DANCEHALL MUSIC

Dancehall is a type of Jamaican popular music which developed in the late 1970s, with exponents such as Yellowman and Shabba Ranks. It is also known as bashment.

The style is characterized by a deejay singing and toasting (or rapping) over raw and danceable music riddims. The rhythm in dancehall is much faster than in reggae, usually with drum machines replacing acoustic sets. In the early years of dancehall, some found its lyrics crude or "slack", particularly because of its sexual tones, popular among youths in Jamaica. Like its reggae predecessor, dancehall eventually made inroads onto the world music scene. It is the predecessor of hip hop music.

This deejay-led, largely synthesized chanting with musical accompaniment departed from traditional conceptions of Jamaican popular musical entertainment. Dub poet Mutabaruka maintained, "if 1970s reggae was red, green and gold, then in the next decade it was gold chains". It was far removed from its gentle roots and culture, and there was furious debate among purists as to whether it should be considered some sort of extension of reggae music.