Yellowman was arguably the first legitimate superstar from the Jamaican dancehall scene—he broke out with the 1983 album Zungguzungguguzungguzeng—and his influence has been so extensive it’s hard to imagine what the music would sound like if he’d never existed. His 80s output bridged the previous decade’s roots-reggae sound and the electronics that would come to replace it, and his vivid lyrics—full of drugs, violence, and raunchy sex—established a template for the generations of gangsta-minded “slack” vocalists who have followed in his wake. (To his credit, though, he hasn’t contributed to the rabid homophobia that his descendants have ingrained into dancehall culture—perhaps because he’s endured more than his fair share of discrimination as an albino.) He’s had an equal albeit less direct influence on hip-hop, where he’s been quoted, sampled, or shouted out by a who’s who of rap royalty, including Eazy-E, Ice Cube, KRS-One, and both Biggie and Tupac.
“Operation Eradication.” Right. Yeah.
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Actually, where did that come from? It come from just the police force, you know. Because it was a police force—so, like, some police get the license to kill, you know?
In the rest of the world, we don’t have it boiled down to a certain race or a different kind of people or what have you. Here, it’s more of a thing of class, where people who have money fight against everyone else. It’s like the haves versus the have-nots. Right. It be like that in Jamaica—they take advantage of the people because it’s a third world country, you know.
The anniversary. The 50-year anniversary of independence. And there’s a thing with the theme music, the music that they play to highlight the 50th anniversary. And the people in Jamaica, there’s a thing with them and the government going on—because the people mad, the people vexed, the people don’t like the theme song. Because the theme song, it sound like pop and hip-hop.
Yeah. Yeah, man. Because I was growing up, I got kidded on, I got chided. I go through a lot of tribulation. Because other kids used to call me a name I can’t even repeat. They scorned me, you know. Even when I go to school. I used to end up in one corner, you know, crying. Even when I’m grow up, and I go to the studios, I go to every studio all over Jamaica and they turn me out.
What are your thoughts about Vybz Kartel? He’s in prison now, he’s in jail. So it is a lot of bad influence. They come with the gangster thing, they come with the negative thing.
Wed 7/11, 9 PM, the Shrine, $25, 21+
