Art of Dancehall is a dazzling documentation of rare forms of global dancehall history

A debut book from Major Lazer MC and DJ Walshy Fire documents rare dancehall flyers and posters from around the world.

Titled Art of Dancehall: Flyer and Poster Designs of Jamaican Dancehall Culture, the Jamaican-American was able to access peerless private collections in Jamaica, London, New York, Toronto and Tokyo to piece together a global tapestry of dancehall imagery and in its various forms and evolutions.

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Featured inside its pages is work from legendary designers such as the late Denzil “Sassafrass” Naar and Errol “Irie” Myrie, with unique art styles and handmade flyers which advertise events and sound clashes that are written into dancehall folklore.

The book cover was designed by Jamaican poster artist Nurse Signs and features commentary from Walshy Fire and other knowledgeable collectors in Lee Major DeBoss, Sheldon “Muscle” Bruce, Mark Professor and StranJah.

Walshy Fire has been a keen collector of dancehall memorabilia over the years, and felt compelled to piece together and historical documentation of the visual language of the genre that would evoke nostalgia for fans of the sound as well as inform storytelling about the music style, which originated in Jamaica in the late-1970s as an offshoot of reggae.

It’s closely tied to the world-changing Jamaican soundsystem culture, which has been a seminal influence on dance music and hip hop, originating everything from MCs and rewinds to remixes and dubplates.

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Walshy Fire is also planning to release a solo album called ‘Art of Dancehall’, marking the follow-up to his 2019 debut ‘Abeng’ on Mad Decent which explored sounds such as soca and Afrobeats alongside dancehall and reggae. He is also revered as a producer on Koffee track ‘Toast’, which featured on her GRAMMY-winning ‘Rapture’ EP.

In the gallery below, we’ve compiled some of the key imagery featured inside the book, with a focus on the UK elements, alongside an interview with Walshy Fire.

“I noticed from seeing all the flyers that dancehall was so much more organized and professional in the UK. The clashes were organized almost like it’s a football league. Like, someone is gonna win this cup,” he observes. “Where, in Brooklyn, it was like “Death Before Dishonor.” Putting “Death” on a flyer is wild now that you look back on it. They would have bombs, explosions, tanks.”

Art of Dancehall: Flyer and Poster Designs of Jamaican Dancehall Culture is out now via Rizzoli Universe, buy it here and check out some exclusive imagery and interview with Walshy Fire below.

What motivated you to put together this documentation of dancehall imagery?

Basically, I was going through my own collection in my garage and, after spending hours looking at each one and feeling that nostalgia, I thought other people would feel this nostalgia, too. The people who knew about these events and got a chance to experience this era of dancehall in the ’80s and ’90s would feel it. For everyone else, it would be a great way for them to see what this era was like and what made it so incredible and unique, from a visual perspective but also the stories the flyers tell about the events themselves.

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How did you go about curating the imagery featured in the book? What kind of archives were you able to access and what was it like exploring them?

I was already friends with the other flyer collectors whose archives are in the book, and already knew about their collections. Because I’ve been so involved in archiving dancehall, and I am a collector, and collectors know collectors, I’ve had tons of conversations over the last decades with these guys. So when I got into seriously doing the book, I just reached out.

I think the coolest part of this has been seeing flyers for the parties that were my favorite cassettes. Or the flyers for the most impactful sound clashes, where I knew the legends behind the events, but I had never seen the flyer before. Like Kilimanjaro vs King Addies.

Before I collected flyers, I collected tapes of sound clashes. That was a big thing at the time in the ‘90s, if you were plugged into dancehall. Back then, I just got the aftermath of these events, hearing the tapes. And now, with the flyers, I feel I have the complete story. You can see what everyone saw before the event.

Are there any learnings or discoveries that you made while working on the book that particularly stood out to you?

I think it was learning about these particular events that are on the flyers that I never knew about. Seeing one for Sister Nancy’s first show in London from 1982, that kind of was an ‘Oh shit’ moment. With some of these flyers, you are seeing people traveling to America, Canada, or the UK for the first time and you can see their name on a flyer, and sometimes they will be the opener for other people. And these are people who will go on to become massive later on.

Same with the sound systems. You can see when a sound system first went abroad and played in other places, and how impactful that was. I think about how impactful it might have been to have Gemini Disco come to the UK at that time. Gemini was the biggest sound system from Jamaica. This must have been massive to have them fly over somewhere else where sound system culture was thriving, and play.

I picture everything like how it was with Black Chiney* when we were touring in the 2000s. I try to relive every flyer like the Black Chiney moment. I remember every time we were going to Belize, or going to Germany, or going to Toronto, it was insane. You couldn’t walk through the airport—it would feel like the whole city is shut down for Black Chiney. There was probably a degree of that for some of these flyers. Black Chiney is not the first to go through this.

*Black Chiney is a Miami-based dancehall sound system founded in the late 1990s by Supa Dups (who would go on to be a producer for Drake, Sean Paul, Bruno Mars, and countless others). Walshy joined Black Chiney in the early 2000s, and toured with them until joining Major Lazer in 2011.

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What are some aspects of the UK dancehall scene and its history that the book sheds light on?

I noticed from seeing all the flyers that dancehall was so much more organized and professional in the UK. The clashes were organized almost like it’s a football league. Like, someone is gonna win this cup: the East Tottenham Cup or something. Where, in Brooklyn, it was like “Death Before Dishonor.” Putting “Death” on a flyer is wild now that you look back on it. They would have bombs, explosions, tanks. Why? You have to understand that, in Brooklyn back then, this is the only way you can get people to come out. The people needed to see the aircraft flying over the sound system’s name on the flyer with bombs dropping to understand the gravity of what is going to happen tonight at this clash. It was something that was larger than life. They had some of that in Miami and Toronto. Jamaica and the UK never did the “absolute last day on planet earth” kind of flyers. It was more proper.

I found it interesting what a big sound V Rocket was in the UK. I thought the big sounds were Saxon, Jah Tubbys and Sir Coxsone’s but, when you go over there, they really admire V Rocket. I didn’t know much about V Rocket before. It is a woman owned-sound. I think it is one of three female-owned [dancehall sound systems] ever. There is Soul Supreme, and then V Rocket, and I am going to say there is one more there. Valerie V Rocket is the owner of V Rocket and they are right up there with that level of respect, competing with the big dogs on the highest levels. She still plays and she is still the voice of the community [in Nottingham]. It would be cool if people discovered her more, for sure.

A flyer for a 1980 appearance in Birmingham by the late Jah Shaka and his legendary sound system.

King Jammies Super Power is a sound system, which still operates to this day, belonging to the reggae and dancehall producer Lloyd James, better known as King Jammy and, originally known as, Prince Jammy. In the ‘80s, he produced 'Sleng Teng', the most important riddim of the era, and the one where dancehall first went “digital.” This is a flyer for a UK tour he did a few years later with Admiral Bailey, Johnny P, Gregory Peck, Anthony Malvo, Risto Benji—some of the biggest vocalists in dancehall at the time deejaying live over selections by selector Nyah, with Jammy at the controls. There were two gigs in London, and one each in Nottingham, Huddersfield, Birmingham and Manchester.

This 1983 flyer is significant both for featuring an early appearance by Eek-a-Mouse, was one of the biggest dancehall stars of the 1980s, as well as one of the first reggae events at Brixton Academy. Billed as “London’s newest and best venue,” it had just opened as a concert hall that year. On this particular night, Eek-A-Mouse was performing with a live band, with support from three UK sound systems: Saxon, King Josiah and Unity Hi-Power.

In reggae and dancehall, the name David Rodigan needs no introduction. Still a leading figure in the culture today, back in 1987 he was a top DJ with Capitol Radio as well as a formidable foe in the sound clash arena. This particular night saw him on a crossover bill of sorts, appearing alongside soul DJ Chris Forbes and the “Midlands’ No. 1 sound system,” Mackabee Studio, at the succinctly named Jamaican Club in Gloucester.

Buy Art of Dancehall: Flyer and Poster Designs of Jamaican Dancehall Culture here

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Editor & Digital Director, follow him on Twitter