Jahvillani led the change, Deep Jahi is back in action and the youngsters are riding the wave. Dancehall is alive and became a trend in Jamaica's North coast, so we dived in to check what's going on
Jahvillani, set trends in his own parish (Rickayla Mcneil, Kaboommedia)
The north coast of Jamaica has experienced a revival in recent years, and it's not about tourists. So it's true, the northwest region, more precisely the capital of the area, Montego Bay, grows many dancehall artists.
Tommy Lee Sparta, Teejay, Squash, and also Topmann are some of the names who hail from St. James Parish, but we can't skip what is happening in St. Ann.
This is not something new, after all the greatest brand out of Jamaica, Bob Marley, was born in the parish, and there were other artists along the way who grew up out of there, but it seems that there is some kind of revival of the area in the last years.
The Governor of St. Ann's: Jahvillani led the revival The one who can be marked as a leader of change, perhaps the most daring of all, is Dujohn Mario Edwards more popularly as Jahvillani.
The dancehall star has been here for a decade but did his big jump into the industry with his big breakthrough his 'Wileside Government', more than 4 years ago. Jahvillani continued with Belt Tightening and other songs that made him a star. 'Rubberband', 'Nuh Reason', 'Clarks Pon Foot', 'Pro-Gress', and a couple of others built his brand.
This journey continued with the release of his debut album, 'Dirt To Bentley, in 2021 along with the New York based-label "VP Records". It does not stop as his currently hit song, 'Money, Power, Respect', creating waves in recent months and gets to play all over the island and racked up over 3.3 million views just on the Youtube platform.
Open the doors for the youngsters (Rickayla Mcneil, Kaboommedia)
He kicked off 2023 with a bang with his powerful new song 'Warrior.' which is produced by Tevin "YGF" Richards. the singjay is the one who opened the door and motivated other artists to act.
Adopting the Choppa lifestyle So Jahvillani opened the gate, or the doors, whatever you want to call it, but we won't skip over the others including Deep Jahi.
It seems that he released his breakthrough song, 'Life goes On', 10 years ago, he just needs consistency. the artist with the special voice has great talent and it's not like he didn't stop to release music in recent years with songs like 'Choppa Choppa' and 'Rain Drops', but now he is surrounded by a group of artists that can take him forward.
Because when there is a group of artists around you, anything is possible. he did have some highlight moments in the past year and is now promoting his new song, 'Mirror', produced by selecta Rolex.
The new era, social networks, technology, everything has become more available and more usable and has thrown several up-and-coming young artists who were born in the parish to get into the spotlight.
Currently, the most promising new artiste who hails from the parish is dancehall newcomer, Kraff, who gained a lot of attention last year.
His trappy voice is something different, and he adopts a special unique style making him a popular name among the new generation of dancehall artists and the numbers don't lie.
He is building a growing fanbase and his songs like 'Dinero', 'OG Bobby Johnson', 'Sinna', and the latest hit, 'Calm C', are just adding to his building catalog and getting millions of views across the social media platforms while some of them are including on his debut EP '11:11" that released last November. An example of the district's prosperity, we saw at the EP launch event, while many of them got to perform.
Kraff is not the only one who deserves to be mentioned. the 18-year-old St. Ann-born, Pablo YG, has shot to fame in recent months with some popular songs like 'Bad Juvi' & 'Booming' that are gaining popularity. Pablo Yg also adopted the popular Choppa Lifestyle for his songs but he is making the headlines in the last edition of Reggae Sting When he was announced as the winner of the clash against the rising dancehall artist, Malie Donn.
Kraff & DeepJahi, St. Ann parish in on the Map (Rickayla Mcneil, Kaboommedia)
This list does not end here. we have to mention the names of, Trance Gov, Jahvillani's protege, who already appears in the collection 'Strictly The Best Vol. 62' by the famous label VP Records as well, as well as Rhumba who is a really promising talent who gain some moments of fame already and the young artiste Topman Demar.
It is impossible to know if this is a trend, but what started in St. James Parish, continues as a common trend in St. Ann as well. The young artists are spread all over the island.
