Global Reggae Charts - Issue #5 / September 2017

ARTIST FEATURE
global reggae charts
featured artist
Women in Reggae
Text: Thomas Euler // whagwaan-magazine.de
Reggae and dancehall historically both had their fair
share of highly talented and artistically impactful
women. Still, by and large the two genres certainly
qualify as male-dominated. For every Marcia Griffith,
Sister Nancy, Tanya Stephens or Lady Saw, there
always used to be a multiple of male artists with
comparable standing. At least when judging on the
grounds of their commercial success which often
didn’t measure up to the critical acclaim and the
fan’s appreciation. Multiple factors contributed to
that development, ranging from industry dynamics
(some might describe them as patriarchal) to societal
structures.
What certainly didn’t contribute is a lack of talent. Through
the years, the great ladies of reggae have created
some of the genre’s very best records, among
them several all-time classics. As such, it is great to
see that today’s generation of reggae and dancehall
artists features a number of women at the forefront:
Jah9, Etana and Spice are among Jamaica’s most notorious
artists. And the Australian singer Nattali Rize
has gained momentum internationally (her current
album Rebel Frequency topped the Global Reggae
Charts for two months straight).
And once you look under the surface and dig a bit
deeper than the highest-profile names, you’ll find a
lot more. There is a whole bunch of highly talented
and very promising young women like Xana Romeo,
Toian, LMK, Marcy Chin, Ishawna, Sevana or
Shanique Marie. None of them appears to be contempt
with the status-quo of women in reggae. And,
more importantly, none them seems particularly affected
by historical limitations the genre might have
put in front of female artists.
Another name that definitely needs to be mentioned
in that context is Hempress Sativa. In early 2017, she
released her debut album Unconquerebel which
gained a lot of positive feedback from fans, critics
and fellow musicians alike. Before that, her single
Rock It Ina Dance had already achieved notoriety
on dances and radio alike. The song illustrated that
Hempress is well-versed in old school dancehall
vibes and capable of reworking them into a fresh
sound. To get there, she worked with no other than
Hopeton Overton Brown - better known as Scientist.
Having a reggae and dub legend in her inner circle -
Scientist mixed another three songs from the album
- is a good indication of her appreciation for the
music’s pioneers.
Which isn’t a coincidence. Her father, Albert “Ilawi
Malawi” Johnson, used to be a selektor at Jah Love
Muzik, a Sound System that was pretty popular from
the late 70’s throughout the 80’s. Growing up in a
musical household meant Kerida Johnson (Sativa’s
birth name) came in contact with reggae music from
a very early age. In comparison to other kids whose
parents are music fans, though, said contact wasn’t
limited to listening to the music. Instead, by virtue
of having a music professional as a parent, she also
learnt what it means to be in the music industry.
That, interestingly, isn’t an uncommon theme among
today’s generation of Jamaican artists. Here is a brief
(and very incomplete!) list of artists whose parents
were professionally involved with reggae in some
capacity:
- Chronixx (father: Chronicle, singer)
- Protoje (mother: Lorna Bennett, singer)
- Keznamdi (both parents: Chakula, band)
- Xana Romeo (father: Max Romeo, singer)
- Marley siblings (father: Bob Marley, singer;
- Stephen & Ziggy also: mother: Rita Marley, singer)
- Queen Ifrica (father: Derrick Morgan, singer)
- Ishawna (father: Don Angelo, singer)
- Meleku (father: Sizzla, singer)
- and many more
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global reggae charts | issue 5 / sept 2017