The Rise & Fall of Ninjaman | The Most Feared Man in Dancehall

hello everybody you're welcome back again to the reggae Appreciation Society the dance hall scene is one of the most competitive and hotly contested Fields across all genres of music with an endless stream of deadly rizatong DJs that have reached Fierce battles to earn the crown of the champion in ancient Japan ninjas were a highly trained order of Assassins who relied on stealth silence and extremely deadly techniques not to mention weapons to take out their enemies but in reggae dancehall culture the name ninja man evokes fear in the heart of dancehall DJs for more than two decades sporting his katana sword sharp wits humor devastating delivery and unrivaled freestyle Talent he defeated countless opponents including some of the greatest DJs of all time earning the title and nickname of the Dawn Gorgon a Jamaican term used to describe a man to fear or Simply the Best of the Best even from a field that is well known for swollen ranks a tough outspoken characters ninja man was always in a class of his own though not the first dancehall toaster with a hard-nosed image the 1990s would see him emerge as the poster boy of the quintessential bad man of dancehall all thanks to his heavy leaning towards violent gun related content and over time his real life began to manifest what has simply been lyrical content leading to negative effects on His Brilliant career and legal troubles that sadly became the main talking point about one of Jamaica's most talented musicians and actors he's been one of the most requested topics on this channel so without further Ado let's take a look at the story of the most feared man in dance hall in the Don Gorgon popularly known as ninja man his story began ordinary Desmond John Valentine born on the 20th of January 1966 in the rural area of Anatole Bay in the province of Saint Mary Jamaica when he was 11 years old his family moved to the capital of Kingston in search of greener pastures and settled in a tough neighborhood of Sea Bright Gardens popularly known as cockbon pen in Kingston 11 an area known for its root boys but better known for producing some of the biggest names in dance hall such as the great U Roy Josie Wales Prince jazzbo as well as ninja man's friend benefactor and one time rival in the great Supercuts young Desmond was beaten by the reggae bug in his surroundings and by the age of 12 he had already started DJing with a local outfit called the black cultural sound system and in those days went by the name double ugly by 1980 his skills earned him a spot as a DJ with the legendary Kilimanjaro sound system which was one of the hottest and best in Jamaica already a smoking hot Talent he got the chance to learn from some of kilimanjaro's Ace DJs like super cats and early b as his popularity grew he changed his name from Global ugly to ugly man and was increased recently becoming renowned for a super sharp tongue and ability to adapt and improvise lyrics in a split second his awesome Talent LED Noel Harper the founder of Kilimanjaro to give him the nickname ninja man a name that began as a way of teasing him due to his ninja-like ability to adapt to any situation while on the microphone along with his colleagues they made their sound system an unbeatable force on the island it was while tearing it up on the sound system scene that he got the opportunity to become a recording artist when Kilimanjaro opened its own record label he recorded and produced his first single which was a duet with singer Courtney Melody called protection ninja man's debut single was well received by Annie's performance stunned listeners who were blown away by his amazing lyrical structure and unbeatable delivery in those early days ninja man noticed a talented toaster in the streets called rexton Fernando Gordon who would come to be known as Shabba Ranks he took young Shabba to Kilimanjaro and give him the opportunity to get on the microphone and develop his skills and confidence and this eventually got shabarak's noticed by Josie Wales and eventually King Jammy from where he would eventually blow up but ninja man's close friendship with Shabba deteriorated into a fierce rivalry as we will see later in this video Ninja man's awesome debut led to a slew of singles and fruitful collaborations with Jamaica's hottest producers like King jamming Philip Francis Burrell gossy Clark and Henry John Joe laws who was scrambled to record with him ninja man was in heavy demand for his outstanding style as well as his uncanny ability to come up with the most complex wonderful lyrics on the spot in 1988 he would record his first real breakout hit when he released the track cover me which was a romantic duet with singer tinga Stewart this was followed by the Dance Floor Anthem in Ziggy top a banger that was also a duet with dancehall star flogon which was also released in 1988 but despite his light-hearted stats he moved on from party and love songs to more hardcore gangster material in his lyrics by 1989. this period is the time when dance hall dramatically shifted to the violent subject matter that pervades the genre until date and there have been many arguments on whether ninja man had a big role to play in influencing the culture and many people believe that ninja man did even though there are other schools of thought that believe he was just part of a trend but whatever the case by the end of the 1980s he had become the Avatar of the Dancehall rude boy but as he was morphing into his gangster DJ Persona Shabba Ranks was pivoting from Batman to a DJ for the ladies this ideological parting of ways would irritate ninja man and led to a falling out and fierce rivalry that would come to a head by the 1990 edition of The Sting Festival both men had traded shots in a number of clashes but sting was built to be the ultimate showdown between the dangerous little gangster ninja man who had just Christians himself original front tooth go tooth gone pontooth Don Gorgon versus The Ladies Man in the Husky voice Shabba Ranks the head-to-head under famous Knights became the stuff of Legend as both Ace toasters engaged in a brutal lyrical battle that whipped the crowd into a frenzy and ended a ninja man being crowned the winner ninja man's reputation as the Devourer of DJs kept growing as he eliminated all comers in sound clashes back to back all over the island but there was still one more fantastic unbeaten toaster in Supercuts his former Mentor each man's reputation ignited debates in their fan base and set the stage for Clash at the next thing in 1991 just like ninja had done the previous year with Shabba Ranks he systematically took super cat apart with witty lyrics irresistible humor and well-timed delivery ninja man was clearly winning the battle on the night when someone ruling members of the audience started throwing bottles at Supercuts and brought the contest to an abrupt end a ninja man would establish his dominance when he would return again in 1992 for another battle with Buju Banton whom he defeated and put to his lyrical ninja sword he was not the most feared dancehall DJ in the land both for his ruthless winning streak and sound clashes and for his frightfully violent gun-friendly lyrics in his songs that printed him as a dangerous man with songs like murder them my weapon test high power and above the lore which cemented his reputation as Jamaica's Rude Boy number one he inspired DJs that would copy his style and this would include the likes of mad Cobra Ricky General and even Ableton he was always eager to battle whoever and even roasted his former friend flagon in an epic beef that he eventually won however by 1993 his excessively violent Rude Boy Antics had begun to spoil a backlash as the public began to turn their backs on his music he struggled to find recording or even performing gigs as promoters and producers dramatically stopped engaging him that period was the dawn of the raster Renaissance As the public having been saturated with so much slackness were now thirsty for conscious and spiritually driven sound that new artists like Garnet silk and Luciano were putting out by 1997 ninja man was heavily addicted to crack cocaine and was at a very low point in his life in a move that many believe was the pr stunts ninja man would reinvent himself as a born-again Christian and performed for a short while as a gospel dancehall artist under the name brother Desmond before sleeping back after a while to his earthworm ninja man Persona in 1999 he made his foray into acting when he was cast in the highly successful Jamaican movie Third World Cup alongside big name actors like Paul Campbell and Veteran actor Carl Bradshaw but despite this seeming uptick in his fortunes his behavior got the better of him as he was found guilty of gun possession and sentence to a year in jail but after his release he continued his run and while enjoying the accolades as Jamaica's unbeatable DJ ninja man would be brought down to earth in a heavy way he has received stiff competition from Mad Cobra at the sting Festival in 1995 but at the sting Festival held in the year 2000 ninja man was brutally defeated by the fairy lyrics of late dancehall Maestro merciless but despite receiving this thrashing he still remained the man to beat and still boasted of one of the most dangerous tongues in dance hall in 2003 he would go head to head with another feared dancehall superstar in Vibes Cartel and he would roast and Trust his younger opponents so badly that perhaps cartel got angry and picked a fight with ninja man right on stage though Don gogon would also get cast in movies like 2003's Rude Boy and 2004's Gangster's Paradise but despite his Resurgence in the New Millennium with new music and sold out concerts he was still neck deep in controversy and legal issues after narrowly escaping conviction for sexual assault murder domestic assault and being caught with an illegal firearm at sting 2002 he and his son were arrested in March 2009 for murder after a lengthy process they were both found guilty in December 2017 and was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 25 years when ninja man will be at least 75 years old it's all over for ninja man a superbly talented artist turned criminal and killer and a prime example of a terribly Dark Side of modern dance hall despite achieving the kind of success that most people could only ever dream of Primal instincts and criminal inclinations have tossed him in the Dustbin of history and made him a textbook example of what upcoming reggae artists must never be like a screaming case of the terrible states of modern dance hall and the need for this subgenre of Reggae to be sanitized in the beautiful worlds of the great Buju Banton dance hall doesn't have to be slack so there you have it thank you for watching the video today please leave a like subscribe and until next time jobless

Channel: Reggae Appreciation Society

Views: 48,294

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Id: mYehBeb6npI

Length: 11min 15sec (675 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 19 2023