- FILE
Deejay Shabba Ranks.
Kavelle Anglin-Christie, Staff Reporter
Ring... Ring...
THE NAME Shabba Ranks has an immediate, razor sharp edge to it. You would want to know right away who this person is without knowing why.
It's psychological: the name 'Shabba' is that of an African king, and 'Ranks' refers to a high position in dancehall. Deejay Shabba Ranks seemed to know from the get go that he would be one of the kings of dancehall.
TING-A-LING-A-LING!
But kings don't reign forever. They live hoping they are not forgotten by their subjects, which is a far worse fate to endure than death. Amnesia does not apply to Rexton Fernando Gordon, though, and we certainly remember his number in 'farin'. Ting-a-ling-a-ling!
Shabba: Hello?
Sunday Gleaner: Hello. May I speak to Shabba, please?
Shabba: Yeah, ah Shabba dis ...
SG: Oh, hey what's up? Long time no see ... or hear, for that matter.
One of Shabba's most recent releases in Jamaica was Killing Field, but it did not receive a lot of airplay. "No one played it, no radio station nobody. So the people didn't get the real essence of Shabba that they were supposed to get," he said. Then there was More Pon More, which got lost in the pipelines.
After years of trying, Rexton 'Shabba Ranks' Gordon's star finally focused in the late 1980s. Since then, his career has been littered with chart toppers and fan favourites, including Trailer Load, Mr. Loverman and Family Affair. Shabba was without a doubt one of the pilots of dancehall, but he suddenly disappeared from the scene in the 1990s and only performed in Jamaica four years ago. Shabba, however, insists he didn't 'disappear'.
THE EMPEROR
"I didn't go anywhere. Shabba never went away ... But life on a whole has been good, I can't complain about the blessings of the Almighty. The deejay a tour and a full stadiums and dem ting deh in place like Uganda. But the promoters dem prefer to give the chance to some deejay who when them leave Jamaica, them don't tour, them just do some club shows. Back in 1987 when I just started out I used to do shows in clubs, so these people are pushing the music back ... Then you have some people say them a king, but if them a di king, then me ah di emperor," he said slowly.
Shabba should know about propelling reggae music. He, after all, won the Grammy for best Reggae Album for two consecutive years, in 1991 for the As Raw As Ever, and in 1992 for X-Tra Naked. He was the first deejay to win in the category. He says winning the Grammy elevated his career. "All my struggles and hard work paid off and I am happy for that. I got to experience a lot of new things," he said.
BACK DOOR PRESENTATION
As a Grammy winner, Shabba had more than a few words about the recent Grammy Awards. "When I was doing it, it was the same thing, because we were given our awards behind closed doors. The people who are getting the recognition should be on stage like everyone else getting the Grammy. It is full time for the Grammy people to recognise that we have a music of a people. Back then rap and reggae used to get the award behind closed curtains, but rap fight and get a part for themselves, but we still behind closed curtains. We need to fight and get out there," he said.
After the climb to the top with the help of the awards, Shabba in time became less visible to Jamaicans. He says this hasn't been by choice, but it is one of the downfalls of the business.
IGNORED
"They don't want a man like me in the industry who is knowledgeable about the industry itself ... So when it's feasible enough for me to enter, me will enter. When you get ageable you supposed to teach the other artistes, but instead you just get put down," he explained.
Being ignored by the music-makers carries other complications that have Shabba's hair on end. He says he is weary of his songs being sampled without his permission. One such is Shot A Fire, recently remixed by a producer to include Akon and Vybz Kartel without his knowledge. He says while he likes the new version, there was nothing wrong with the old one.
"Everything good about the song. It has been done and received globally. It has caused tremendous pandemonium, which is a sign that the voice of Shabba lives. No one can stop it. It is planted and tattooed on the skulls of Shabba's fans," he said.
Shabba also lashed out at the producers who play a significant role in the illicit sampling of his songs. "There are these individuals who have a couple voices of Shabba and they go and mix them. I want to tell these people to stop remixing my old songs. No one approached me for that song and most of the other songs out there.
"The song Twice My Age, a producer redid it and no one got in touch with me. Why won't these people get in touch with Shabba if they want Shabba to do something? I am not dead. No, they want to remake my stuff to play without my knowledge so that they won't have to pay me. But when Shabba put down his foot and say 'no, no more' a problem come up," he reeled off.
Shabba's no-nonsense attitude comes as a result of being a veteran in the business. He says this is one of the reasons he is not working with a record label.
THE REAL RAGGAMUFFIN
"Shabba ah do him own thing right now. The record company dem fraid fi me. I am not going to water down my potent for anybody, as big as them is. I am truthful and straight up, so them light fire against the real raggamuffin, raggatuffin, Shabba. Them prefer deal with some of these young youths who will do as they say. Them guys deh a glitter but dem naw shine," he said.
With that said, this raggamuffin spilled it all on the state of dancehall. "Whatever these artistes do is a representation of Shabba, because they are all my children. I did it so they could obtain and those before me did it so I would obtain, man like Brigadier Jerry, King Yellowman, Josey Wales. If it were not for them there would be no Shabba," he said.
MAIN FOCUS
Shabba says for now he is focusing on releasing more songs, even if they are not embraced in his homeland.
"I will just be doing more music, whole heap of music. I am doing some shows out there, but if a promoter wants me to perform somewhere, he needs to step up with the collateral, the lettuce, the cabbage. The promoters are willing enough to give an R&B artiste US$150,000 but they refuse to give their own artistes that," he said.
As the interview wound down, Shabba said he couldn't leave without a message for his people. "The only thing that I want for Jamaica right now is for it to be tribal war-free. The government needs to set up some community centres for the youths to elevate their minds. The mothers need to join a united force with the churches for the youths to stop killing each other," he said.
