Subscribe to Riddims World Newsletter

“Dancehall music is perceived as party music, which it is because of the rhythm, but there are messages that do come through or a purpose of an artist saying something to the world. People usually don’t get the messages because of the partying.”

“You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.”

“Sometimes in life confusion tends to arise and only dialogue of dance seems to make sense.”

“I started DJing soundclashes. I used to go to Jamaica a lot. I was like a hip-hop sound boy, where I took the dancehall culture and mixed it up with the hip-hop as well. I kept going, going, and I got real hot in the streets of Miami – you know, doing pirate radio – then ended up doing 99 Jamz, the big station out there.”

“I don’t know where life will lead me, but I know where I’ve been. I can’t say what life will show me, but I know what I’ve seen. Tried my hand at love and friendship, but all that is passed and gone. This little boy is moving on.”

“Reggae music is simple music – but it’s from the heart. Just as people need water to drink, people also need music. If it is true music, the people will be drawn to it.”

“No matter what class you’re from – uptown or downtown – when you’re in the dancehall everyone’s equal, and it’s how you choose to express yourself that makes you stand out.”

“Peace is a day-to-day problem, the product of a multitude of events and judgments. Peace is not an ‘is’, it is a ‘becoming.”

“Sometimes that is why you might even stay in the bathroom for even half an hour, making that water running all over, just singing.”

“I used to buy records in high school. Mainly dancehall: Super Cat, Buju Banton.”

“Reggae has a philosophy, you know? It’s not just entertainment. There’s an idea behind it, a way of life behind the music, which is a positive way of life, which is a progressive way of life for better people.”

“In the dancehall world, we have crews and they battle. It’s part of the entire culture surrounding dancehall.”

“Music didn’t really hit me again until the ’90s, when the dancehall scene got going. The ’90s were perfect for me. I would have really liked to have had The Slits out in the ’90s again, to do tours and albums, because I think the ’90s was a brilliant decade for music.”

“A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because her trust is not on the branch but on its own wings. Always believe in yourself.”

“The truth is, everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for.”

“In the beginning there was the word. The word was Jah. The word is in I, Jah is in I. I make what is good, better, and what is better, best. I follow this in every aspect of life.”