If I was to name the stand out artist in the dancehall genre for 2019 I would have to say Busy Signal. Taking nothing away from Vybz Kartel, Buju Banton, Popcaan or Alkaline who also had major hit songs, Busy seemed to have a little more to offer and went about it with no fuss.
The Turf Boss had huge success with numerous tracks including Dem Fake, Real Born Gallis, Great Men, What Is A Friend, It Ruff, Badmind and 100%. Busy tops my list because he had more relevant and real tracks which were not all about partying and flossing. He touched on real issues ranging from politics, history, relationships, social norms and the usual topics previously mentioned.
He also had some amusing music videos like 100% and interesting videos which added more clout to the tracks. Busy ended off the year with what was probably one of his realest videos for ‘More Strength‘. Busy also released his 5th studio album Parts of The Puzzle which was also a huge success.
Other notable artists who we can look forward to hearing from are Alkaline, Govana, Masicka, Jahvillani, Konshens, Squash, Demarco, Mavado, Chronic Law, Daddy1 and Teejay.
As a disclaimer this list purposely does not include women bar Koffee and it’s by design. Koffee is in her own league ergo she had a special mention. I will make a separate list just for the ladies in the near future.
