dancehall

Rising dancehall star Teejay is prepping to release his debut EP with single, “Dip,” featuring fellow Jamaican singer, Tommy Lee Sparta. The song, which dropped Friday, opens with an ominous intro as Teejay joins in for his verse. “It was inspired by the streets and the skankers,” said Teejay of the song, referring to Jamaican dancers, in a press release. “Basically, bad-mind people can’t stop us, and we’re not going to pree violence, we’re just gonna dance it off.” The single is set to be featured on…

It’s been 470 calendar days since Beyoncé gave her stans an inkling that a Renaissance visual album was coming. In the year following the release of her seventh studio album, the BeyHive relied on their improvisational skills to keep them engaged throughout its nontraditional rollout. They made viral dance challenges to “Cuff It” on TikTok; tried to replicate Bey’s melismatic bridge from “Virgo’s Groove”; and when the came time for everybody to be “on mute” during the “Energy” segment of Renaissance World Tour shows,…

Dancehall performer Spice announced this week in a splashy Instagram post that she is pregnant. “God has been so good to me,” the Jaimaican-born singer and former “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” star wrote Tuesday in her post, alongside a regal portrait of her with towering blue hair and a cascading blue gown that revealed her baby bump. She was pushing a vintage stroller brimming with blue blossoms. Spice, born Grace Hamilton and often referred to as the “Queen of Dancehall,” also confirmed that fellow musical artist and…

Fifteen years into his career, dancehall kingpin Andrae Sutherland, AKA Popcaan, feels on top of the world. On his fifth album, Great Is He, he expresses gratitude for his rise with plenty of classic dancehall braggadocio – and who could blame him? From international collaborations with Gorillaz, Jamie xx and Pusha T, to selling out Wembley SSE arena in 2018, his distinctive singjaying has left an indelible mark on the culture.Great is He album artwork.Opening track Defeat the Struggle is a touching ode to ambition and…

UK filmmaker Nathan Miller has been keeping tabs on local Black music scenes for a few years now and in the process has given us some of the most vital and thorough documentaries in recent years. His 2015 breakout doc, LDN, dug deep into our own capital and put him on the map; since then, he hasn’t really slowed down, working with everyone from Mo Gilligan to Roc Nation.Now, Miller is back with another passion project, taking a deep dive in to dancehall and trap dancehall’s new gen in God Bless You, My Son. From the…

When Skillibeng released his The Prodigy album in 2020, one of the key tracks fans latched onto was “Bad Everyday”, a team-up with Trinidad star Prince Swanny that quickly smashed 11 million plays on YouTube. Thankfully, fans haven’t had to wait too long for a follow-up because they’ve just dropped off another: “Shake”.Reuniting Jamaica’s long dancehall history with Trinidad & Tobago’s TriniBad take on the sound that Prince Swanny has helped popularise, it’s tough but melodic and is shot through with that mercurial…

Sean Paul is a party-starter. Few artists have a back catalogue better primed for the dancefloor than the multimillion-selling Jamaican artist. This year marks 20 years since his breakout second album, Dutty Rock, took the syncopated, bass-driven genre of dancehall global with hits Get Busy, Like Glue and Gimme the Light. In the ensuing years, Paul has had three US No 1s, a Grammy and collaborations with the biggest names in pop, including Beyoncé, Sia, Dua Lipa and Little Mix.Now he is readying for the release of his…