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with Blakka Ellis
Life is a drama. And a good drama thrives on conflict. That's something I learned as a student of the theatre. That's also something I constantly relearn from life. And we Jamaicans love a good drama, especially when it climaxes with an exciting clash.
Yeah, man, we seem to have a special fondness for the drama of a clash. Whether the drama revolves around a conflict that crescendoes into a fist fight, a selector sound-off, a standpipe tracing match or a political debate, we love the drama and look forward to the clash same way!
From the early days of Prince Buster vs Derrick Morgan, Jamaica has seen its fair share of lyrical rivalry and musical clashes. But the kind of banter that used to happen between Morgan and Buster was soft compared to the highly entertaining and tantalisingly tense face-offs that consistently occur onstage at Jamaica's famous one-night reggae festival, 'Sting'. And everybody who knows supposed to know that Sting is like the Holy Grail and Mecca of clashes.
One of the most exciting 'Sting' clashes was at the National Stadium in 1992 when Ninja Man and Super Cat went at it. I remember that clash well. It was during that duel, at one point in the clash, Ninja Man was stirring the crowd with comedy and Super Cat was losing marks. In an effort to win back the crowd, Cat declared defensively 'Bad man nuh skin teeth; bad man kick out teeth'. It didn't work for him, and bottles rained eventually!
We've had some other interesting clashes, like when Kiprich annihilated the entire Monster Shack crew, and like when Mr G and L.A. Lewis had the clash that crashed. And everybody is looking forward to the real clash - when L. A. finally clash with a wall!
We have some serious clashes in the name of entertainment and Ninja Man has featured in most of them. Interestingly, the only dancehall clash that ever actually disintegrated into a physical conflict was between Ninja Man and Vybz Kartel, when Kartel's fist clashed unmusically with Ninja Man's face. And, look, now they're both incarcerated. I wonder if they'll clash behind those prison walls!
Many recording and performing acts have had their careers boosted by a clash. Politicians and sports personalities too! That's why I'm anxiously anticipating the DJ clashes, also called political debates, that will precede the apparently soon-to-be-called general election. And that's why I also know that with all Ity and Fancy Cat a gwaan like dem a di hottest thing inna comedy, dem career woulda flop if dem enter a clash with Bello & Blakka - wi woulda murder dem with old-time joke; but because Ity ah mi bredda mi sorry fi him.
And talking 'bout clash, I can't wait until next summer when Usain Bolt clash with a fit Tyson Gay, a desperate Asafa Powell, and a young, hungry and ambitious Yohan Blake. There are clashes and there are clashes, and there are some clashes that are just clash just for clash sake. But trust me, that's the clash that will take the cake.
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