Beenie Man Says He Founded Zim Dancehall

Jamaican Dancehall Artist.

By Panashe Siziba

By the time Beenie Man visited Zimbabwe in 2010, the Zimdancehall train had already left the station years before.

Beenie Man claims to have pioneered Zim-Dancehall genre hilariously reminds me of the famous Chicken Licken advert, featuring the character Big Mjohnana.

Drawing a parallel to Beenie Man's recent comments, the Jamaican musician claimed to have pioneered the Zim-Dancehall genre during his visit to Zimbabwe in 2010.

But wait isn't the Zim-Dancehall scene thrived long before Beenie Man decided to join the party?. Trust me the genre was already happily grooving along before he even set foot in the country. By the way Zimdancehall is the reason why he had to be invited to Zimbabwe.

Zim-Dancehall, a me meck it enuh. A me meck it. A me name it too – Zim-Dancehall,” Beenie told host of Radio Jamaica’s Two Live Crew, Dahlia Harris and Christopher “Johnny” Daley during the programme on Friday afternoon.

Beenie was speaking on Radio Jamaica about Jamaican musicians’ influence on the African continent and his various sojourns to the Motherland, when he pointed out his pioneering role in creating Zim-Dancehall.

He said that years ago, during a stint in Zimbabwe, he had met some budding artists from the African country who wanted to become Dancehall artists, but, according to him, they had no clue what to do.

However, Winky D, a prominent figure in the Zim-Dancehall scene, in set the record straight during an interview with Trevor Ncube on In Conversation. Winky D traced the genre's roots back to 2000-2001 in 2020, with artists like Yapi Banton and Mogo man experimenting with similar sounds in the 90s, albeit without a specific name.

When we look at the Dancehall where it started. The Zimdancehall I will backdated it to around 2000-2001, the term zimdancehall. Before that there were people doing that the likes of Yapi Banton, the likes of Mogo man they did tracks in the 90s, but they had no name, a specific name to give it. They would just call it Dancehall as it is called in Jamaica.

Winky D, explained that the term "Zimdancehall" emerged around the early 2000s when Jusa Dementor, based in the UK, reached out to him in Zimbabwe. Realizing the need for an identity separate from Jamaican Dancehall, Jusa and Slaggy Yut coined the term "Zim-dancehall" to encompass the unique style they were cultivating. Jusa and Slaggy Yut from 3 Wise Men played key roles in establishing the term, as they began sharing Zimbabwean Dancehall music on the website zimdancehall.com in 2004.

With the new blood now referring to ourselves. At the beginning of the millennium, we said to ourselves.. Actually I got a call from Jusa Dementor in 2003 somewhere there and he said this music that we are creating, I think we need to give it a name. Jusa is based in the UK and I was here in Zimbabwe. Being based in the UK, he had exposure there. Then he realised oh, we can't continue moving this Jamaican path. We have to have our own identity from whatever it is these Jamaicans are doing. Yes we are going to take certain things from their vibe . But let's create our own from what they have already.

I said here in Zimbabwe "Tomati Mangoma isu" and he said but I was thinking of the term "Zimdancehall" and it was Jusa and Slaggy Yut from 3 wise men. From that point I'm not aware of the discussions that they had from that end. The next thing I saw is on the website Zimdancehall.com. We were in 2004 somewhere there, he was just uploading the Dancehall which was created here in Zimbabwe and putting it on his website.

In 2007, the first Zimdancehall Awards were held, recognizing local artists in the genre. King Labash received the inaugural award for his song "Kukonzeresa," and Winky D followed suit in 2008 with his track "Rokesheni." While the website zimdancehall.com played a significant role in popularizing the name, Winky D emphasizes that it was an organic process, with artists collectively giving the genre its distinct identity.

In 2007, they hosted what they called the Zimdancehall awards. The first Zimbabwean locally based artist to have that award was King Labash with "Kukonzeresa", I got the award in 2008 with the track "Rokesheni'. To put a mart and say all right this is where it was named Zimdancehall officially, I think all eyes should just lead to the website (zimdancehall.com) around 2005-2006. But as for me if we want to look at facts. I think those are the facts that can lead us to where the name Zimdancehall came from.

Winky D acknowledges that others had been creating similar music before their era, but in terms of officially naming it Zimdancehall, the website's launch in the mid-2000s serves as a tangible milestone.

That's the only thing that is tangible, everything else is he or she said. For me I will put it there even though we had other artists who had been doing the same thing that we were doing prior to our vibe that we were dealing with at that time . In terms of giving it a name I think during that era.

Beenie Man may have visited Zimbabwe in 2010, but Zimdancehall train had already left the station years before. It had gained momentum, love, and a whole bunch of talented artists who were shaping its sound. So, sorry, Beenie, but you can't claim credit for something that was rockin' and rollin' way before you jumped on board.