcom

A post shared by DjStefanoMusic.com (@djstefanomusic) on May 7, 2017 at 4:47pm PDT

Beenie Man , Super Cat , Sister Nancy , Chacka Demus , Pliers , Wayne Smith , Tenor Saw , Ring the Alarm , Ghetto Red Hot , Under Mi Sleng Teng , Murder She Wrote , Bam Bam