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At Saturday's Guinness Sounds of Greatness finals, there were cheers and boos for both Bodyguard and Rebel T, as they went head to head in the finals of the sound clash series.
It was a shorter clash than those accustomed to sound system battles would have expected; there was a half-hour juggling round, then 15 radio-friendly releases each and an exchange of 12 dub plates top end.
Versatility and consistency were among the elements accounting for 30 per cent of judges Jack Scorpio and Isaiah Laing's assessment, with crowd response taking care of 70 per cent. The finals were hosted by Elva.
Round 1
Bodyguard goes first, with Junior Vibes up front. He takes the relatively calm approach throughout the clash, the Clarendon sound starting off a well-structured round with congratulations to Barack Obama, reference to Martin Luther King Junior and Sam Cooke's Change Gonna Come.
The crowd roars and Bodyguard continues the excellent slow build-up with the toasting song "let's drink to the hardworking people"followed by Freddie Jackson's Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times' Sake). the crowd whoops.
Rebel T's Mad Ras starts the name-calling, declares (as he does throughout the entire contest) that they are a juggling and not a war sound, starts running to and fro on the stage as he does throughout the contest. Rebel T, which has majority crowd support inside Mas Camp, goes for the present dancehall tunes right away, the crowd agreeing that they "never hesitate to rise my own" and immediately commits the sound clash sin of replaying a tune with Touch The Road.
Rebel T drops something for the dancers to 'sweep' to and it is more Kartel and Mavado as the crowd cheers, but they make a big switch to Natural Mystic and fall flat in the end.
Laing scores it Rebel T 83.5, Bodyguard 85.5, ; Scorpio has it Bodyguard 80, Rebel T 81, the one-point difference due totally to crowd response.
Round 2 (Tune Fe Tune)
Bodyguard says they did not call Rebel T's name because "bad man no trow wud", Kartel style, and the crowd 'rails'. Rebel T pulls Pinchers' Enemies on the Borderline and there is no response.
Bodyguard drops Ghetto Red Hot, the crowd explodes but Rebel T is booed for their selection. But Bodyguard fails to seize the moment, as after the build-up to the tune there is no sound. The boos start after they play Hard man Fe Dead. Rebel T is back on top with Duppy Know Who Fe Frighten; Bodyguard gets booed again as CD player sticks.
Laing says "Bodyguard fluff dat" and scores it 90 for Rebel T, Bodyguard 68. Scorpio gives Rebel T victory in 13 of the 15 exchanges.
Round 3 (Dub Fe Dub)
The Clarendon sound starts with a Clarendon artiste, a Cocoa Tea dub of Tune In, Rebel T tops it with John Holt singing "with a poison dart Rebel T will kill you". It is one of Rebel T's few bright spots in the round, as Bodyguard drops a dub that "Bodyguard just drink a Guinness an come a Mas Camp come kill it". Rebel T gets booed for their song.
Two speaking dubs one with a news report Michael Sharpe-style, linking Mad Ras with stolen pigs, and another an 'On Stage' take-off in which 'Mad Ras' condemned his sound's ownership ("de boss bruck!"), tear the house down. Rebel T's General B dubs fall woefully short.
Laing says its 94.5 for Bodyguard and 68 for Rebel T, while Scorpio awards Bodyguard victory in eight of the 12 dubs.
The decision goes to the crowd, which duly gives Rebel T the title.
It was a shorter clash than those accustomed to sound system battles would have expected; there was a half-hour juggling round, then 15 radio-friendly releases each and an exchange of 12 dub plates top end.
Versatility and consistency were among the elements accounting for 30 per cent of judges Jack Scorpio and Isaiah Laing's assessment, with crowd response taking care of 70 per cent. The finals were hosted by Elva.
Round 1
Bodyguard goes first, with Junior Vibes up front. He takes the relatively calm approach throughout the clash, the Clarendon sound starting off a well-structured round with congratulations to Barack Obama, reference to Martin Luther King Junior and Sam Cooke's Change Gonna Come.
The crowd roars and Bodyguard continues the excellent slow build-up with the toasting song "let's drink to the hardworking people"followed by Freddie Jackson's Rock Me Tonight (For Old Times' Sake). the crowd whoops.
Rebel T's Mad Ras starts the name-calling, declares (as he does throughout the entire contest) that they are a juggling and not a war sound, starts running to and fro on the stage as he does throughout the contest. Rebel T, which has majority crowd support inside Mas Camp, goes for the present dancehall tunes right away, the crowd agreeing that they "never hesitate to rise my own" and immediately commits the sound clash sin of replaying a tune with Touch The Road.
Rebel T drops something for the dancers to 'sweep' to and it is more Kartel and Mavado as the crowd cheers, but they make a big switch to Natural Mystic and fall flat in the end.
Laing scores it Rebel T 83.5, Bodyguard 85.5, ; Scorpio has it Bodyguard 80, Rebel T 81, the one-point difference due totally to crowd response.
Round 2 (Tune Fe Tune)
Bodyguard says they did not call Rebel T's name because "bad man no trow wud", Kartel style, and the crowd 'rails'. Rebel T pulls Pinchers' Enemies on the Borderline and there is no response.
Bodyguard drops Ghetto Red Hot, the crowd explodes but Rebel T is booed for their selection. But Bodyguard fails to seize the moment, as after the build-up to the tune there is no sound. The boos start after they play Hard man Fe Dead. Rebel T is back on top with Duppy Know Who Fe Frighten; Bodyguard gets booed again as CD player sticks.
Laing says "Bodyguard fluff dat" and scores it 90 for Rebel T, Bodyguard 68. Scorpio gives Rebel T victory in 13 of the 15 exchanges.
Round 3 (Dub Fe Dub)
The Clarendon sound starts with a Clarendon artiste, a Cocoa Tea dub of Tune In, Rebel T tops it with John Holt singing "with a poison dart Rebel T will kill you". It is one of Rebel T's few bright spots in the round, as Bodyguard drops a dub that "Bodyguard just drink a Guinness an come a Mas Camp come kill it". Rebel T gets booed for their song.
Two speaking dubs one with a news report Michael Sharpe-style, linking Mad Ras with stolen pigs, and another an 'On Stage' take-off in which 'Mad Ras' condemned his sound's ownership ("de boss bruck!"), tear the house down. Rebel T's General B dubs fall woefully short.
Laing says its 94.5 for Bodyguard and 68 for Rebel T, while Scorpio awards Bodyguard victory in eight of the 12 dubs.
The decision goes to the crowd, which duly gives Rebel T the title.
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