You can't define dancehall/ragga music properly without mentioning his name.

You can't trace the history of that genre without referring to him.

He strode the planet like a colossus . . . the sonorous, menacing, and growling voice, the seamless flows, the smooth rhythm, the melody . . . the raw energy and electric presence he brings into his songs . . . he's undeniably a legend.

In his prime, he was an amazing crossover bang . . . not only was he the real deal in Jamaica . . . he was in America too . . . his blend of reggae, hip hop and R 'n' B was fascinating . . . call Ranks a Jamaican MC/Rapper and you wouldn't be far from the truth . . . he was into the art of 'toasting' . . . that was his style . . .

He is to Dancehall/Ragga what the likes of Biggie and KRS-One are to Hip Hop . . . of course he never had amazing lyrics, I'm referring to how these MCs spin words so beautifully you just wanna swallow 'em . . .

Even R 'n' B crooners would love the feel of:

"Mr Loverman" (that intermittent scream - Shabba!)
"Let's Get It On" (duku duku!! you do me and I do you  )
"Housecall" . . .

And the list goes on . . .

His collaboes with Maxi Priest, Johnny Gill, KRS-One, and Queen Latifah attest to his versatile style . . . he even went as far as Eddie Murphy . . . 

He churned out hits like "Pirates' Anthem" (one of ma fave), "Trailer Load-A-Girls", "Ting-A-Ling", "Shine Eye Gal", "Wicked Inna Bed", "Roots and Culture", "Telephone Love", "Twice My Age", "Family Affair", "Dem Bow", "King of Dancehall" . . . and kept the whole world dancing . . .

What's more to say about him?? His sex-soaked lyrics?? This speaks for itself . . . 

Just wondering where this colossus is?? Though he appeared in "Clear The Air" with Busta Rhymes and Akon not long ago, he's been totally off the scene for ages . . . yes he paved the way for the likes of Shaggy, Beenie Man, Sean Paul, Elephant Man, etc . . . and he's an O'Gee in the game . . . but with the way he's carrying on, the next time the world might remember him again might be when he dies . . . 

Well, nuff said . . . alla-massive on crew, if yu ah love Shabba Rankin' . . . big up uno chests an' drop a line . . . 

In Jamaica smooking weed, dat nigga dey high

loved Shabba!!!!
Shabba Ranks is still here living the good life.
unfortunately after standing by Buju Banton's comment about gays and lesbians, he was crucified in the US/UK and not long after fell into obscurity and nobody wanted to deal with him as the "Gay and lesbian mafia" (activists) where everywhere he was suppose to go and fukced his whole shit up. his career never took off again

@MRbrownJAY
You are dead right!His homophobic remarks really crushed his career i didnt know the whole gay movement thing was so strong till he vanished like Copperfield rumors even went round that he was dead for a while

@Bamsyle
Shabba was the ish back in the day but i dont think he paved the way for Shaggy.Shaggy has been an O.G in the dancehall thingy since them days of Oh Carolina,Mr Boombastic e.t.c

A-40:

@MRbrownJAY
You are dead right!His homophobic remarks really crushed his career i didnt know the whole gay movement thing was so strong till he vanished like Copperfield rumors even went round that he was dead for a while

@Bamsyle
Shabba was the ish back in the day but i dont think he paved the way for Shaggy.Shaggy has been an O.G in the dancehall thingy since them days of Oh Carolina,Mr Boombastic e.t.c

the funny part is that it all happened when he was breaking into the US market and making real heavy damage music wise and he had just broken into mainstream. when people asked him about his views on gay and lesbians he answered as good as he knew and got crucified for it BUT Buju (the one who sang the damn BOOM BYE BYE song)continued to have "some" kind of success and career while shabba just die out from the scene.

yeah Shaggy was here BEFORE shabba and he is a true show of strength blending into different genre all together. his last album had some very good tracks.
thats Shabba last track with Busta and Akon:

[flash=424,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eo4JnyHZYo&hl=en&fs=1&"[/flash]

lol@ Crackles/Craziest

@MRbrownJAY

You're right 'bout him steppin' on toes with the homo thingy . . . never really thought about that till now.

@A-40

Like you also asked me not long ago, where have you been??  

You're right he didn't pave way for Shaggy . . . both were contemporaries really . . . but I meant the crossover scene really . . . I think Shabba banged the crossover scene real hard before he did.

MRbrownJAY:

the funny part is that it all happened when he was breaking into the US market and making real heavy damage music wise and he had just broken into mainstream. when people asked him about his views on gay and lesbians he answered as good as he knew and got crucified for it BUT Buju (the one who sang the damn BOOM BYE BYE song)continued to have "some" kind of success and career while shabba just die out from the scene.

Maybe the dude was just tryna kick some controversy . . . and gain some more recognition (good or bad) . . . who knows

yeah Shaggy was here BEFORE shabba and he is a true show of strength blending into different genre all together.

They were contemporaries . . . but Shabba hit the international scene before Shaggy . . . he was the first dancehall act to top international charts and win a grammy.

Bamsyle:

Maybe the dude was just tryna kick some controversy . . . and gain some more recognition (good or bad) . . . who knows

They were contemporaries . . . but Shabba hit the international scene before Shaggy . . . he was the first dancehall act to top international charts and win a grammy.

that kind of controversy did the contrary to anything good. i remember a while back i saw a documentary about the whole thing and his publicist at the time warned him about the back lash and told him to quiet it down but he let it loose on some tv show and that was it. he was on his way to become the biggest in the genre until he tried "to stay real".

yeah mr Loverman was the first real BIG ragga track who crossover to the masses, Shaggy was big in the Reggae scene but he only crossover with Oh carolina  who was released after shabba's hit. then came all the Chaka demus and Pliers etc
and to all the people who think that Sean Paul is the first "indian looking" ragga artist to blow up then think again . back in the days there was SUPERCAT:

[flash=425,344]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkXn1mb6fBQ&hl=en&fs=1&"[/flash]

@MRbrownJAY
Me thinks Shabba was just unlucky plus i saw the interview there where some homos there so maybe that just fuelled things.I dont think there's any dancehall/ragga artiste out there that has not said negative stuff about homos from Sizzla Kalange to Spragga Benz,Barrington Levy e.t.c
I just wonder if his career can still be revived i grew up listening to them tunes

@Bamsyle
I'm chinchilled bro, this site was starting to bore me since footie and NBA season was over and the music section was in recession i figured i'd spend more time in the real world than argue endlessly on cyberspace
Shaggy & Shabba came out around the same time in the early 90's Patra was also hot back then.I think 92/93 i was still a tot then so i cant remember for sure
Shaggy did break into the U.S market first though

Come to think of it Sean Paul and Supercat kinda sound alike

A-40:

@MRbrownJAY
Me thinks Shabba was just unlucky plus i saw the interview there where some homos there so maybe that just fuelled things.I dont think there's any dancehall/ragga artiste out there that has not said negative stuff about homos from Sizzla Kalange to Spragga Benz,Barrington Levy e.t.c
I just wonder if his career can still be revived i grew up listening to them tunes

he tried desperately to revive his career but to no avail. the difference between him and Buju was that Shabba was touring extensively and had many shows/concerts in the US so the gay/lesbian activists just used him as a scape goat since they couldnt get hold of Buju and the rest is history.
most of them artist in Jamaica are homophobic towards the gay community but most dont really say it out loud when outside jamaica like shabba did back in the days because they all learned from his mistake. they would now say slang etc but nothing direct. as of today, 30 US concerts by Beenie Man have been cancelled, as have seven US concerts by Capleton; a Scandinavian tour and four other European dates by Buju Banton; two British tours and a San Francisco show by Sizzla; two European dates by Bounty Killa; and a Reggae in the Park festival at Wembley Arena. also Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel had their nominations for Mobo Awards withdrawn that yr.
An agreement to stop anti-gay lyrics during live performances and not to produce any new anti-gay material or re-release offending songs was reached in February 2005 between dancehall record labels and organisations opposed to anti-gay murder lyrics. but i guess they dont really follow it and artist keep on doing their thing. here is the link to more info about it: http://www.soulrebels.org/dancehall/v_article_007.htm

you can read more about it here: http://www.theage.com.au/news/Music/Bashing-the-battyman/2005/01/06/1104832229140.html

Bamsyle:

lol@ Crackles/Craziest

Roflmao!

MRbrownJAY:

that kind of controversy did the contrary to anything good . . . yeah mr Loverman was the first real BIG ragga track who crossover to the masses, Shaggy was big in the Reggae scene but he only crossover with Oh carolina  who was released after shabba's hit. then came all the Chaka demus and Pliers etc

True.

and to all the people who think that Sean Paul is the first "indian looking" ragga artist to blow up then think again . back in the days there was SUPERCAT

Yeah . . . Supercat's a great dude too . . . with hits like "Ghetto Red Hot", a collab with Biggie back then . . . and with 112 on Na Na Na . . . amongst others . . . and yeah, Sean Paul does sound like him.

A-40:

@Bamsyle
I'm chinchilled bro, this site was starting to bore me since footie and NBA season was over and the music section was in recession i figured i'd spend more time in the real world than argue endlessly on cyberspace

Very true bruv . . .  

Shaggy & Shabba came out around the same time in the early 90's Patra was also hot back then.I think 92/93 i was still a tot then so i cant remember for sure

We're on the same page . . .  

Shaggy did break into the U.S market first though

No way . . .

Shaggy's first big break was "Oh Carolina" - released in 93 . . . "Boombastic" came on its heels in 95 and he climaxed with the Hot Shot album in 2001.

Shabba's "Telephone Love", "Pirates' Anthem", "Twice My Age", and "Mr Loverman" were all released in 1989 . . . and even if we doubt the chart-burstin' records of the first three . . . "Mr Loverman" was a massive hit in both the US and UK . . . even "Housecall" was released in 1991 or thereabout and it topped the U.S R&B chart . . . the album even won a Grammy.

@MRbrownJAY

Thanks for the links bruv . . . on the light side, d'you think his looks could have also affected his career??

@MrCrackles

I see you . . .

@Ibkaye

Why're you laughing??

Bamsyle:

. "Boombastic" came on its heels in 95

BLOODY HELL i had forgotten about "Mr Bombastic"!!!!!!! yeah that track was also a hit, got a little help from that LEVI'S ad that was played all over the world.

@MRbrownJAY
You got a point.Buju Banton is not exactly mainstream so i guess it couldn't have affected him too much
And yeah they always drop one or two lines. Sizzla said "Rastaman don't apologize to no battyboi" at a UK gig
Its a Jamaican/Rastafari thing they just cant stand homos

@Bamsyle
His looks may have had a hand lol what always irked me though was his stupid ass haircut
On their dates well i told ya i was still a tot so i cant remember for sure lol

Bamsyle:

@MRbrownJAY
Thanks for the links bruv . . . on the light side, d'you think his looks could have also affected his career?? 

probably but i wouldnt think so. i mean, the biggest rapper and most succesful today is also one of the UGLIEST: JAY Z
so i can safely say that look play a very little part in these matters. if your music is groovy then its all good to the masses.

A-40:

@Bamsyle
His looks may have had a hand lol what always irked me though was his stupid ass haircut

Hehe . . . some folks used to imitate the haircut in the 90s . . . folks who wanted to look 'hard' . . .

MRbrownJAY:

probably but i wouldnt think so. i mean, the biggest rapper and most succesful today is also one of the UGLIEST: JAY Z

Jay-Z??

I woulda expected you to say Biggie . . .

Well, looks or not . . . it's all about the dough and swagga . . . nowadays peops just don't care.

@Mohawkchic

Also heard it . . . through da grapevine.

@Shaz

That's him for sure . . . you can google him up for mo' pics.

Bamsyle:

Jay-Z?? 

I woulda expected you to say Biggie . . . 

Well, looks or not . . . it's all about the dough and swagga . . . nowadays peops just don't care.

yeah but in todays MTV world, you would think that looks were somewhat important but then again?!

oh there has been a few "not so good looking" artists but i think in the rap game CRAIG MACK took the silver crown and FLAVOR FLAV shouldnt get too far behind him with the bronze medal.
which leads to the question: whats the matter with all them flavour of love gals!?