Slangs have gone mainstream - Shizzle Sherlock

Shizzle Sherlock is rapidly establishing himself as one of dancehall's foremost slang originators.

He first came to prominence in a big way with 'Think a Chattingz' which is a big favourite on dancehall mix tapes.

"The slang gone worldwide, it big all over. When mi go pon mi Instagram, it big a England, Canada, crazy people a look pon mi now. It mek mi do 22 dub a day, mi buy a nice car, 2015 car outta mi dub money, mi never know say so much disc jockeys de inna the world," he said.

Some critics might not see slang creation as a profession worth any merit. However the somewhat strange art form has achieved international attention over the last few years with Kanye West sampling Fire Link's 'Tun It Up' slang in his popular song Waves.

The rapper also sampled deceased Jamaican slang creator/intro man Fuzzy Jones on his platinum song Mercy taken from Super Beagle's 'Dust A Sound Boy' record.

Sherlock believes slangs have broken into mainstream Jamaican culture.

"Slang is not just for young people, even adults inna dem 30s and 40s and 50s ah use it. 'Think A Chattingz' go global because it is about actions, which speak louder than just words. We use things other countries nah use, we have fun, we inventive, we come up with new words that will never be in a dictionary; our culture is based on slang," he said.

Sherlock, whose real name is Omar Barker was born in Mt Salem in Montego Bay.

The enigma's love for fashion outpaced his talent for cricket while he was in high school, and as soon as he graduated, he started out with a trio known as the Sherlock Family.

His zany fashion sense made headlines and soon, this led to bookings in countries such as England and Canada.

He began to experiment more with music in 2012 when he was featured on a track alongside Chi Ching Ching and Lee P Ching called Every Day.

Other collaborations followed but faltered because of lack of promotion.

In late 2016, Shizzle collaborated with fellow artiste Iceberg on 'Think A Chattingz', and he scored his first major dancehall street hit.

"Fans overseas were the first to gravitate to the song, and then Jamaica and the Caribbean followed," he said.

Sherlock is booked to perform on a number of shows, including in the Cayman Islands on June 16.

He is now promoting a new collaboration with Iceberg titled Cash Cash for which he recently released a video.