SATURDAY, JULY 2, 2011
Legendary Jamaican dancehall DJ Shabba Ranks has been instrumental in gaining prominence for reggae and reggae-influenced music. He led the craze of drum machine-driven, dancehall, reggae-styled rap in the 1980s and 1990s throughout Jamaica and the United States, and was the first reggae artist to win a Grammy Award. As a young “toaster” in urban Jamaican clubs, Ranks rhymed his own lyrics over reggae records, thus helping to pave the way for American rap. Over the years he has collaborated with rappers, R&B musicians, and other reggae artists, among them KRS-1, Queen Latifah, Eddie Murphy, and Maxi Priest. When he first started out, Ranks’s focus was on “reality” lyrics–those intended to raise social consciousness. Soon, however, he discovered “Sex sells,” as he states in the opening lyric to his “Fist-a-Ris.” From that point on he began producing raunchy, sexually explicit material or “slackness.” The “Mr. Loverman” video, in which he cruises by a pool with his sensual pelvic gyrations during the performance prove the point. He told USA Today, “Love is what made me. If it wasn’t for love, I wouldn’t be here.” Shabba Ranks currently holds the #1 song on the charts in Jamaica titled “None of Them No Bad Like Shabba Ranking”. This song took just two weeks after its debut to head up the charts and reach #1.
WHEN: SATURDAY, JULY 2, 2011, DOORS AT 9PM
WHERE: INSIDE AT REVOLUTION LIVE
200 WEST BROWARD BLVD.
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL