SPEAKER boxes were made from wood, men danced with women and artists mingled with fans in the 1970’s when Junior Reid started going to dances.
He revisits those days in Dancehall City, a song he did with his son, singjay Yung Jr and deejay Blaw Minott, son of dancehall legend Sugar Minott.
The trio salute some
of the movement’s heavyweights, including Reid’s mentor Sugar Minott and some of Reid’s contemporaries such as singers Triston Palmer, Tenor Saw, Nitty Gritty, and Yami Bolo.
Colourful personalities like influential dancer Gerald ‘Bogle’ Levy and William ‘Willie Haggart’ Morrison, leader of the Black Roses Crew, are also hailed.
“It is really teaching some people who think dem start this thing an’ don’t know the true foundation, the man dem who set the thing,” said Reid. “Dem know the famine but dem don’t know the feast.”
Reid told the Jamaica Observer that Minott approached him to do the song last year. They co-produced Dancehall City, with Reid releasing the track on his JR Productions label.
According to Reid, considering Sugar Minott’s impact on his career, he jumped at the opportunity to work with Blaw Minott.
“Sugar Minott was a man who show mi a strength when my career need it, so mi haffi show the same solidarity with him youth as a young artiste,” he said.
Minott, who died in 2010, co-produced Original Foreign Mind, Reid’s first major hit song in 1984. It was released by his Youth Promotions company.
To help promote the song, a video for Dancehall City was recently filmed.
–By Kevin Jackson
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