Rodney Basil Price OD, known as Bounty Killer, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. AllMusic describes him as "one of the most aggressive dancehall stars of the '90s, a street-tough rude boy with an unrepentant flair for gun talk". He is considered one of the best dancehall lyricists of all time.
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. It wasn't until the 1980s when the style was officially named, staged and promoted on an international scale. In this time 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.
Stop Murder Music is a campaign to oppose Caribbean artists who produce music with lyrics alleged to glorify murder of homosexual men. The campaign was mainly against Jamaican musicians, primarily dancehall and reggae artists such as Buju Banton, Bounty Killer, and the Bobo Ashanti Rastafarians Sizzla and Capleton.
The Alliance is a group of dancehall deejays. Founded by Bounty Killer, the Alliance includes long-time collaborators like Angel Doolas and protégés like Elephant Man. Because of their high profile, some worried that the Alliance was established to "rule" the dancehall business by choosing which riddim to voice. These worries led to the war between Vybz Kartel and Ninja Man.
David Constantine Brooks, better known by his stage name Mavado, is a Jamaican singer. Mavado signed with DJ Khaled's We the Best Music Group, a then-imprint of Cash Money and Republic Records in 2011. He guest performed on each of Khaled's studio albums, beginning with We the Best Forever (2011) until parting ways with the label prior to the release of his twelfth, Khaled Khaled (2021). His 2013 single, "Give It All to Me" was released in promotion for his debut major label studio album, which remains unreleased.
Craig Serani Marsh, known professionally as Serani, is a Jamaican singer who has a joint venture deal with Phase One Communications in New York City. He is best known for his involvement in Sean Paul's album The Trinity and his 2008 single "No Games".
Andrew Bradford, known by the stage name Buccaneer is a Jamaican dancehall musician. He first emerged in 1994 and has released three albums. He later went into production.
Daggering is a form of dance originating from Jamaica. The dance incorporates the male dancer ramming his crotch area into the female dancer's buttocks, and other forms of frantic movement. Daggering is not a traditional dance; it is of recent origin, associated with the 2006 wave of dancehall music.
Collin Demar Edwards, better known by his stage name Demarco, is a Jamaican dancehall and reggae musician.
JamaicansMusic.com is a website that catalogues and markets Jamaican music history, artists and culture. Its Facebook fan page has the largest number of fans of any company based in the Caribbean, having surpassed Digicel (Jamaica) in February 2011.
Andrae Hugh Sutherland, known professionally as Popcaan, is a Jamaican deejay.
Leroy Russell Junior, better known by his stage names Tommy Lee and Tommy Lee Sparta, is a Jamaican dancehall artist from Flankers, Montego Bay, Jamaica. Tommy Lee Sparta gained popularity as a member of Adidjahiem Records and the associated Portmore Empire crew under the leadership of Vybz Kartel. He has been a controversial figure in dancehall due to his self-described "Gothic Dancehall" style, which often features dark and Satanist-inspired subject matter.
Stephen McGregor, known professionally as Di Genius, is a Jamaican record producer, singer, and songwriter. 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."
21st Hapilos Digital Distribution is a dancehall and reggae online distribution company based in Manhattan, New York, with offices in Kingston, Jamaica. The company was founded in 2009 and has distributed music for Vybz Kartel, Mavado, Konshens, Sizzla, Beenie Man, Rvssian, Sean Paul, and Popcaan, among others. Every year the company hosts a Digital Awards that recognizes Top Video, Top Selling Single, Top Riddims, Top Reggae Singles, producers and more. The winners for the Digital Awards are selected from raw sales data. In 2017, 21st Hapilos Digital launched the 21st Hapilos Top 10 Digital Chart based on digital sales
Tarik Johnston, commonly known as Rvssian and previously as Russian, is a Jamaican record producer, singer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Head Concussion, a music production company situated in Kingston, Jamaica.
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 musician, singer, and songwriter. Known as the "Queen of Dancehall" and credited as one of the most influential female Jamaican artists of all time, she is recognised as one of the most prominent dancehall artists in the world. Known for her aggressive flow, musical versatility and outspoken lyrics, Spice first gained recognition after performing at the annual Sting festival in 2000. She released her first single "Complain" for record producer Dave Kelly's Madhouse Records in 2003. She continued to release singles through the 2000s and was even featured on songs with Jimmy Cliff and Beenie Man.
Earlan Bartley, better known as Alkaline, is a Jamaican dancehall and reggae musician from Kingston, Jamaica.
Kirk Rhoden is a Jamaican musical recording artist better known by his stage name Jah Vinci. He has been active since 2005, but had his first breakthrough hit in 2008 with his then mentor Vybz Kartel. He was a part of Vybz group Portmore Empire until the group disbanded in 2012. He has released several of Jamaica's biggest hits starting with the Vybz collaboration "Weh Dem A Guh" on producer Stephen Mcgregor's record which became one of the most popular songs in the Dance Hall scene at that time.
Chinsea Linda Lee, known professionally as Shenseea, is a Jamaican dancehall singer. She is best known for her guest appearance alongside Roddy Ricch on Kanye West's 2021 song "Pure Souls," which entered the Billboard Hot 100. Through its parent album Donda, she was nominated for Album of the Year at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. She signed with Interscope Records to release her debut studio album Alpha (2022), which peaked at number two on the Top Reggae Albums chart and number three on the Heatseekers charts; her second album, Never Gets Late Here (2024) peaked at number four on the former chart. Her accolades include an NAACP Image Award and MOBO Award.
