STAR of the Month - Agent Sasco listens to more than just dancehall

Recently, Agent Sasco shared his opinion on the changing face of dancehall, and maintaining balance in the industry.

He marks 2017 as his 17th year as a recording artiste as he began his career at age 17.

But despite all his experience, he decided against defining if dancehall has shifted its focus from impressive lyrical content to gimmickry.

"I don't think I can be the one fi say what dancehall should or shouldn't be," he said.

He believes the future of dancehall lies in the vision of today's teenagers, but Agent Sasco also decided against ranking who he thinks is dominating the current, contemporary dancehall space.

THE STAR asked him to rank his top three current dancehall acts.

"I don't know because mi nuh listen fi know. Mi hear it on the way, but yuh cyaa find me mi nah consume it at a level fi seh 'rae'," he said.

He continued: "Mi nah guh call nobody name because dem man yah have style fi nuh call your name neida. From wah mi hear, yuh have few people who, lyrically, are there, but mi nah guh call dem name. When you go out yah hear everyting wah play. And as mi seh, there are people who, you hear dem and you sey lyrically, yeah dem deh deh."

Additionally, Agent Sasco doesn't believe it would be in good taste to single out dancehall artistes, especially considering he consumes dancehall peripherally.

"In terms of top three, it woulda unfair fi everybody who doing dem ting fi me guh gi nuh top three, because mi nuh listen everybody like dat," he said.

Otherwise, the dancehall artiste said he listens to other genres of music, like country.

"Mi listen Stevie Wonder. Mi listen nuff reggae. Like [recently], mi ah play some domino ah mi yaad and mi find a playlist with some Tenor Saw. That is wah me consume pon my time," he said.

He noted that the criticism of the dancehall and its direction is a "repeating cycle", noting veterans of the genre were heavily considered "slack."

"All I can do is contribute as best as I can to the scheme of things whether it wah be dancehall, reggae, or whatever," he said.