SINGJAY

Jamaican popular music has long allowed singers and deejays to borrow from each other, but the singjay idea names a performer who deliberately lives between the two. Melody can stretch into chant; a sung phrase can tighten into rhythmic speech; the same voice can sweeten a chorus and then ride the riddim like a deejay. Sugar Minott’s late-1970s work is one important bridge in this development, and the 1980s dancehall generation made the approach increasingly normal. Singjay is more a vocal role and delivery than a genre: it can appear in roots, rub-a-dub, dancehall and later reggae.