To The World: CNN Discovers Dancehall

Words by Eddie STATS Houghton

Not long ago we put you up on the Vybz & Popcaan-inspired dance routine on Canada’s answer to So You Think You Can Dance. Well come to find out, we weren’t the only ones watching because CNN just aired this piece interviewing the segment’s choreographer Jae Blaze and LARGE UP homey-for-life Skerrit Bwoy. What’s the breaking news: dancehall runs things! Seriously though, by choosing wisely who they put on camera CNN ended up with a surprisingly intelligent breakdown of dancehall’s explosion in the the digital space and its profound influence on mainstream music. Also there is nary a mention of gunshots, gay-bashing or daggering-related injuries. Its kind of like every 6 months to a year the mainstream media decides to totally reverse its take on whatever subject they’ve been covering. Anyway, we’ll take it…dancehall, 2011 is your year!