Wayne Wonder
Germaine Smith, Staff Reporter
BETWEEN 2001 and 2004, dancehall resurged internationally with newfound zest and vigour. The world, and the United States in particular, has bought into the dancehall vibe again and their purchasing of the products has been phenomenal.
In the United States alone, the present Billboard status of Sean Paul, Elephant Man, Wayne Wonder, Beenie Man, Baby Cham, TOK, Spragga Benz and Mr. Vegas all indicate that they are getting a fair amount of sales for their products 'up north'.
Locally, however, another story is playing out. The euphoria, it seems, ends at the doors to the record stores. An informal survey by The Sunday Gleaner revealed that even though there is a hype now surrounding dancehall music, dance moves and partying in general, there is no mad rush for dancehall music in the record stores. The managers and clerks of several stores indicated that while people may be into the hype, when it comes to buying dancehall music at least, the legal products the buck stops there. In Kingston, representatives from Rockers International Records in downtown Kingston said that over the past year or so purchases of dancehall music have not been outstanding. "It is mostly mixed tapes they are coming to ask for and for the longest while it has been this way," one representative noted. "Customers have been asking mostly for foreign CDs, but no local artistes' tunes are in demand, unless it is something extra or exceptional done by the artiste."
DEMAND
Musician Derrick Harriott notes the same trend at his store in Twin Gates Plaza on Constant Spring Road in St. Andrew. "The demand (for dancehall music) is more internationally," he told The Sunday Gleaner. "As an example, I bought 50 'Ele' CDs when they just came out and the majority are still here. Based on the hype you would expect more people to come and buy, but it is not so."
In Harriott's view, hype around dancehall music does not translate into sales locally. Rather, what has been happening is actually a resurgence in the purchase of oldies tunes at his store. "Even though I am from the rocksteady era, 90 per cent of what we have been selling is from the old school. I have both new and old ones, but they are buying the old music and hip hop. They are hardly asking for the dancehall stuff. I have a lot of them, but I don't know why they are not selling," he said. At the Liguanea Branch of Rock 'N' Groove Muzic Ltd, a representative explained that foreign CDs are actually bigger sellers than dancehall CDs. "It (the demand) has been the same as before. Jamaicans come for the hip-hop CDs, not dancehall. Those who buy the dancehall are like foreign students who go to the UWI," he said.
TOURISTS
That situation was more or less similar to the one reported by Disc 'N' Dat Music Company Ltd in Ocho Rios. "More customers are asking for dancehall music but they are tourists," one sales clerk stated. "They ask for Bounty Killer, Vybz Kartel, Sean Paul etc., but they are foreigners. Apart from them, the youngsters are the second set who buy the most dancehall music." Over in Montego Bay, things are not very different either. "You see the older hits, like the Studio One hits, these are what people are asking for now. Even before they used to do it, but since of late it is happening," explained Clint of Clappers Music Box in Montego Bay. "Dancehall sells yes, but every day I have to get the old hits for them. It seems that they are looking more into the music now and are getting more conscious."
ON THE DECLINE
Over at El Paso in the same city, a representative stated that the streets supply the dancehall music and, as a result, not many people bother to buy it in the stores. "It (dancehall music sales) has been on the decline. We have not had much of a rush for dancehall. People nowadays are not going into the stores to buy CDs. They go to the man on the streets and buy a mix tape. That's the business in general," he noted. Music piracy, the sore point of the dancehall business, is obviously one of the chief reasons why people have not been rushing to the stores for dancehall music.
The prevalence of the roadside mix tapes also add to the situation. It seems, therefore, that although the world embraces our artistes and spends money on their products, here, the love does not translate into sales. At the end of the day it seems, the laws of economics will always rule. If they can get it cheaper they will not dig deeper.
