LAST Friday’s edition of BET’s hip 106 and Park show had a strong dancehall flavour.
Beenie Man and Cecile premiered their song Thug Life, while singer Wayne Wonder and singjay Mr Vegas pitched their latest projects.
Beenie Man also performed Rum and Red Bull, Dude, Who Am I and King of the Dancehall to enthusiastic response.
“It’s a great feeling to be the king of anything but to see the youths taking the music to the level where it’s supposed to be is a great feeling. I’m still here helping them and keeping the authenticity of dancehall music alive,” the 41 year-old deejay told 106 and Park hosts Bow Wow and Angella Simmons.
Beenie Man addressed the growing ties between dancehall and hip hop, a trend that started in the 1990s with deejays Shabba Ranks and Super Cat and singer Patra.
“The music is much different than when I started years ago. The new acts are merging dancehall and hip hop. This is great, as it gives us more work to do, in that, instead of playing two phrases we sometimes now have to play seven,” he said.
“The future of dancehall looks bright… it is gettting bigger as the rappers are sampling our music and this is good,” Beenie Man added.
Wayne Wonder and Mr Vegas, who had hit songs in the United States just over 10 years ago, spoke about their respective releases.
Wonder described his new album, My Way, as “another journey of Wayne Wonder music… a continuation.”
Mr Vegas explained the concept behind Fruit Juice, his single with Snoop Lion and his appearance on the remix of Beyonce’s Standing on the sun.