The ReggaeMania.com 2019 Tops Awards
Our 1st ever ReggaeMania.com 2019 Tops Awards spotlights the Artists, Songs, Sounds and Events that ran things in Jamaica + Canada in 2019.
Top Upcoming International Male Artists of 2019
#3: TOP (3) UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL MALE 2019 – STYLO G
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Spanish Town’s Stylo G is without a doubt one of the biggest stars in dancehall today, and he receives the #3 spot on our ReggaeMania.com ‘Tops’ Award for ‘Top Upcoming International Male 2019‘. His lyrical flow, patter, style, choice of riddims, etc., are all ingredients for a formula that created the best music, crucial for a year in which hit songs and many hit artists were missing from the dancehalls.
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In 2019, Stylo G, now based in Jamaica after being a member of the UK underground scene since age 15, became the gap-filler for DJ’s and sound crews who needed to take their nights to a next level by musically peaking at the right moment. His music and UK-influenced ‘1-2-3′ rap-reggae twang would create sweet vibes usually only achievable by major heavyweights the likes of Vybz Kartel, Popcaan, or Mavado.
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According to Problem Child from Don Rankin Sound, ‘It’s Stylo G, Sean Paul, and Shaggy who are the international doods running things right now’.
Stylo G’s biggest accomplishments to date include his mammoth 2018 ‘Touch Down’ pop-dancehall crossover mega hit still huge internationally currently sitting at almost 14 million views on YouTube, and still in regular rotation at most Urban radio stations in the world that play good music. The sexually explicit yet funny song with the simplest of riddims, was followed by a dance craze, and blew up again in 2019 after it was creatively remixed with featured guest artists Nicki Minaj & Vybz Kartel, who both sounded amazing in the song.
There’s a lot more Stylo G to come, and the dancehall world can hardly wait. We need more artists like this who can deviate from dancehall’s traditional yet sometimes repetitious reggae riddims, and who are skilled enough to pull it off with flying colours.
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Congratulations to Stylo G, placing 3rd in our ReggaeMania.com Awards for ‘Top Upcoming International Male 2019 ‘.
#2: TOP (3) UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL MALE 2019 – JAHVILANNI
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Jahvillani rose to prominence in 2018 with hits such as ‘GAD’, ‘Nuh Reason’, ‘Generals’ featuring Chronic Law, and ‘Gun Song’. His ‘Wileside Government’ track is currently his monster song that is bussing him internationally. Some recent releases doing very well include ‘Clarks Pon Foot’, and ‘Sunday to Sunday’ (Kentucky), both with official supporting YouTube videos.
Lyrically talented, and a bit shy when you meet him in person, Jahvillani, a sing-jay, lyrically explores the uncensored dark sides of ghetto living. His storytelling environments, often negative and violent, seems real, very convincing, making one ask if his own real-life experiences and having to live there among the monsters, predators, murderers and thieves, is what qualified him to currently write the way he does.
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Jahvillani it seems, is comfortable with the path that he has chosen. If an artist is truly shaped by his environment, then Jahvillani, if not ‘bad‘ before, will become ‘bad‘ now. He is a former unofficial member of the 6ix, whose leader, Squash, is the only (6ix’th) surviving member of a family of 6ix brothers after the other five were murdered.
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Squash, a bit of a rebel, is rumoured to be under frequent police surveillance, and there are many more stories about Squash and the #6ix that is best not told here. The point is, Jahvillani’s close association and past unofficial 6ix-member status, may make him somewhat of an ‘endangered’ new-generation artist.
While Jahvillani is in self-definition mode and trying to progress, fans can look on the bright side – his best works are yet to come, as a new and rising artist, his world is only beginning to expand, with more positive experiences coming along with it. Usually, for fresh new artists like Jahvillani, during this infancy stage of their careers, it’s just a matter of time before their lyricism evolves to reflect a more positive outlook, and for their underground songs to become cross-over potential hits. New artists should have the right to grow and mature before they are tried, judged or convicted.
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Congratulations to Jahvillani, taking the ReggaeMania.com Awards ‘runner-up’ spot (2nd Place) for ‘Best Upcoming Artist 2019′.
#1: TOP (3) UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL MALE 2019 – CHRONIC LAW
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Even though most fans have only recently become familiar with Chronic Law, his first recording, ‘War Dem A Ask Fah’, goes back to 2009. Today, Chronic Law sits behind a number of chart-topping singles, including his monster hit, ‘Government’, and current chart topper, ‘Hillside’. Other current Chronic Lawmovers and shakers include the popular ‘Style‘, and ‘Bless Me‘.
Chronic Law is not a ‘pretty boy’ artist, as a matter of fact, he is a little bigger, or dare I say, fatter than the average dancehall artist. But when you first hear Chronic Law, or when seeing him perform live, one has no choice but to be impressed and say – wow! That’s how good this artist is. He has the ability to make people believe what they are hearing.
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Chronic Law is quickly establishing himself as the new ‘master‘ of lyrical badness, the best of the ‘brand new‘ generation dancehall artists, the one holding up the 6ix, offering the best flow, the newest lyrical styles, and the one who demonstrates the most potential to succeed based on their own God-given talent.
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Rumoured to be already sitting on a song library of over 100 songs, Chronic Law is said to be capable of belting out over four songs a day when he chooses, with each one sounding original. The majority of these songs may be lyrically aggressive, but because he’s been through everything, Chronic Law is entitled to singjay about ‘anything‘. As a further sign of growth, he has, lately, been deviating beyond his usual catalogue of badman tunes, and making music designed to be more popular with the ladies, music with a more radio friendly appeal.
Artists like Chronic Law as well as other current and former members of the 6ix, are symbols of a dividing line separating new premiering artists from the traditional older artists that once ruled the dancehalls but are now systematically elbowed out. Our current dancehall is experiencing a metamorphosis of sorts, where it’s all about what’s ‘new’, starting from what you’re wearing straight to what artist you’re endorsing.
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When somebody new or hot comes along, the current generation of young dancehall trendsetters tend to gravitate to them, especially if these artists are relatable or popular. Chronic Law, Squash, and newest member Daddy 1, are perfect examples of this change in pattern; a current new dividing line eroding a playing field famous for extensive stagnation, non-inclusion and expunction.
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Thanks primarily to the 6ix and their influential appeal, Jamaica is now trending with a new trap-dancehall sound. Gone are the traditional reggae riddims with the string of 15-20 artists on them, and in is a new style where beats replace riddims, and the songs released are structured to be more catchy and poppy, with more crossover potential and ‘American’ appeal. From a production point of view, it’s simplicity at it’s finest, the only place where old styles and new styles sit on the same plateau. But everything else is different, including the employment of currently changing marketing and branding strategies.
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Today’s new artists, including the 6ix, are going after a hip-pop look, to some extent ,they are fashionably emulating and idealizing the way America’s top Rap and Urban pop stars outfit themselves. Posing with bottles of Moet and Crystal in posh party environments, being surrounded and adored by sexy beautifully attired young women, it seems, is the new image, the new ‘norm’. Of course, we need some ganja smoke for the set, and bling up the artists in the room!
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Says Problem Child (Don Rankin): ‘Maybe that’s what people want, maybe if all these components are put together, you have the crossover hit-making formula. It’s the Squash look, the Squash influence as a singjay. It appeals to the ladies.‘
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One thing is for sure – there is a new ageist playing field established in our dancehall, and artists who fail to stay updated, change with the times, and switch up their game are in danger of becoming irrelevant and extinct, systematically exited out.
It’s hard today to understand how our current young generation of dancehall fans think. As elders, we can criticize them for having set the bar lower for performance and lyricism, but why do ‘we’ get the right to judge? Music has always been relative, subjective, free for personal consumption and interpretation.
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Now, lyrically, the generation gap has widened – as we transition into a new decade, coming with it are new guards. Arguably, if our older-wiser dancehall intellects and guardians find today’s messages and sound unrelatable or undesirable, could it be because we don’t represent their experiences and values?
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Problem Child (Don Rankin Sound) explains it this way; ‘It’s all about frequency. We’re thinking analogue, they’re thinking digital. We can’t figure them out because we’re not young enough to understand their frequency, the way they’re thinking. Me and you, we’re shut out of it, we cannot understand it – but ask your teenage son or daughter, and I bet you they will’.
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Congratulations to Chronic Law, our ReggaeMania.com Award winner for ‘Best Upcoming International Artist 2019′.