It Is Good To Be King: An Oral History of Moses Davis Part 2
Part 2 of BACKAYARD’s extensive interview with The King of the Dancehall Beenie Man
This is something we have come to realise…
A di change a dancehall that, yuh nuh, when dubplate come in dancehall change. Because dubplate was always in, is acetate, di same thing Bob Marley used to cut him record pon and carry it guh radio station. But now man start call personal name inna it now, so is no longer an acetate it now becomes a dubplate…. special. So once that start play pon soundsystem dem nuh need nuh DJ nuh more. Then the DJ (Disc Jockey) that you call DJ now becomes we. Because the selector never used to talk pon the mic is we used to talk pon the mic. So ’85 all that kickout….
But you could make more money now doing dubs….
You nah hear wah mi a seh artiste never used to think bout that. Memba one time when artiste a DJ dem did jus waan get popular fi get gal, yuh never know that.
Yeah, I realised that was one of the key things….
Oooook, When mi di a guh school mi never di haffi run nor play football cah mi a DJ. Mi a DJ mi popular already. Mi deh pon TV, mi deh pon radio and mi still play football and mi still run.
So yuh get more gal….
Di man dem hate mi man……. (Everybody Laughs)….. A nuh that mi did waan all di gal dem all di gal dem waan me. Cah mi a di all season man yuh have some man a season bwoy…….. (Everybody Laughs)….. Yeah a that was the niceness wid me and school. When mi a guh a school mi a star mi a ride mi bike, zeen. Bally a wear mi have Bally, Clarks come in and a wear mi have Clarks, Travel Fox a beat…. There is nutten mi short a. But is not that mi focus deh pon, mi focus deh pon how mi a guh be the next Josey Wales. Cah dem time deh yuh never have Admiral dem yet yuh nuh. Admiral a DJ pon sound like me, yuh get wah mi a seh, But yuh have Josey Wales dem. “Leggo mi hand gateman mek mi come een”, zeen, and dem man deh a get BIG money fi come inna di dance come DJ plus dem a get money from the sound. Cah yuh haffi book him fi DJ pon fi him sound and fi him boss haffi pay him after di promoter done pay. Suh yuh waan reach dehso now, cah Josey a ride one big bike, one twinstar. Dem time deh di biggest bike inna Jamaica was 250, dem time deh Josey did a beat one 250 you waan one too. As a likkle yute, all when yuh foot caan touch di grung fi a even heels yuh haffi put under yuh shoe bottom. Put piece a board and tie on and stand up fi mek people know seh a that yuh a ride, That was di dream. So when dem lock of the soundsystem now and Josey Wales, Admiral Bailey all di big man dem wah di deh pon sound, like Jammys start produce. Everybody who did a DJ pon Jammys sound a dem Jammys start produce. Is a crew, zeen, so dem time deh mi did carry Risto Benji and lef’ him wid Jammys. So dem record him, nah look pon me cah dem seh me buss already and a Risto Benji time fi get a buss and him did do. “Gimme di money waan di money”. Gwaan good, zeen, dem time deh mi fall inna di wrong lane cause mi a sell music and nuh body nah buy. Yeah so mi guh sell supp’im else and somebody else buy, yuh see it. And then the government buy and it wasn’t a good buy, yuh see it. So mi end up goodbye round a one place, yeah. Spend a likkle time round a one part round another place. When mi reach a road? 1991 di same time when Mandela di a come to Jamaica. Mi mek a money inna di place round a one part inna one place, carry in some tings and sell some other tings to some different people round inna one next part inna other place inna one next side.
Yeah man mi know….
Yah, so mi come out wid a ting, zeen, from round a dah part deh. Guh downtown to Lord & Lady dem did have bargain down deh. White suit and sitten and mi buy one white suit wid a jacket well trash yuh nuh. Trash like a mudfish mi a tell yuh di honest truth, mi shoes have iron pon di front and sitten. Guh up a stadium, Mandela up deh, yuh nuh, jump pon the stage and one song name “Hey Green Arm over dehso”. Two hundred thousand people boo me.
Yeah, man I remember that. Well you remember it better than me still……. (Everybody Laughs)…..
Memba seh is one year and nine month mi do round a one place round a one part, yuh nuh. Just a touch road nuh know nutten wah a gwaan, ‘Bandelero’ a di baddest song mi know. Mi a seh alright if mi guh “Hey Green Arm over dehso” mi will get a forward. “Yuh nuh hear wah Beenie Man seh all apartheid leader fi kick weh, Botha yuh a di”… Di people dem a work wid mi yuh nuh but then when mi a mek the white man speech mi point pon Seaga yuh nuh. And then mi guh sing “Hey Green Arm over dehso”, remember seh Seaga a Labourite….. Green…. Arm. It never work out fi the JLP dem too good. Dem boo mi straight all the dog dem boo mi…….. (Everybody Laughs)….. The greatest ting true mi come from one part round a one place nuh man nuh waan laugh after mi. Come off a di stage and every man hold dem breath. Then mi see Wickerman and Captain Barkley and dem seh yeah mi know yuh a come from one part round a one place we nuh care yuh haffi kill we and dem start laugh and all drop a ground, “All di dog dem boo yuh woooieeee all Winnie Mandela boo yuh wooooieeee.” Dem mek mi feel good, yuh get wah mi a seh, di other man dem mi know seh a fear mek dem nuh laugh. Here comes two man without no fear dem only know you as an artiste dem don’t know you as that person. So dem know mi a come from one part and dem know wah mi go round a one part fah but yuh haffi guh kill we. That was the limelight of mi ting and mi decide not to guh back one next part and end up round a country. Because mi have one house pon a hill and mi lock up inna dehso and build some lyrics. “Badman wicked man nuh tek man fi toy” cause mi nuh waan see nuh more glock, but mi can sing bout it though. Nutten caan do mi, mi nuh waan see it, yuh see it. “Fassy waan test I tell that fi try”…. So mi a par wid Jigsy King and Terror Fabulous and mi write a song seh “Cock up yuh batty and ride” fi Jigsy and Jigsy buss. Me and Fabulous write a song “Glamorous Glitterous woman yuh look fine” so mi put the melody dem together now and seh “Man a badman wicked man nuh tek man fi toy, Glock inna mi hand waan kill and destroy” wid di “Glamorous” melody. And wid di “Cock up yuh batty and ride” melody, I find “Mamma yuh son a him guh die, 21 coppershot blow him sky high”. So mi hear a song release by a artiste name ‘Bounty Hunter’ seh “A guy a spy that fi die, coppershot inna yuh heart”, and mi a seh a my melody that cause a me write di Jigsy song. So all of a sudden, Bounty Hunter the artiste from country, one dreadlocks, run down this Bounty Hunter round and round inna Jammys yard seh him a guh kill because him tek weh him name and rae rae. So him seh ok since yuh a di hunter mi a guh hunt all hunter mi name ‘Bounty Killer’ so name change, good. So mi hear about this Bounty Killer now, so mi seh ok who is this man. Di man a seh “Yooooooo, di man a guh hard yoooooo, badman from seaview, yoooooo.” So me now get nervous cause when man a look for me mi a guh find yuh first my lord. So mi end up down a him yard, because me need fi know wah kinda kill yuh a guh kill mi, if a lyrical or physical. Because if a physical mi can do that if a lyrical oh god man a di greatest ting. So mi go dung a him yard guh meet him moddah she cook. Nitty Kutchie call di man and seh “Guess who down yah”, di man did cross, angry, miserable and mi seh yes god. So tek on di road and tings start gwaan good and we buck a Stone Love 22nd anniversary, portmore to be exact. When mi reach a di show mi jus a come from Coney Park, mi come off di stage a Coney Park at around 3 o’clock.
When mi reach Bounty Killa deh pon di stage, so mi seh di ‘hol a di artiste dem done work already cause you know seh me and this man a guh war anywhere mi see him. So unnu mus done work already fi mek him on the stage, di man dem a play Baby Wayne through dem buss before we. A nuh your turn now a our turn, so mi walk pon di stage and a it that yuh nuh, bere gunshot start fire di place start light up, Bounty run off the stage bout four time a feel true him never expect mi as that giant deh because I think somebody never tell him seh Beenie Man a DJ from when yuh a likkle bwoy and haffi lock up inna yuh yard. Somebody never tell him that cause WhiteStar deh right beside fi him yard and me used to DJ pon WhiteStar, me and Wayne Smith. Di same FireLinks weh yuh see a play pon Fire sound, him used to DJ pon WhiteStar when him a likkle bwoy. Me and him used to clash inna Seaview, so mi nuh know Bounty Killa, mi know Nitty Kutchie, mi nuh know Elephant Man neither. Mi nuh know nuh of dem down deh as no artiste and me and him a same age. So when him start DJ? That was my puzzle. Mi guh down deh mi know all di DJ dem, all a dem deh deh. Nitty Kutchie weh yuh see a par wid Killa a long time him a sing yuh nuh, from Nitty Gritty time so a dem man deh mi know. So mi waan know who is this Bounty Killer, mi get fi know him now at Stone Love anniversary when mi actually see him. So me and him a clash and him tek di ting light cause him never know seh a me kill every DJ over portmore before mi buss. Because after the Mandela boo, mi haffi walk and build back mi ghetto status. Yuh nuh how dah ting deh guh, yuh haffi build back yuh street cred. So any DJ contest mi see, yuh did have a show called “World’s Greatest Show” over portmore, mi kill everything over that yuh nuh. And the first time me and Killa clash a over deh, can you imagine all di people dem weh know mi long time and know is wah Killa run up inna. When Killa drop di mic and seh “Who mi nah war over yah wid nuh likkle batty bwoy leave it for Sting” and WeePow pick up di mic and mi seh “Thanks jancrow” and him hear di place lift. Him never understand that yuh nuh. Mi seh “Pussy waan test I….” and him walk on back and mi seh yeah man come face di judgement. A dehso him realise seh mi a magic man dehso now him firm up fi Sting. So him mek mi guh on the stage and mek mi perform for 30 minutes before, then him seh him have mi now, but him still never know mi yet. So when him walk on and seh “People Dead is a long time I waan fi hold yuh and crush yuh like a roach.” You couldn’t crush mi over so but yuh come over yahso fi crush mi, weh yuh think a guh happen my lord. A tek mi tek off mi jacket and show him seh mi serious about this. Mi nuh know if yuh a run joke bout music but this a my life now at all times from beginning til now a my life. So this a wah a guh tek my life to the next level no defeat no surrender. Didn’t surrender didn’t get defeated.
Which year was this?
1993, December 26. When dah clash deh done. The rest is history.
Photos & Illustration done by THE PHVRVOH
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