One876 Entertainment.com

While many people are blaming the Gaza and the Gully for the stagnation of dancehall music, what I am about to say may come as surprise to many, because as far as I see it without the Gully are the Gaza dancehall music would be dead right now. Like it or not since the emergence of Bounty Killer, Beenie, Shaggy and Sean Paul, Mavado and Vybz Kartel are the two most formidable artists to pop up on the dancehall radar.

Both the Gaza President and the Gully God have been churning out major hits on the local scene for the last few years, thus earning huge popularity among Dancehall fans both locally and abroad. They are also to of the biggest crowd pullers and have become headliners for major events both locally and abroad.

Yes their feuding did bring about certain fears when it began to get out of control and yes they do have a major influence on the youths of this country be it positive or negative. But the fact of the matter is that they have brought a certain level of creativity this genre of music known as Dancehall music which is essential an offshoot of Reggae music.

Like it or not the Gaza and the Gully have managed to keep Dancehall music very interesting over the last few years.

Both camps have also helped to push new talents to the fore Vybz Kartel’s Portmore Empire has produced such bright prospects such as Lisa Hype who is now known as Lisa Hyper, Black Rhyno and Gaza Kim who is now simply known as Kim, however unfortunately all three have fled form the Gaza camps amidst wide spread rumors and misconduct. But the Gaza camp is still strong as it still boasts several talented acts such as its newest member Gaza Slim, Sean Storm, Javinchi and Pop Caan.

While Mavado’s Gullys Squad has produced several bright prospects such as Flexx, Stacious , Einstein, Chase Cross, Kibaki. All these talented newcomers have scored popular tracks and visible on the stage show circuit both locally abroad.

With all that said I can’t help but wonder how much longer will the Gaza and the Gully continue to reign? Or how much longer will Dancehall music continue to be a relevant force on the international music scene? I ask these questions for various reasons chief among them are the recent revocation of the US visas of several popular Dancehall artists including Bounty Killer, Beenie Man and Mavado. Vybz Kartel does posses a US visa; this has been the case for the longest while.

However I am always an optimist and placing my bets in favor of the Dancehall music’s continued growth, after all with the likes of Assasin, Busy Signal among others I don’t see any reasons this should not be the case.