By Germaine Smith, Staff ReporterONE CRITICAL area, however, where they have been markedly absent is record
production but that seems set to change.
At present, at least four
established female artistes have dabbled in music production. Lady Saw, Tanya Stephens, Lady G and Ce'Cile have all worked behind the mixing boards at one point or another on different music projects. Ce'Cile, in fact, began her career as a producer at the Celestial Sounds Studios. Her skills behind the board remain intact, so she can alternate at will.
LONE JUNIE STAR
In the old days of dancehall , when the genre was blossoming, this was hardly the case. In fact, several of the veterans of the 1980s who spoke with The Sunday Gleaner said that then the only woman they can recall who was involved in production was Junie Star.
The reasons for the absence of women behind the mixing board reflected the context of the
time period and the attitudes of players involved in the business at that time.
First, there were very few
studios stocked with the
requisite recording equipment and engineers available to make a hit and even fewer people who could afford to pay for it. There were fewer radio stations and sound systems to play the tunes before they became hits and all these avenues were
controlled by a few men.
Second, the focus of the women of the time was to get the hit record and not necessarily to produce the hit record. This was understandable, because
producers had to bear searing headaches from dealing with the rudiments of their profession. Booking studios (if they did not own one), paying to get the record pressed, organising
distribution and getting the
promotion campaign going was
a horrific task which took guts and often strong-arm tactics
in the early dancehall days.
Women looking to get into the business were not known to be
aggressive enough to face these
'occupational hazards'.
Sister Nancy described the dancehall scene of the 1980s to The Sunday Gleaner. Sister Nancy, who migrated to the United States several years ago, is the voice behind the timeless hit 'Bam Bam', which was featured in the film 'Belly, and recently sampled for the song 'Compton' by Beenie Man and rapper Gorilla Black.
Nancy does tours of Europe every now and again, armed with her old hits plus a few new ones.
"It was rough in those times still and to some extent it still rough now," she states. "Those times, the women would not use the tactics that the man dem use to produce a tune. They will understand how to do certain things, but not do it."
Another reason she puts forward is that the dancehall females of the 1980s had more restrictions than their male counterparts. "Women had more responsibility than men in those days. The woman had to think bout what she was doing with her life," she asserts. "For the men, some of them just get up, brush them teeth and go on the road to hang out at the studio whole day. She may not have so much time; she haffi think bout her family and what she do with her time. I personally never capable of doing it those times, so I never thought I could take it on."
Her charge is echoed by another female deejay who ruled alongside her in the developmental decade, Junie Ranks. To begin with, Junie Ranks points out the male-female ratio in the dancehall was not as more balanced as it is now.
"We never had a lot of female artistes in the first place," she states. "The few females were more looking to get people to produce their songs rather than to produce themselves."
Junie was more entrepreneurial than her counterparts in those days, as she tried to supplement her deejay income. "I used to keep shows and promote them, but as it comes on to producing that was a no no. I used to think about producing, but we were saying that it was so hard to get into. I used to think that it was a headache to do and to get the artistes to co-operate and get studio to book was too much headache for me," she said.
Though she has no regrets, looking at the current dynamics she admits that if presented with the opportunity now she probably go the production route.
One key element which helped push more females over the line into production was technology. Through rapid developments in computer software, it no longer takes a 200 square foot building stacked with miles of wires to make a hit. The average studio is much smaller than those of the 1980s and there are more producers, engineers and technicians available to work, resulting in much cheaper rates.
In addition, women are now commanding significantly larger sums of money for appearances at stage shows, recording and/or dub-plates. The advertising market has also changed significantly and they are also able to cut lucrative deals for their images to be used to endorse products.
Lady Saw is one female deejay who has made the most of this reality. Still in her glory days where she pulls a good fee for her overseas shows, Saw has formed her production company, Halls Productions, and has started producing. She has made three rhythms to date, the latest of which has attracted a hit list of dancehall giants and is bound for release soon. Her reason for doing so admittedly is in preparation for life after performance.
"What happened to me is that I am going up in age now and you have to think of other investments," she notes. "That's why I am looking at real estate and producing other artistes now. I will not be on the stage all my life, but I want to stay in music because I love it, so I am doing these things to better myself in the future."
Before getting her break, Lady Saw was snubbed for years by others in the business. She remembers clearly the fight she along with other female acts had on their hands just to get recorded. "Back in the day female artistes thought about producing, but they never had enough power to push it," she recalls. "It takes money to branch off and a lot of them were not making the money we are making now, so it was more difficult," she continues. "I think a lot of women are branching out now and learning about the business, so we may just see more of these things in the future."
Another in the pack of modern female deejays turning to producing is Lady G. Lady G has made three rhythms to date as well. One of her efforts, the 'Flava' rhythm, grabbed a distribution deal with VP Records early last year.
"In those times many of the female artistes doubted themselves, because it was such a male dominated field," she reasons. "We just showed them that we can do it too right now."
For Lady G, the journey to her producer status was a mixed bag of experiences. "It was not easy, but it's getting more strength now and I find more people respecting me now. Even the disc jockeys, I can't bash them no more. They realised that I am persistent and that it is not a joke thing for me."
Arguably, her name in the business brought some amount of respect to the table, greasing the wheels to allow the business to easily accept her as producer. Lady G says, however, that this alone did not cut it, as the old fashioned formula of good work getting recognition held out for her.
"If it is my name that helped me, the first project would really take off, but it did not. The name helps, but the quality production helped too. I made sure the quality was good, even if it was a young artiste who voiced for me."
All the women told 'The Sunday Gleaner' that they are pleased with the current status of women in the dancehall business. Though things are not perfect, they compare it to the earlier days, and welcome the future with open arms.
As Lady Saw puts it, "a lot of women are coming out now and they are learning more about the business. This is good, so in the future we know we will see more females getting involved in all aspects".
