Multi-Grammy winner Orville “Shaggy” Burrell said he doesn’t see himself taking part in any lyrical showdowns at this point in his career, but acknowledging that an underground sound system conflict served as the impetus for his musical career.
Shaggy said during his speech at the Island Music Conference on Wednesday at the Courtleigh Auditorium that he would only entertain if the other performer was as successful as he was before he would even entertain the idea of a lyrical duel.
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The “ Angel” singer questioned, “I had many clashes in my early days starting. If I see a clash that’s going to carry me to a bigger bag, I’m all in. If I see a clash that’s not going to do anything for me, why even respond?” Adding, “Clashing is strategic in that sense, and so for me, if yah clash wid me yuh affi deh pan mi level or it nuh make sense.”
Shaggy further noted, “I remember Papa San one time when him a clash him used to say, ‘nuh sprat tonight’, a levels to this thing so if yuh nuh deh pan mi level a it that.”
Although it would take a very exceptional performer to entice Shaggy to join the battlefield, the globally recognized singer claims to have the highest regard for clash culture. Conflicts served as a training ground for many of the well-known artists of his day, he said. He attributes the development of an artist’s stage presence and poetic skill to lyrical warfare.
He remarked, “Clash culture is spontaneous, and you have to read your audience. It’s having a bunch of lyrics in your head that you can step in at any moment on a stage and defend yourself. That kind of culture transcends down the line in your career in terms of reading your crowd. Beenie Man is great at that. He will take any situation and just turn it in his favor.” He then proceeded to say, “There is a spontaneity that you have to have as an artiste that sound systems and clash culture create that I don’t think these younger artistes have because most of them are just really on dubplates. The system has changed.”
Shaggy advised performers to keep the warfare lyrical, acknowledging that the history of verbal altercations turning physical may be the cause of the alleged decrease in conflicts.
He explained that although conflicts are essential to an artist’s growth, performers must treat them like sports and maintain decorum.
He concluded, “With clash business, people haffi know fi keep clash business as a sport because sometimes some people say things that go below the belt and I have always not been a fan of that. I don’t know if anyone saw me and Sasco doing the clash thing where I’m in one studio, he’s in another and we a go head-to-head. As bredren, we a draw card but we don’t go below the belt. We nuh talk bout each other’s families or kids. There has to be a level where you don’t go below the belt.”
