The Jamaica Star :: Entertainment :: Dancehall crashes festival competition

Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Shane O (left) and Bounty Killer.

A little dancehall made its home at the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission's Festival 2k8, 'What A Bam Bam' finals at the National Indoor Sports Centre Saturday night.

In a night filled with the sounds of ska, rocksteady, and reggae and the garb of years gone by - plaid shirts and straw hats, dancehall showed its patriotism to good old Jamaican culture with the performances of youngster Shane O and veteran DJ Bounty Killer.

After the 10 contestants in the festival song competition had given it their all and while the judges tallied who would be the winner of $1 million, dancehall made its appearance on the festival stage.

Shane O came out calling for an end to killings before he delivered Lightning Flash, Crab Inna Barrel and other songs to give a decent performance.

Stole spotlight

However, it was Bounty Killer who stole the spotlight for the night. Though it seemed not his usual crowd, Bounty Killer had the audience out of their seats and running to the front of the stage.

And instead of the 'cross, angry and miserable' persona, the warlord was 'calm, cool and collected' throughout his performance.

While he kept his music lyrically 'clean', passing over songs he deemed "too bad" Bounty Killer could not resist the urge to speak out against what he believes to be wrong in Jamaica. He entered on stage saying, "I notice di place nuh full like how it suppose to ram, yet when the boogoyagga foreign artiste come, di place ram. We mus' rememba dat we are many, show some patriotism," Bounty said.

He went on to perform songs such as Anytime, Can't Believe Mi Eyes, and Look Into Ma Eyes before closing with Nuh Fren Fish.

No to gays

Although it was a family event, the artiste gave a running commentary on the prime minister's statement about having no homosexuals in his cabinet, applauding the PM's decision.

The presence of dancehall in a night celebrating Jamaica's festival heritage went down well and showed the evolution of the music and patriotism to the island.