DANCEHALL

Dancehall grew out of reggae in the late 1970s, when the dance itself — deejays, selectors, riddims cut for the floor — became the heart of the night. The 1980s deejay years built a riddim economy; in 1985 “Under Mi Sleng Teng” sent a digital pulse through the whole dance and hundreds of versions followed. The 1990s went hard and international, the 2000s crossed into world charts, and the 2010s–20s opened into a worldwide conversation with afrobeats, rap and pop. Dancehall is not reggae’s replacement and not a moment: it is a river with eras, still moving.