Manager says dancehall artistes need grooming

Rygin King's 'unique' vocabulary has been at the centre of an ongoing discussion that there needs to be an institution for grooming dancehall artistes.

The Tuff singjay is again being trolled on social media in a series of memes, 'throwing shade' at his infamous 'Onstage' interviews, where he created the word 'reckonably', and in another interview where he said he "felt out of school, but it didn't have any disadvantage of me..."

The entertainer also popularised the 'fully dunce' slang last year, for which he was heavily criticised.

Bounty Killer has also amassed a body of interviews throughout the years, where his word choices have both been impersonated and ridiculed.

Esteemed artiste manager Junior 'Heavy D' Fraser said a grooming institution or workshops would be beneficial to dancehall artistes, but he said that some entertainers are unwilling to seek that development.

"When it comes to dancehall and the people in dancehall, education is kinda limited, and I don't think everybody wants to learn," he told THE WEEKEND STAR.

"Most times the artistes who need the training don't go, but the up-and-coming ones see it as a good opportunity. When an artiste 'buss', dem don't see the need to go anywhere to learn how to conduct themselves in interviews."

Fraser has managed a slew of acts, including Etana and Tommy Lee Sparta, and he currently manages Squash. He said that he ensures his clients represent themselves well in the media.

"Me is a man weh coach artistes on what to say and how to say it before dem go pon an interview, so dem nuh seh foolishness," he said.

"Some artistes have managers weh scared of them after dem 'buss', so dem will just go and say anything. Dem nuh know how fi avoid certain questions or say they don't want to talk about something."

Fraser pointed to Vybz Kartel and Ninja Man as examples of artistes who are capable of holding their own in an interview even though they were not professionally trained.

"They were smart enough fi know seh certain questions yuh nuh quick fi answer if yuh nuh understand it, or ask questions if you're not clear," he said.

Some of the other entertainers who are known to conduct themselves well in interviews are degree holders like Agent Sasco, Tifa, Nadine Sutherland, and even veteran act Charlie Chaplin, who earned his doctorate in security and professional studies at a California-based university last year.

Interestingly, Fraser said reggae artistes tend to be more well-spoken.

"Reggae artistes, in general, put dem thing together and say the right things in a free-flowing, calmer way. I don't hear the reggae artistes make as many mistakes as the dancehall artistes, and it goes to show that the genres have different cultures," he said.

"Some American artistes go through grooming because interviews can be difficult, and people get nervous when that light comes on. However, it would be excellent if we had a system in Jamaica to help the artistes, which, in turn, would help the industry, too."