{"id":343,"date":"2015-05-06T20:33:19","date_gmt":"2015-05-06T20:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/?p=343"},"modified":"2023-10-13T10:07:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T10:07:42","slug":"big-japan-dancehall-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.islandoutpost.com\/outpostings\/2015\/05\/06\/big-japan-dancehall-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Big in Japan: Dancehall Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dancehall music is a descendent and cousin of reggae, and it is often regarded as the direct predecessor to rap. In Jamaica and the West Indies dancehall is king, and has been since the 1970\u2019s, but it\u2019s reach, while garnering some international acclaim and recognition, has not infiltrated the world nearly as much as rap and hip-hop. It has grown in popularity in the US, UK and Canada, all destinations for Caribbean ex-pats. But Japan?<\/p>\n

Although Japan\u2019s census data does not gather information on ethnic groups, it is safe to say that there is not a significant West Indian population living in Japan. So why has Jamaican culture spread across the world to this Asian country? Marvin Sterling, a Jamaican and Professor of Anthropology at Indiana University, theorizes several points. Jimmy Cliff\u2019s seminal movie \u201cThe Harder They Come\u201d was, for many Japanese, the first point of contact with reggae culture. Bob Marley\u2019s visit in 1979 came with much publicity and fanfare, and interest grew until its peak in the early 90\u2019s.<\/p>\n

According to Sterling, interest in Jamaican culture waned in Japan by the late 90\u2019s, but dancehall came into Japanese consciousness in 1999 when the Japanese dancehall crew \u201cMighty Crown\u201d beat a fully Jamaican lineup of opponents to win World Clash\u2014a major dancehall competition in New York City. Dancehall\u2019s popularity in Japan skyrocketed from there. In the summer of 2001 Miki Dozan\u2019s hit \u201cLifetime Respect\u201d had a long run on the Japanese charts, with both the single and album reaching the Top 10 charts. Even today, the popularity of dancehall continues with about 300 sound systems (aka crews) in Japan, which outnumbers the amount of sound systems in Jamaica. Granted, Japan is larger than Jamaica, but it still speaks volumes. The subculture of dancehall in Japan is clearly passionate, and doesn\u2019t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.<\/p>\n

See for yourself. Press play and experience the unexpected success of dancehall in Japan.<\/p>\n

Image source via <\/em>Highsnobiety<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Related Links:
\nLearn more about Mighty Crown
\n<\/a>Miki Dozan\u2019s official video for \u201cLifetime Respect<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dancehall music is a descendent and cousin of reggae, and it is often regarded as the direct predecessor to rap. In Jamaica and the West Indies dancehall is king, and has been since the 1970\u2019s, but it\u2019s reach, while garnering some international acclaim and recognition, has not infiltrated the world nearly as much as rap and hip-hop. It has grown in popularity in the US, UK […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":1848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-music"],"yoast_head":"\nOutpostings | Dancehall Music: The Direct Predecessor to Rap<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dancehall music is known as the direct predecessor to rap in Jamaica. 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