Runkus to release first dancehall song

In the constantly shifting musical landscape which finds recording artistes stepping out of their comfort zones to experiment with crossing genres, local reggae artiste Runkus is gearing up for the release of his first dancehall song called my Gf.

Though this new song reverts to an expected line of discourse (man and woman), Runkus assures that this new approach does not abandon his already reverent persona.

"my Gf. relinquish all things of man, it don't deal with man. This is different than anything I've done before. It's a wining tune," Runkus told THE STAR.

Scheduled for release on December 17, my Gf. will be the lead single off the young artiste's 2018 project.

"Many of my peers do live music, reggae music. But I'd like to say I do Jamaican music. It's just a new sound because we see how dancehall don't really sound like original dancehall anymore. It's a new sound with the same frequency," he continued.

According to the artiste, some lyrics of the upcoming single outline the historical relevance of hip-centred dancing.

WEAK TO THE FLESH

"One time, I would never do this kind of music. I'm showing people where wining is coming from. Is man cause these things to become derogatory. Is a man ting, to be weak flesh. We sexualise man and woman. If you think about it, you grow up and see your auntie breast and it's nothing," he said.

Runkus said he has long been a fan of dancehall, but it wasn't something he would put out in the public.

"We coming from learning that wining is a bad thing, but it come from our ancestry and background. We used to play drums and wine to conjure the spirits of our ancestors and dem ting deh," he said. "That's why we love drum and bass, heavy bass. Europeans use more wind or stringed instruments or opera. When we dance, we gyrate. We move from the hips and legs."