It Is Good To Be King: An Oral History of Moses Davis Part 4

The fourth and final part of BACKAYARD’s extensive interview with The King of the Dancehall Beenie Man

So how you feel when you reflect on being a pioneer in dancehall music which has helped to uplift so many artistes from similar situations?

 

Well, being a pioneer is a great thing, trust mi. I don’t like when people call mi veteran cause veterans are retired soldiers. I don’t like it but being a pioneer is a great thing, being an icon is a great thing. Because for you to lead a nation where you were led by other people now becoming a leader is a serious transformation that, yuh nuh. If you leave from geek status to king status, is great thing and that is what dancehall do to all of us, my lord. Regardless of who you was, yuh see who you become as a dancehall star is a different person. If yuh used to have one shoes now yuh have hundred pair now yuh can share wid yuh bredda, yuh see it. When yuh bredda used to wear the one pair, yuh and him used to fight. Now him put on a pair yuh nuh even look pon that. A so it guh that a di life. Yuh transform into one ‘hol different person. If yuh a 17 year old a act like a 17 year old, boop you become 21 all of a sudden. That is what dancehall does it gives you that power and that push and that heart that you need. So yuh nuh haffi siddung and pretend, if yuh quiet yuh quiet if yuh talk loud everybody a guh know. Cause mi have a right fi raise my voice now a whappen to you. A you sing the song or a me, good. So this is the power of music. Think about the power of god mi talk about the sun a guh too hot so mi nah do di interview til 5 o’clock and by 3 o’clock the sky guh so, boop, and overcast. Is the power of the almighty, zeen, rain fi fall rain nah bodda fall cause the sun a peep out back, zeen, go weh rain. That is the power of the almighty, this what we see every day. The power of god is the power of music. What can pull 100,000 people inna one venue? Mi nuh like you, him nuh like him, mi nuh waan see you what can do that? Music. What give politicians joy, mek di people dem come out? Music. Not only talking and rae rae rae, music have to be playing my lord. Drinks haffi a run, my lord. Everybody haffi have a joy, before the politician come on the scene. Because when the politician come on the scene him a gi the people dem misery but wah yuh do yuh spicy dem up wid some music and some jerk chicken and some free beer round dehso and dem feel nice. Fi this one day but memba when yuh done talk but tomorrow dem still a guh remember yuh nuh. So if yuh a come forward, yuh a come forward wid wah? Music again fi get dem mind off the misery. So this a wah dem do, my lord. Dem use music then dem fight it. The Christians they can’t do nothing without music but yet still dem separate music and segregate music. There is no segregation in music, zeen, alright. Mi a wonda if yuh a christian yuh caan talk bout sex. Yuh haffi use intercourse, yuh caan seh fuck or dem supp’im deh if yuh a christian. That strange, my lord.

It is just a word…

 

Yuh get wah mi a seh. If my woman baptize then she caan wear nuh battyrider. She haffi wear tall skirt. If me a Christian mi haffi cut my locks if me believe inna Selassie as God so me convert my allegiance to something else……. Mi stick to music, my lord. Mi stick to music cah mi nuh haffi change to be a dancehall artiste, trust mi. Mi nuh haffi walk wid mi shirt inna my pants everyday so me stick to dancehall. That is why I am the king of the ting. You have any more questions Rasta?

 

Yeah man, couple more. So the country has changed considerably since you started to make music and the music industry has always been reflective of what happens in society. What do you think dancehall music is saying about Jamaica now?

 

Nah well dancehall music always speak on social commentary. This is what dancehall music come from. Alright, mi have a new song weh name “Jamaica”.

 

Yeah on the “Liquor” riddim….

 

If dem just play it the right way like the way it supposed to play. It a be a next song like “Mi Heart Nuh Dirty” cause mi do reality yuh nuh. Mi nuh know wah a man mean by conscious cause mi nuh unconscious. Yuh understand, mi nuh know what a man mean by righteous cause mi nuh unrighteous, zeen, cause mi nuh deal wid di devil, mi deal wid god. Mi know what is reality, reality is life. That we live every day. So when society put a hold on the music because yuh a talk bout sex, yuh a talk bout this, yuh a talk bout that and yuh a bun dem out inna di meantime. The government do not mind you buning dem. But too much sex, cah yuh nah talk bout nuh homosexual yuh a talk bout sex, man and woman and baby born and all a these things. Yuh see if yuh did a mix up di sex then it wouldn’t be a problem. But through the sex nah mixup it is a problem to the government. Just notice when you sing about the government if yuh nuh disrespect dem inna way weh like yuh a seh dem a bowcat or homosexual and dem ting deh. Dem nuh pay it nuh mind yuh nuh. Social commentary, it is public ting. Dem can jus guh round it and smile. And see yuh and shake yuh hand too, yuh nuh, yeah man and hug you up too. And seh “Boy, Beenie Man you really going on well.” And dem hear everything yuh seh bout dem. But society is not our main concern when it come to dancehall music. Dancehall music concern is the ghetto people and the people who BEEN supporting the dancehall from morning. Cause anything that don’t buss downtown caan guh uptown. Yuh never know that? Ok, and is not everything weh buss uptown can play downtown. You know that. So majority rule, when it comes to dancehall music and the majority is the street.

 

When you contrast the golden days when Beenie Man used to say “Man fi have nuff gal and gal inna bungle” to the music they are making now….

 

No man then a nuh di same music dem a mek now dem only a say it different. Mi a seh “Man fi have nuff gal” dem a seh “Man fi fuck dah gal round a dehso and him have Suzy pon the phone while mi a fuck Annmarie”. Dem a say it different but a di same ting dem a seh, dem jus a say it more raw.

 

As you know you have to push the envelope…. 

 

Yeah cause the audience get more radical. Instead of dem becoming more decent, rassclaat, dem become more radical. Remember when mi sing “Gimmie di gal dem wid di wickedest slam.” Everybody waan ban it yuh nuh. Kartel seh “Tight pussy gal come wine fi mi”, if mi ever sing that mi modda beat mi. Yuh a idiot, a that mi a tell yuh. Now yuh can sing that. One time if mi seh “Old dog like me, mi have di gal dem inna twos and threes”, people would seh how mi a seh that. Mi a seh wah yuh a think and nah seh. This a wah di yute dem a do now, yuh see it. Everything weh we do manifest back inna di artiste dem weh come after we. Cah yuh a guh tell me seh a nuh me mek Kartel buss. Yuh a idiot? A Bounty Killa meek him buss? Him never DJ like Bounty Killa. Yuh ever see him come out and seh “Yo, shalow…” Yuh ever see him do that yet? Yuh ever see Kartel inna full black and dark glass? Never, mussi idiot. Me mek him buss him jus never know mi and never know how to approach me. Because everybody know my past but they don’t know who me is cause yuh never talk to me yet. First time him talk to mi, mi teach him how fi sing. Yuh can just have this bagga lyrics “Inna mi Karl Kani, Wid a bottle of tall Canei” and no punchline my yute nuh ramp wid mi. Every punchline yuh have a Wayne Marshall sing it. Whappen to you? Yuh caan sing? “Picture this breast specialist, have yuh two nipple dem inna mi hand and dem a turn and twist”.

Him nuh stop until him start sing good good now him sing one whole song fi himself “Pool Party….”

…… (Everybody Laughs)….. That mi a tell yuh, a so dancehall guh. Him write nuff lyrics bout mi fi Bounty Killa yuh nuh but a that Bounty want. Fi talk bout me. Why you want to talk bout me and me nah pay you nuh mind? A that mi want him fi stop long time, stop pay me mind man. Mi only pay him mind when mi nah nutten fi do. Like mi done do mi three tour a year time. Mi deh a Jamaica fi two month mi nuh have nutten fi do, pick trouble wid Bounty Killa. A suh mi and Bounty war yuh nuh, mi nuh tek that serious a joke ting that. Mi nuh mek a cent outta war yuh nuh, not one cent, Trust mi. You can collect royalty off of war song? How much it sell? Di only war song dem weh sell is the one dem from back inna di days like “Memories don’t live like people do”, and a never him mi did a talk a pick him pick it up on him head. Cah dem time deh a cowboy lyrics a do it. And him do di song wid Pinchers seh “Long time mi ride and mi riding west”. So mi a sing a cowboy song too “Eh boy stop live inna di past, stop from memba when man a ride horse”. Di man tek it up pon him head to rass.  “A me him a talk yuh caan tell mi nutten”, is one normal song mi a sing yuh nuh……. (Everybody Laughs)….. Serious, yuh nuh, nah throw nuh word pon him. Then mi hear “Yuh leave the world inna suspense seh yuh riding horse and yuh a talk wid experience”……. (Beenie Man shakes his head)….. But that is how dancehall guh. Then di man come wid “Run come up inna mi magnum bwoy”, a dehso mi sing Christmas come but only once a year, yuh nuh. And mi did a seh follow that “Last year mi hot but this year mi hotter” a ten mi get dah year deh. How much number 1 him get. You get wah mi a seh, mi caan pay that no mind, my lord. Mi caan fathom how him do that though just constant. When me and him done war, him go war wid somebody else.

 

Well that is why he is the ‘Warlord’….

Seriously, him need fi stop.

 

Family is very important thing and with a schedule like yours it must be difficult to keep up. How vital would you say family time is for Beenie Man? 

 

Family time is very everything to me, yah. Because if mi leave yahso and guh up my next house, mi yute dem up deh too yuh nuh. Is a traveling partnership mi and mi yute dem roll wid yuh nuh. Because mi house finish but mi caan do hill, if mi do hill mi a become lazy and fat. Mi sure bout that, mi haffi live like a boxer. Get up run, hot, sweat dah supp’im deh yuh waan cool off, pool. Yuh caan jus wake up and cold every day. Up on di hill yuh just wake up and cold so yuh nuh waan see town. Yuh deh up a this nice nice place and a guh down inna this pollution, yuh nuh waan see that. So mi and mi yute dem have a traveling companionship, zeen, move from one townhouse to the next townhouse dem there. Mi yute dem a di must important ting to mi, most important ting to mi in life a mi yute dem. My problem is not to get a woman, my problem is to get rid of har, good, yah.

 

So we don’t see you in the news lately unless it is musical and I know the media has always create negative stories about you. Is that a direct effort on your part to avoid that kinda publicity?

 

Yup. Keep yuhself outta foolishness man. If yuh stay yuh yard nobody nah guh call yuh name. How mi sound?

 

True, true….

 

Blessings. Cause Beenie Man easy fi call yuh nuh. Anything happen yuh hear seh Beenie Man did deh deh. Me and Bogle fight in one dance, him dead. “A Beenie Man kill him”, Jesus Christ. …… (Takes deep breath)….. My name easy fi call so mi stay far from everything. Nowhere dogs are invited no bones are provided and I nuh eat bone.

 

Ok, one last question. Out of all the countries you have been to, outside of Jamaica where have you had the most impact as an artiste?

 

Everywhere in the world I go. Especially Canada and the United States, regular crowd. Africa madness. Dubai craziness. Over one next place name Qatar craziness, Jordan crazy Jerusalem, crazy, Australia crazy. Weh a di craziest place weh mi guh?  Japan. Dem people deh love di music different from any other place inna di world mi ever see. Trust mi. And mi nah talk jump to di beat, jump to the song. TO…. THE…. SONG. Weh sing inna Jamaican patois, dem know every word. As di riddim put on dem start sing. That is Japan. Yuh nuh haffi do nuh work yuh nuh. As long as you a big star over there jus guh and see whappen. Yuh nuh haffi do nutten, yuh coulda sing yuh oldest song dem know it. This wah dem do dem believe inna history. If yuh nah nuh history then yuh is a young artiste. Yuh coulda have ten number 1, yuh nah nuh history my lord yuh is a young artiste. Dem caan find yuh from di ’90s then yuh a ’00s artiste yuh better stay inna dah league deh and nuh bodda gwaan like yuh hype dem will kill yuh. But Japanese dem know it man, yuh see like how yuh woulda see a likkle yute buss today and him woulda guh pon di stage and flop any elder artiste weh yuh see out deh. That caan gwaan a Japan. Hold yuh space until yuh reach inna dah space deh, trust mi. If me guh Japan and me and Brigadier Jerry guh pon a show who yuh think a guh close?

 

Brigadier….

Ok, yuh try know that. No bodda mix dem up. If me and Freddie Mcgregor deh pon a show a Freddie a guh close. And a nuh like di people dem nuh waan that a that di people dem want, yuh nuh. You fi know yuh class. So dem stay, if it is a Beenie Man live in concert now alongside Freddie Mcgregor it is a different ting. Like when mi tour over deh and mi carry Morgan Heritage, Freddie dem and Tony Rebel dem on my tour. So mi a di headliner but normally all when a two people a guh lef’ inna di stadium di elder close the show. And you know a who gi dem dah idea deh, Dennis Brown. Remember when Buju Banton dem did a run the place, a Dennis Brown a close all show yuh nuh. When Buju Banton, Ninjaman and Shabba dem a di man yuh nuh. When 6 o’clock inna morning Sunsplash who get it “Love and Hate can never be friends oh no”. Last Sunsplash a 1992 a Dennis Brown close it my lord, that same year me buss yuh nuh. That a Buju dem last top year, ’94 him get the real booting up. ’93 him did have a bloodclaat song. “Gal I would like to be your lover in your life I want to be the only man”. Remember a long time yuh never hear nutten from him til him come wid that one deh. Den him find “Hey bwoy hey bwoy a bere trouble yuh a gi”. Him sing some rassclaat song sometime…. Rastafari. Selassie is the almighty. 

Photos by Jik Reuben & The PHVRVOH

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