Despite an explosion of upcoming dancehall artistes, signalling the continuity of the genre, veteran dancehall deejay Beenie Man has expressed his displeasure at the artform’s loss of authenticity.

In a recent interview with UK-based radio presenter, DJ Robbo Ranx, the Girls Dem Sugar hitmaker shared: “Dancehall nuh authentic no more. Dancehall a HipHop, and short drop, and one next drop and wah other drop, caa dem nah mek no one drop enuh…”.

According to Beenie Man, the loss of authenticity of the genre can be attributed to the merging of international genres with dancehall by young artistes.

The deejay blamed this move on the ignorance of young acts when it comes to how the business works.

“Yuh cannot come inna man business weh yuh nuh know man business an’ a try change man business, ” said the King of Dancehall.

He continued: “So weh ya say? Wa we did a do inna the ’90s a did foolishness? So you come fi mek the music better? So why we nah go no further? Why we nah get no higher? Why we nah get no better? Unuh go weh and come outta man business.”

A passionate Beenie Man, who has spent many decades in the dancehall business, emphasised to upcoming acts the importance of learning the roots of the genre, before claiming the title of ‘dancehall artiste’.

He stated: “Yuh haffi know weh the bus a come from… suppose a pure murderer inna the bus? Yah go tun murderer?.. The youths dem nowadays nuh show dancehall no respect. We cyaa beat dem enuh; but dem nuh show the business no respect.”