It Is Good To Be King: An Oral History of Moses Davis Part 1
Life has been good to Moses Davis. Since he was a pre-teen, Moses has been known within the dancehall music genre as “Beenie Man”, a playful moniker given to him in definite reference to the maturity and confidence it took for someone so young to perform in front of an audience filled with people more twice his age. Fast forward some 30 odd years later and with several new nicknames added to list such as: “Di Girl Dem Sugar” and “The Doctor” to name a few, Beenie Man has continued to be a relevant force in the not so forgiving sphere of Jamaican entertainment.
Quite an achievement! However there is one non de plume that normally initiates debate among fans and observers alike: “The King of The Dancehall”. Coming originally from a 2004 single of the same name, Beenie Man and subsequently his considerable fanbase alike have taken to refer to the venerable DJ as the King of the Dancehall absent credible basis for them to do so. Beenie has however, even his detractors would agree, laid out quite a credible career arc that while might not have him consistently on the top of the pile have him there or thereabouts for many a year. His local exploits, which includes a very public and some might say lucrative feud with Bounty Killer coupled with international recognition, helped by the releases of songs like ‘Who Am I’ & ‘Blackboard’ among others in the mid to late 90s propelled Beenie to superstardom landing major record deal with Virgin Records in the process. Early 00s saw a real commitment by Beenie’s label to make him a household name around the world. A softening of his image aided by collaborations with American songbirds Mya and Janet Jackson helped Beenie crossover onto mainstream radio in the US. A few bumps aside the following decade was one of consolidation for Beenie. While no one can say he dominates the airwaves anymore, Beenie Man continues to be regarded as one of the genre’s best live performers and a guaranteed draw for local and overseas booking agents alike. However, this is not my story to tell. That privilege belongs to the man himself, Moses Davis. His story of triumph in the face of untold adversity should serve as an inspiration to not only dancehall artists but to every Jamaican both young and old. So join us at BACKAYARD Magazine in welcoming the King of the Dancehall, the Doctor Beenie Man.
How did you get your start in the industry? How did you get your start in music?
In music I started out crying which was the day I was born. Because I was born to do music. I started doing music professionally at age 4 or 5 really that was when I ketch music. Because I was affected by stammering, still a stamma kid now. So as you know when you are born stammering it is not a easy thing to talk. So my first song was: “Jack & Jill went up the hill to catch a pail of water ….” It was the first thing I ever read out straight and it was because you have to sing it. When we reach “Baa baa black sheep ….” that was my second song.
(Laughs) Which label that and who produced it?
Nobody produced it, it was my reading book….. (Everybody Laughs)….. You asked me how I started in music and a dehso we start from. We started from 1st Grade well before 1st Grade because 1st Grade a six year old don’t it? We start from kreech, from 16 months yuh start speak good, well I couldn’t talk good so when mi a three year old mi sing the reading book. When we reach five it end up that yuh moddah need a pound a flour and she a guh send you. And yuh end up a di shop inna di shop a seh “Pa … Pa …. Pa … Pa … Pa.” Now yuh jus start DJ “One pound a flour, wah yuh waan?, one pound a flour.” Til the whole shop know seh yuh caan talk so this a wah yuh a guh do. So when yuh get the bigger list now, the shop wait pon yuh fi come. Because mi haffi put it inna lyrics fi order di order. So that a when mi start. My uncle, Sydney Wolf, who used to play percussion for Jimmy Cliff was the first musician me know. So him build a sound system called ‘Master Blaster’. This a when mi a six year old now my brother was the selector and operator on the sound and I was the DJ. The DJ a di man weh talk pon the mic zeen my brother was the selector the man who play the record. A lot of people don’t know because a lot people mix up DJs with DJs (disc jockeys). So I was the DJ on the microphone and my brother was the selector on the sound. This is where I learnt to master my craft. I learned to DJ on the version, ketch the timing of the version, know the keys on the version by playing the version of the riddim. Dem time deh the only man who was making dub album was King Tubby. So when you get a King Tubby album you put on that riddim for days so you buy two and three and yuh put on that now, yuh practice the art of a Daddy U-Roy a King Stitt or a Hugh Griffiths. You get dem man deh tactics because these are our dancehall heroes. Dem time deh Josey Wales don’t have an album yet it was Brigadier Jerry who was the DJ before Josey Wales. So dem time deh mi used to guh Jah Love dance every month as a kid. Because my father was Twelve Tribe of Israel and Jah Love was a family ting. The smallest baby could have been there because there was no slackness playing, there was no slackness chanting on the mic.
Where was this happening?
Right across the road, dem time deh this was one road, yuh nuh, the road used to block every month the government used to do that for Rastafarians in Jamaica. I don’t know what happened but dem days deh over. This was where I started out from, this was where I decide seh mi a guh enter Tastee Talent Show inna ’78 or ’79 one a dem year deh. I don’t remember but I came in a good 2nd because I went up with the King, Yellowman. Yellowman won that year and it was a perfect winning for him. Because him name Yellowman, him have on a yellow sweatsuit, him have a yellow sneakers, him have on a yellow sun visor hat. Him even have one yellow it wasn’t Ray-Ban cause dem time deh Jamaica never have Ray-Ban, it was one of dem welding glasses weh mek inna the Ray-Ban style and it was a yellow one. And him sing a song seh “She have mi yellow baby”, there was nutten weh yuh coulda do.
Yuh coulda climb tree or jump over two fence, zeen. Yuh woulda haffi know God personally fi win that deh competition. Right after that Yellowman went on to be one of the biggest star inna Jamaica. The next year I went back to enter Tastee, I won with flying colours cause there was no competition there. There was no competition there the first year but there was a Yellowman. There was nutten you coulda do, I was the best out of everybody but there was A Yellowman. Nutten yuh coulda do bout that, yuh caan stop star when star fi shine. So that was Yellowman stardom, my year came in the age of Barry G a play pon the radio. So mi win Tastee talent show and we get one year supply of patty wid one of the patty heater ting. So me never used to eat patty so mi sell it fi guh a school. Every day outta door break time my patty sell. Cah yuh have woman name Mrs Jean weh sell patty too but fi her patty nuh come til 11’o clock and the patty dem deh over my yard. So mi get a box a patty every evening when mi come from school mi guh a Tastee pick it up and carry it home. Anyway, so it start work dah way so mi have bus fare fi move because yuh caan walk guh everywhere, yuh haffi have bus fare. Dem time deh a some big X77 bus weh yuh buy yuh ticket. If yuh a guh Half Way Tree yuh can guh a Half Way Tree and that same ticket tek yuh back a Crossroads and that same ticket can tek you round a stadium cause a dehso all the studio dem deh. So mi did a walk a look fah producer, mi guh pon Ring Ding, mi guh pon Where It’s At but there was nobody picking up the hand of a likkle yute dem time deh. Everybody fascinated about a likkle kid doing music but everybody ‘fraid a parents. Dem time deh man a tek weh pickney and blackheart man and all a dese tings. Yuh modda nuh waan yuh guh out. So Danny Dread, a selector who used to play Studio 51 sound, him used to play Volcano sound at the time he was playing Junjo Lawes sound. Junjo Lawes was the producer for Yellowman so Danny Dread record me on the Lion of Judah label which was his label a song called “Too Fancy”. A did two song cause a 45 did have two side. One song did guh “Over di ocean over di sea all a di girls dem a mad over me” and mi have one weh guh “The school weh mi guh it name Charlie the suit wah mi wear a full khaki.” It seh I as a yute nuh too fancy, yeah dah one deh. So mi do di two of dem dem release and riddim was ‘Diseases Riddim’ to be exact. We have common entrance and mi a turn ten year old now, mi nah figet dis. Inna dem time deh yuh coulda tek Common Entrance from yuh a ten, no GSAT dem time deh. So we had Common Entrance the next year and mi get a recording contract from a bredda name Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee. We did an album he released it “The 10 Year Old DJ Wonder – The Invincible Beany Man”
So who was the first to call you ‘Beenie Man’?
Mi grandfather name mi ‘Beenie Man’. Mek mi tell yuh how mi get the name ‘Beenie Man’. Mi nuh parr wid likkle bwoy and mi nuh hold conversation wid likkle bwoy. Cause likkle bwoy a talk bout marble and cartoon mi nuh need fi talk bout that mi need fi talk bout what a gwaan inna the world. Because when mi a five year old mi did a prepare fi ten and when mi a ten mi did a prepare for fifteen. So that is why my grandfather call mi ‘Beenie Man’ because mi always did a plan for the future. Mi did a plan seh when mi turn ten mi woulda buss and mi woulda be a superstar and it happen. Because inna dem time deh it never tek much for you to be a superstar. Yuh come pon ‘Ring Ding’, Miss Lou show, and memba seh a one T.V station we did have JBC, zeen. Yuh guh pon ‘Where Its At’ on a Saturday yuh nuh need nutten else more than Barry G a play yuh pon the radio. You nuh need nutten else fi buss so at the time you become a star there, that is how become a star in Jamaica. So I became a star at ten and mi can proudly seh that and beat my chest too. Cause mi used to DJ on Wah Dat sound with Barry G, anyway mi get a chance fi guh a Canada. Mi do the album, the album release and it a gwaan good a foreign. So mi get a chance fi guh a Canada, Common Entrance tek mi nuh know who mi pass for yet, mi modda seh wait til that come out before but a June the trip fah, so mi did haffi cut ….. (Everybody Laughs)….. Zeen, mi done do wah mi haffi do already mi nuh know if mi pass or not but mi done do that already. That was fi please my mother but this a fi please me now this a my dream yuh a hold pon. Cah remember yuh nuh dem time deh my mother did a work fi people. She a wash people clothes, she a clean people house, zeen, suh it end up seh we a wash our own clothes. So wah happen to our moddah she caan wash our clothes too? We haffi need fi find a way fi stop our moddah from work, but without no money that caan gwaan. Mamma leave mi alone. So mi guh up a embassy and talk to di woman good good and all the woman seh all mi haffi do a carry my moddah…… (Everybody Laughs)….. Ok, so mi haffi trick har and tell har seh mi a guh up a di library. Dem time deh di Canadian Embassy deh a New Kingston so yuh haffi drive by the Canadian Embassy to guh di public library to how di bus a run. Mi nuh tek di 15 bus fi guh a Cross Roads it would a easier to reach di library so mi tek di bus that drive through New Kingston and come off a di bus stop right at the Canadian Embassy and tell her seh mi have papers fi deal in yahso.
That was what you told your mother?
Then mi a nuh big man, a Beenie Man mi name so mi nuh haffi know how fi trick har, mi need fi get her upstairs. My moddah nah tek nuh elevator yuh know a country she come from. So she tek the stairs, duggu duggu duggu, up the stairs siddung and do woman call her inna the room and tell her seh you know that your son is going to Canada. Mi stay from outside and my moddah seh “GUH WEH, guh do wah?”…… (Everybody Laughs)….. So di woman confirm to har seh me is a DJ and people really like how mi DJ and she see mi on TV. And mi moddah seh “Mi see him too but mi check that was a school ting mi never know seh a big man ting and a serious ting. MI NAH GUH SEN HIM NUH WEH!” So di woman call mi inna di room and seh just because you carry yuh moddah and yuh tell how she a guh react…. (Mimics hand stamping action)…. she gimme di visa.
Well if you remembered her name that would be good to mention….
Mi and har a still good bredrin man, but she stop work at the embassy long time. Well anyway, mi
guh Canada and people dem love mi off over deh wickedly mi a tell yuh dem never waan mi come home and dem sitten deh. Cah yuh know yuh a likkle yute and yuh a chat better lyrics than some big man. Dem time deh mi did round Shabba Ranking dem time deh him did jus name Shabba, no dem time deh him did name Co Pilot, like seriously like God know.
So who was the pilot?
Dem time deh it was Kibba Ranking and Shabba Ranking. So Kibba Ranking was the pilot and Shabba Ranking was the copilot. Yeah good, I think a Major Worries was fi guh but true Major Worries did work pon Jammys so dem bring Shabba instead. We come back from Canada now and life get hard, yuh know how the thing guh di likkle bwoy ting done wid. Yuh haffi do school, yuh know how dah supp’im guh yuh moddah a wait on yuh fi come home fi do school work. Anyway, mi life change mi start do one and few songs….
Were you still working with Striker?
Yeah, I worked with Striker, then I start work with King Jammys, then I start work with Black Scorpio, I start work with all producers cause all producers waan work wid mi. Because remember seh mi have an album out and mi name out deh. But time deh yuh nuh soundsystem a di ting. Like soundsystem and DJ a di ting.
So you had to align yourself to a sound…
Yeah. It wasn’t the big artiste, big music, big record ting. Nuh care how much record yuh have a play yuh still haffi DJ on a sound. That is why crew always last longer than a single individual artiste because you always have a crew fi fall back on. Always remember that! Mi used to DJ on a hol’ heap a soundsystem. Mi try volcano, mi guh Lee’s Unlimited, mi guh Arrows International, mi guh back a Waterhouse and DJ pon Jammys thn mi guh Black Scorpio. But dem time deh mi did a get $60 and $100 a week, yuh nuh fi DJ pon soundsystem. So at the time mi moddah did a work wah, $60 a week. So mi start pay har di $60 a week and ask har whappen to my clothes. Mi nuh need my clothes fi press too when mi a guh a dance and supp’im man. Yuh guh have me now at 12 year old a wash clothes and a press clothes. That a too much work man and mi haffi build lyrics and dem supp’im deh. So mi start gi har di money now and she start stay home. Mi memba one time when my moddah cook mi haffi jus easy. A suh mi know dumpling and butter cah mi nuh eat meat. So di chicken back and di chicken couldn’t work out fi mi so when she cook the dumpling now mi jus drop di butter pon it. A suh mi know dumpling and butter is not sufferation mek mi know it……. (Everybody Laughs)….. A jus di meat mi never used to eat. So mi haffi buy mi own greens, mi own cabbage, yuh get wah mi a seh now. So when mi start do that now, cah mi baptize as an Ethiopian Orthodox so mi a tell yuh seh mi a Rasta from birth. Mi moddah a Christian she nuh business bout Rasta a mi fadda mi a work wid, zeen, and mi poppa nuh live deh. So is not like mi have him deh fi tek care a mi so mi haffi tek care a mi AND mi moddah. And then mi have big bredda and big sista that haffi tek care a too so mi caan stop DJ. So mi end up a carry mi next big bredda now, him a di dancer, cah remember now $100 a week pon one sound nah work out. Yuh haffi DJ yahso and DJ dehso and yuh have DJ contest round dehso so yuh haffi enter that. Fi win three box a beer, balance that sell back the beer, collect the money, yuh done know how it go. Yuh haffi guh school, shoes haffi buy, Mi haffi buy a bicycle. The last time mi guh to my moddah and tell seh mi need a bicycle she tell mi seh she want a shoes……. (Everybody Laughs)….. good, so yuh know mi nah get nuh bicycle. Zeen, yuh haffi work pon that, so when mi look into all that mi realise seh it can work. Mi continue music, soundsystem lock off, when 1985? Stone Love come wid dubplate because sound never used to have DJ pon dubplate once sound start play DJ pon dubplate that was the end of you we don’t need you fi DJ pon we sound.
photos by Jik-Reuben
Video by THE PHVRVOH
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