Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably, with digital dancehall becoming increasingly characterized by faster rhythms. Key elements of dancehall music include its extensive use of Jamaican Patois rather than Jamaican standard English and a focus on the track instrumentals.
Gregory Anthony Isaacs OD was a Jamaican reggae musician. Milo Miles, writing in The New York Times, described Isaacs as "the most exquisite vocalist in reggae".
Sleng Teng is the name given to one of the first fully computerized riddims, influential in Jamaican music and beyond. The riddim, which was the result of work by Noel Davey, Ian "Wayne" Smith, and Lloyd "King Jammy" James, was first released with Wayne's vocals under the title "Under Mi Sleng Teng" in early 1985.
The Stalag riddim is a popular reggae riddim, which came to prominence in the 1980s. It was originally written and recorded as "Stalag 17" by Ansel Collins and released by Winston Riley's Techniques record label in 1973. The riddim has been used on hundreds of derivative records.
Marion Hall is a Jamaican singer and songwriter whose career has spanned over two decades. Formerly known as the Queen of Dancehall, a title now used by Spice she is best known for her guest appearance on No Doubt's "Underneath It All," which went triple Platinum and won a Grammy for No Doubt.
Windel Beneto Edwards, better known by his stage name Gyptian, is a Jamaican reggae singer. He often appears with roots reggae songs within the reggae subgenre dancehall.
Vivienne Tanya Stephenson, known by her stage name Tanya Stephens, is a Jamaican reggae singer and deejay who emerged in the late 1990s. She is most known for her hits "Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet" — later featured on the Reggae Gold 1997 compilation album — and "It's a Pity", for which Stephens achieved international recognition. She and business partner Andrew Henton have together co-founded Tarantula Records.
Reggae fusion is a fusion genre of reggae that mixes reggae and/or dancehall with other genres, such as pop, rock, hip-hop/rap, R&B, jazz, funk, soul, disco, electronic, and Latin music, amongst others.
Augustus "Gussie" Clarke is a roots reggae and dub producer who worked with some of the top Jamaican reggae artists in the 1970s and later set up his own Music Works studio.
Ophlin Russell, better known as Sister Nancy, is a Jamaican dancehall DJ and singer. She is known as the first female dancehall DJ and was described as being a "dominating female voice for over two decades" on the dancehall scene.
Henry Buckley Jr. aka Sadiki previously known as Pancho Kryztal, is a Jamaican-American singer, songwriter and producer.
Kemar McGregor, also known by his nicknames, DJ Flava and Flava McGregor, is a Jamaican-American pop reggae producer. He has recorded and produced music for the most renowned artists in the music industry, including Sinéad O'Connor, Musiq Soulchild, Syleena Johnson, Snoop Dogg/Snoop Lion, Jon Secada, Maxi Priest, Sizzla, Marcia Griffiths, Beenie Man, Wayne Wonder, Buju Banton, Capleton, Sanchez, Freddie McGregor, Luciano, Sugar Minott, Barrington Levy, Gregory Isaacs, Morgan Heritage, Half Pint, Tanya Stephens, Gyptian, Cas Haley, Beres Hammond, Glen Washington, Etana and Cocoa Tea, among many others. McGregor is the owner and chief executive officer of FM Records.
Ce'cile, is a Jamaican musician in the dancehall genre.
Infallible is the 7th studio album released by Jamaican recording artist Tanya Stephens. This album was unique in the sense that it was a free download to all her fans. Tanya released the album for free stating "Infallible by Tanya Stephens! Feel free to forward the link to as many people as you wish. The album is completely free of cost. Enjoy!!" Andrew Henton, Tanya's life partner and co-founder of Tarantula Records stated the reason the album was a free download was because Tanya wanted to do something special for her fans, the major reason being that there's a recession going on, and things are already hard on everyone, he then stated that Tanya believes that when she gives an album to a major label, technically she's giving it away for free anyway, so she would much rather give it directly to the fans. The website that originally hosted the album was BYM Riddim, although the website has since shut down making the album unavailable to download, although the album has been uploaded to other websites such as MediaFire & RapidShare by fans making it easy enough to download. Tanya approves of this, as it was a free album, she merely wanted the album to reach her fans. The album was also given away as a hard copy with Jamaican-based German magazine, 'Riddim' and can be backordered.
Di Genius, is a Grammy Award Winning record producer, singer and songwriter from Kingston, Jamaica. Di Genius comes from a musical family—his father is legendary veteran reggae artist Freddie McGregor and his siblings, Daniel "Chino" McGregor and Yeshemabeth "Shema" McGregor, are also singers. While Di Genius was primarily known for producing riddims out of his "Big Ship" recording studio, he has gone on to produce and write songs for international artists such as Sean Paul, Drake, Nelly Furtado, Lianne La Havas, Shakira, John Legend among others. The New York Times named him a "Reggae Veteran At The Age of 18."
Winston Foster, better known by the stage name Yellowman and also known as King Yellowman, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. He first became popular in Jamaica in the 1980s, rising to prominence with a series of singles that established his reputation.
Grace Latoya Hamilton, known professionally as Spice, is a Jamaican dancehall deejay and singer. Known as the Queen of Dancehall, Spice is recognised as one of the most prominent dancehall artists in the world. She is known for her aggressive flow, musical versatility and outspoken lyrics. Spice first gained recognition after performing at the annual dancehall festival Sting in 2000. She released her first single "Complain" for record producer Dave Kelly's Madhouse Records in 2003. She continued to release the singles "Right There" and "Hype", even being featured on songs with Jimmy Cliff and Beenie Man in 2004 and 2006, respectively.
"Bam Bam" is a 1982 song by Jamaican dancehall recording artist Sister Nancy. The song's chorus was inspired by the 1966 song of the same name, by The Maytals and Byron Lee and the Dragonaires. The song's instrumental samples the 1974 song "Stalag 17", by Ansell Collins, a well known riddim, alternatively known as a backing track used repeatedly. The song has been labeled as a "well-known reggae anthem" by BBC and a "classic" by The Observer.
"Handsfree" is a song recorded by American singer Mya featuring Dancehall recording artist Ding Dong. A "bouncy" riddim song, it was written by songwriter Zan with production courtesy of Jonny Blaze, Stadic, and DJ Perf. As a standalone single, "Handsfree" was released in June 2019 and is one of a handful of tracks featured on producer Jonny Blaze's Sexting Riddim compilation album. Upon release, the song received a positive response from critics and music fans alike. An accompanying music video followed which was produced and filmed in Kingston, Jamaica.
Okuda Hiroko is the Japanese inventor and musicologist who, at the start of her career in 1980 composed the rhythm and bass preset backing tracks included in Casio's electronic keyboards. These included the "rock" rhythm, which became the ubiquitous Sleng Teng Riddim, heralded the Ragga movement, and has since underpinned hundreds of hit reggae songs. Okuda and Casio have allowed her backing-rhythm work to proliferate under a free attribution-only license, which have contributed to their popularity and widespread use. She holds more than a dozen patents in the fields of electronic musical instruments and presently works at the intersection of electronic music and visual art.
