But it was his deep, gravelly, staccato vocals alongside some terrifically danceable rhythms and contagious hooks that led to a major label record deal in the States. His ladies-man image, signature Gumby haircut, flowing suits, manicured eyebrows, and the aforementioned gold jewelry, made him stand out. An artist who was originally dubbed Co-Pilot, he thankfully changed this less-than-memorable moniker to a name that can also be a verb (one can, for example, engage in “Shabba Ranking”). The sound of Shabba is, outside of Jamaica, synonymous with the sound of dancehall.
Loverman from his heyday in the early 90s to today. And Kanye isn't the first to mention Shabba, as there have been numerous hip-hop songs that shout out Mr. Perhaps Jay-Z is trying to do so, too, with his use of a sample from a Sizzla song, “Solid as a Rock”, on Magna Carta Holy Grail.ĭancehall and hip-hop are indeed related: The chatting over rhythmic tracks that was going on in 1960s Jamaica was brought to New York by Kingstonian immigrants, namely DJ Kool Herc, placing dancehall as the parent and hip-hop the prodigious child. And perhaps that’s what Kanye is trying to channel through the pile of Jamaican samples on his latest. Though rising to fame in Jamaica and then the rest of the world more than 25 years ago, Shabba Ranks is a quintessential dancehall artist: infectious, upbeat, entertaining. A$AP Ferg’s recent tune “Shabba” celebrates the man born Rexton Gordon: “Eight gold rings like I’m Sha-Shabba Ranks,” goes the chorus, “Four gold chains like I’m Sha-Shabba Ranks.” Kanye West, for his part, insists that he’s “the new Shabba” on Yeezus’ “Guilt Trip”, but it’d be tough to top the original.
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