Dancehall instrumental store

Jamaica is the homeland of the music genre dancehall. Cooling down from the very high temperatures in Jamaica, it’s no surprise that the Jamaican population likes to party. Reggae music gained a lot of popularity in the 60’s. In the late 1970’s, reggae evolved into multiple subgenres. One of the subgenres was dancehall. The genre got it’s name from DJ’s playing this new sound in a lot of dance halls.

Dancehall riddims

The main differences between reggae and dancehall instrumentals are the speed of the rhythms (or ”riddims”) and the DJ toasts. A toast is a rap by the DJ over the dancehall instrumental. These raps are a combination of talking and singing in the Jamaican Patois language (dialect version of English).

Dancehall dance

Attitude and energy are the key ingredients of dancehall. This energy is not only found in the dancehall instrumentals, but also in the movements. Might be surprising, but the dancehall dance genre is not only about shaking your hips. The dancehall dance genre focuses on ”raw” and energetic moves. These dancemoves are mostly created spontaneously during dancehall street parties in Jamaica. Nowadays, lessons of dancehall are given all over the world.

Modern Dancehall

In the 1980’s, dancehall was mainstream music in Jamaica. Jamaican people who left the island, made the music genre more popular in the United States (around the 1990’s). The worldwide breakthrough of dancehall happened in the early 2000’s. This mainly had to do with the number 1 single ”Get Busy” by Jamaican dancehall artist Sean Paul. At that time, the sound of dancehall became more connected to the pop genre. The songs had less sexual content and became more catchy because of repitition of hooks and melodies. Other dancehall artists such as Vybz Kartel, Mavado, Beenie Man, Elephant Man and Popcaan had massive benefits from the dancehall breakthrough.

Dancehall beats

The dancehall instrumentals in this beat store are a combination of the modern day dancehall, afrobeat and pop. Ideal for independent rappers and singers with a mainstream fanbase.