BEENIE MAN: KING, LIVING LEGEND, ICON (Exclusive Interview)
Mogul Magazine caught up with Dancehall icon Beenie Man for an exclusive interview. The game-changer talked about his new album Simma, his favourite era of Dancehall, winning a Grammy, working with the Neptunes, his hopes for Jamaica, future plans and more.
Beenie Man has long been a living legend in dancehall music and contributed to its international dominance worldwide.
Moses Davis, aka Beenie Man, was born in the tough Waterhouse district of Kingston, Jamaica, on August 22, 1973. He started his career in music at age 5, and by the time he started school, the young music enthusiast knew he wanted to be an artist. Beenie Man’s recording career began around 1981, and he found stardom in the early ’90s. By 1994, his reputation was consistently growing. There was absolutely no denying his talent. Beenie Man was confident and naturally had the gift for gab. It was as if he was born to be a star.
“I know I was born to do what I do. I made my first debut at five years old. I did my first song aged eight, and my first album aged 10. There was a day when I knew music was all I wanted to do.”
From the mid-’90s, a young Beenie Man continued to release songs, started making waves on the International charts, and had his major breakthrough.
“My breakthrough track was World Dance. It was my first Billboard hit. It took me to that place where I needed to be. It gave me a name in the United States. I was already a star in the UK, as I had already hit the British national charts. I had other songs that hit different charts, but World Dance really made me get on the Billboard charts. My first British national hit song was Under mi Senseh, me and Barrington Levy. I had a few songs that gave me international status, but World Dance was the first one. I had songs like Romie, which was an international hit. I also had Money Can’t Buy My Love with UK singer Jamelia.”
“If you hit the British charts or the American charts from the Caribbean or Africa, you are an international artist.”
“But to come from Jamaica and hit both charts simultaneously makes you worldwide. So yes, it really started with World Dance.”
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I remember my delight hearing Jamelia and Beenie Man’s, Money Can’t Buy My Love, on Top of the Pops. Around the same time, songs like Romie and World Dance were popular in the UK. It felt like Beenie Man was finding his recipe for success. He certainly had the secret sauce and was being dubbed Jamaicas golden boy!
“There is no secret when you are born to make music. When you learn to do something, the secret is how you practice staying on top. I don’t practice staying on top. I stay on top because if you love music for what it is, not for fame, money, cars or the girls, if you don’t love all of that and love music for what it is, then you will receive everything that you are supposed to receive and achieve all you are supposed to achieve. “
As his career grew, Beenie Man collaborated with some of the world’s biggest superstars, and his impact was undeniable. He made every song he touched come alive with his unique style and recognisable sound. Throughout his ever-flourishing career, he’s worked with every producer in Jamaica, The Neptunes, Teddy Riley and more. His songs with Janet Jackson and Mya will forever be crossover classics that hooked RnB lovers and dancehall fans all the same.
“You see, the guys that made those beats, it’s the same group, but they’re very versatile because it’s not just one person. It’s a collective of producers. You know the Neptunes, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo think out of the box. They don’t think the same.”
“When Pharrell did the “simsimma” Beenie Man ah di girls dem sugar “simsimma” – Chad came up with the Janet Jackson song/beat because he thinks different. The beats mixed Rock, Jazz, and RnB. It was like a movie sound, not a sound you’d obviously use in music. You hear it, and it’s familiar to your ears, but you didn’t first hear it in music. It would be from a movie or cartoon. That’s why they call themselves Neptunes because they think outside of the box. After that, Chad and Pharrell made BOSSMAN, with me, Sean Paul and Lady Saw. It’s three totally different beats from the same producers.”
With such a prestigious career, the recording academy could no longer ignore Beenie Man’s impact and influence worldwide. Beenie Man was nominated for a Grammy Award on three occasions, the last time being a success.
“I was nominated three times. I lost two times, so I said the third time must be the charm, and I got it then. I also got 4. Mobo awards, I did well. I have over 180 number-one songs and over 2000 hit songs. It’s hard work, but it’s not work because you don’t work a day in your life when you do what you love. My grandmother told me that a long time ago.”
With many awards, a plethora of albums and hit songs that made Beenie Man a household name worldwide, I wondered if Beenie man could have predicted he would see the heights of success he has experienced over the years.
“If you start something and believe you won’t make it, you shouldn’t start it. So success was a must because I have had success since I was a kid. I wasn’t an international star, but I had success. Success is when ten people know you, so they tell ten more people about you. Then that ten will tell another ten. Then people start looking forward to seeing you. They start anticipating what you will come with next. They want to hear you, and they want to see you. These are people from your community because you start from your community. If you cant start from your community, you can’t go anywhere. It doesn’t make any sense. You must have people giving you a forward (cheering you on) when you start. To give you a boost so you can give more and do better If the community is not with you, then you are not going anywhere.”
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For some, success comes overnight, while for the other 99% of us, success is a lifelong journey. Every day is a chance to work and continue perfect our crafts. The daily grind will ensure longevity and continued success.
“First of all, I work hard in the studio, but I work harder on stage, and every time you appear onstage, you need to make sure that you look like the artist. You must look like the man who’s going to be on stage. Don’t look like the man who’s going to fix the mic. Don’t look like the man who’s the engineer. You have to look like the lead man, so there are three things in music a man is supposed to know—response for how you present yourself as an artist.”
“Always go to the studio and make music. You come on stage to represent yourself. So represent yourself to the fullest and to the best of your ability. Remember, every stage show you do can be your last. That is my secret.”
As much as the celebrity lifestyle looks glamorous, the reality is that it comes with much hard work, sacrifice, and let-downs. Being a star, you must see lots of different sides of people. One-minute fans love you. One minute you are to blame. It comes with many lessons, and how you react often determines how you can move forward.
“Don’t take it for granted. Live every day like tomorrow is not promised to anybody. It is only two days you get today and yesterday. Tomorrow is not a certainty.”
“You have to learn that. You learn through experience. The first time I went on a big stage, I got booed. 1990. In 1991 I returned with a song called “Hey them a watch you”. You cannot think about what happened to you in a bad way. You need to take the negative and turn it into a positive. In life, you have to know that life is a gamble. Every day you wake up, you are gambling. Don’t think about tomorrow. Think about now. Live into the now. That’s how I live my life.”
On May 23 2020, we were all in Lockdown, but an extraordinary moment happened online that reignited everyone’s love for Dancehall music. This moment also gave us a chance to honour our living legends. Beenie Man and Bounty Killer did a VERZUZ and literally broke the internet. To date, people are still saying it was the best VERZUZ show ever. Beenie and Bounty are icons and set the bar for every VERZUZ show that came after them.
“At the time, Jamaica needed it because of the Covid Lockdown and the heap of murders happening in the country. It was a dreadful time in Jamaica, so the VERZUZ was a nice thing to bring back love to the people, trust me.”
Do you have a favourite era of dancehall?
“It will definitely be the 90s, late 80s and 90s. I think the music changed after 2011. The youth started going their own way. They started rapping more. But it’s creative juice. If the youths decide this is their style, and this is how they do it, then that’s the music because you can’t defeat music. It will always be there. Artists will always come and go, but music will be there forever.”
Beenie Man is constantly touring the world to do shows and has most recently been working on his new album Simma.
“Simma should have been released on my birthday, but the date was pushed back a little. I have a new single dropping now. It’s called chop suey, taken from the album, so we’re working on the release date because we need to get a date. I dropped my last album on my birthday and wanted to do that again. We may have a date for October.”
**BEENIE MAN @ THE EVENTIM APOLLO – LONDON, SUNDAY 27TH NOV 2022, TICKET ON SALE NOW!!!**
Beenie Man is a doting father and has businesses with his children. This way, he continues to build his family empire. At the same time, he is a high-demand superstar, travelling the world to do shows. I was curious about how he balances his work with his personal time.
“Well, work is work, and home is home. You work, and you go home. It’s very simple. Not every night can you go out there because we have kids, and you must set an example for your kids to follow.”
“The greatest thing to do is work and go home. Also, my son works with me. If my friend is holding a party, I will go to it. It could be my friend’s birthday or something. Otherwise, I don’t go anywhere if I don’t have a reason to go out. So my personal life and my work life are balanced. Because if I go foreign, my children know I’m gone foreign. So they have to wait for me to come home, and then we’re together again.”
Many producers would love to have the chance to work with Beenie Man, but I wanted to know if there were anyone he’d like to work with.
“If anyone wants to work with me today, I am willing to work. I don’t know who id like to work with because there are a lot of similar sounds, and many songs sound the same. African artists have a different creative juice, while some Jamaican artists are on a different thing. They have different minds. I don’t know what they are thinking about. At times, there is a lot of dissonance in dancehall.”
“Some don’t want to work together or sing on the same beat, so the music change. You don’t know what is what or who is who. You can’t call a man and say come, let’s go to the studio and make a song. But you can call any other artist. You can call Burna Boy and say let’s make a song, and you will make it. You can call Fat Joe in America and say let’s make a song, and it will happen. You will get a song easier with artists from another country than with your own Jamaican compadre. But as I said, they are them and I and I. I do my own thing. They do their own thing.”
Today there is a new generation of artists on the rise. What advice would you give to them?
“All artists need to continue what they are doing practice becomes perfect. No one is perfect, but what you do can become perfect. Practice and continue because some artists make one song and stop. They forget how it is to practice.
“You have to learn and practice how to ride the beat. You have to learn and practice on every beat. Even RnB beats. Just play it and DJ on it. This is how you learn timing and keys. Educate yourself about the different kinds of music”
“Spread your wings. Don’t stay in one place because you will have one sound. Producers don’t really change styles if you haven’t noticed that. Producers will play with a drum they used before because they already had a hit with it. So he will use that drum again because he feels it will be a hit again.”
**BEENIE MAN @ THE EVENTIM APOLLO – LONDON, SUNDAY 27TH NOV 2022, TICKET ON SALE NOW!!!**
Jamaica is a vibrant country and has influenced the world in many ways. The vibes and culture are unmatched, but unfortunately, like many other countries, it is not without problems.
“I would like to see a better Jamaica, more jobs, less killing, less kidnapping of women, better government, and better everything. I would love to see a better Jamaica.
Sometimes it seems like the politicians put the blame at the feet of the people and artists. They can’t put that at our feet because we are the voice of Jamaica. We are the voice of the people. We go to the people, and the people come to us. The Prime Minister isn’t stopping on the road and giving away $10,000 or $100, 0000 dollars. They aren’t going into the ghetto to give the people food. They want you to drive up to one place where thousands of people are lined up to collect food. Everything they do is for politics. They don’t do it from their heart or for the people. If you do something for someone, no one is supposed to know you are doing it.
If you do it, then you go and talk it with Johnny around the corner, “saying, see it there, I just gave that girl a pair of shoes” it doesn’t make sense. That means you have to make yourself feel good. That’s what politicians do in Jamaica. It feels like anything they do is for them. We need a better Jamaica and someone for the people and with the people. Some say they are for the people because they want the votes, but they aren’t with the people.
So this is what Jamaica need. We need a better governance structure. We need a better system. We need a plan so we can deal with people the right way. Without that, Jamaica will rise and fall, rise and fall, and rise and fall, over and over again.
So without us, the sportsman, runners, boxers, people, artists and musicians keep Jamaica’s name alive. We would be out there as the number one murder capital in the world. But then you have us who come from the community, who help the community. “
What can we do to help Jamaica?
“I have my foundation, the Beenieman foundation. If you would like to send anything to support, please send it to the Beenie Man Foundation online @beeniemanfoundation
If we can help people to help people, then that is what we will do.”
We all have our favourite Beenie Man songs, but what songs from your catalogue are your favourites?
SLAM, LET HIM GO, & DUDE.
Beenie Man is a living legend and an international icon. Beenie has undeniably helped propel the culture forward. He will always be known as one of the Greatest Dancehall artists ever. A King in a league of his own. His impressive career spans many decades, and his legacy is still being written.
“I have done legendary things, but I’m not finished yet. I have a new album and more Grammys to collect. I’ve written two books. I’ve got at least three books in me, so I’m working on it. We have to look forward.
I’ve released 18 studio albums. Music is life. You see how you wake up, have a bath and get dressed. You eat, and you sleep. It’s music, its life. It’s what I do every day. I try to make a melody and put lyrics to it every day. I can’t speak for another artist, but for me, it’s life. That’s how I see music. Music has a different DNA from natural life. When music takes you over, it takes you over. That’s why Bob Marley said, “when the music takes you over, you feel no pain”. Even if a man has no rhythm, he will still dance.
Next year I’m going to take a little break because I’m going to make a couple of films with my company. Entertainment is not only singing on stage – entertainment is entertainment overall. I’ve been to a few movies before, but this one will be mine.
Lastly, to my fans, Continue loving me. Don’t change your mind. More music will be coming. I will continue making music.”
Thank you to Beenie Man for this exclusive interview. The Mogul Magazine team salutes you.
