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Then Beenie Man, the king of dancehall is coming. Now, Capleton, the king of dancehall is coming. Which left me, and probably thousands others, of similar understanding of ragga and dancehall with one question: so who is the king of dancehall?

Truth is I was brought up on a diet of sentimental reggae, that’s if this is the correct term used to describe music composed, done and popularised by Bob Marley. Then apart from him, I would listen to people like Bunny Wailer, Gregory Isaacs, Peter Tosh, Don Carlos, a little bit of Maxi Priest, plenty of UB40, some Culture, aided with hits from the other “smaller” outfits here and there.

Those were the days when we would make it a point to listen to Dennis Wilson’s Lovers’ Reggae session on Radio 3 or Jah B’s reggae hour or Terrence Mapurisana’s hour on SFM. I knew the artistes and heard what they were singing about, it was reggae done in English, though with some corruption of the language here and there. But still I got their message and enjoyed their music.
Then came, must be in the late 80s and early 90s, this breed of reggae artistes — am told they do ragga instead of reggae — and they somehow took over the show. Instead of singing in the language that I heard or understood, they took up some language. Some say it is called patois. Truth is, I was not taken in by their craze.

So last week as we sat there, Templeman announcing that Capleton, the biggest name in dancehall, is coming, I kindly asked the same question, and with pure innocence. So who is the real king of dancehall? Who is the real deal? His answer was as diplomatic as it was useful. “Even in rock it is difficult to say this is the best rock band, same goes for R&B, you can’t say this is it. Same with dancehall, there are several names that can be thrown into the hat, but we then look at consistency, persistency and message to the people.”

For some reason I was reminded of the debate around who is a national hero — consistency, persistency, blah, blah.
I asked him what kind of message to the people when I cannot hear what Capleton is singing about, yet I could hear and even sing Bob Marley’s songs, almost all of them?
“If Capleton is releasing an album he does it in English but if he is doing a single or one of those songs he does it in patois. Even when he is performing, he puts aside about 15 to 30 minutes to teach, teachings about life. That is what makes him great.”

Over the years, I have tried to convert to dancehall, I have attended some of the sound clashes but I have failed to see myself wearing a pair of trousers that begins its waistline below my butt. Neither have I seen myself twisting my hair, let alone letting it grow to beyond a centimetre. Half the time I have attended the so-called clashes, it seemed the whole crowd was high and would jump up and down, to lyrics that they don’t hear.

On one occasion I was brave enough to call on a young man, he must not have been into his 20s as yet.
“Excuse me, I am trying to learn to understand dancehall music, can you help me understand what the artiste is saying in that song?”
“Mudhara, matune aya. Haana basa nelyric, teerera beat chete.”

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Honestly, from that moment I have not bothered to listen, attentively that is, to ragga music. If the ardent fans cannot even hear what their icons are singing about, who was I to bother listening to them? But I quickly forgave the young man, and probably many others of his standing, there was a time when rhumba and kwasakwasa music took over this country, a time when a party was not a party without rhumba. But how many understood what the Congolese were singing about?

But when it was announced that Capleton is coming, my interest in the genre was kind of rekindled. Not exactly by that announcement, but by the developing trend of Jamaican artistes or artistes of Jamaican extraction, especially dancehall artistes, making a beeline for Harare.

Luciano, Sizzla, Beenie Man, Brick and Lace, Sean Paul, Maxi Priest, Capleton. Morgan Heritage almost came last year as well.
What is it? Are we dancehall fanatics? Or are they cheap, or cheaper, to bring? Cost could be a factor — where Akon brought in, in excess of 20 people (only to lipsync), Capleton is bringing 11 people and for a live show. Where Akon wined and dined in the five-star Meikles Hotel, Capleton is said to be purely a vegetarian. Five dollars worth of veggies from Mbare can feed him for a week.
But besides the cost involved, it seems like the younger population, or those young at heart, have taken in to dancehall, matunes, as compared to reggae. Or that reggae, as defined by Bob Marley and his class, is slowly dying and giving way to a refined version? So as we try to bury a dying genre (reggae), who is the king of dancehall?
Sizzla, Capleton, Beenie Man, Luciano, Sean Paul, Buju Banton?

So all ragga and dancehall fanatics out there, please get in touch with me on [email protected] and help solve this mystery. May your arguments be backed by facts and figures, rather than emotions.