The Sunday Mail
FOR someone who profoundly transformed Zimbabwe’s music scene, championing the reggae-dancehall movement for nearly three decades, not much is said about William “Jah B” Sinclair.
It seems his death on March 11, 2008 has been long forgotten.
Etherton at his mentor’s grave.
Memories of his Stereo One sound battling against Mbare’s Silverstone, Highfield’s Rough Neck, Glen Norah’s Alkebulani, Chitungwiza’s African Exodus and Bronx International, and the likes of Sweet Ebony and Small Axe, have faded.
Selectors of his time like Issacha, General Bernard, Mad Minox, Farai Shambare, Major E, Booker T, Shaggy and Goddie Banton are not known in today’s Zim dancehall, a genre Jah B helped create.
Very few remember the massive clashes at Turtles Nite Club, Jobs Nite Spot, Zimbabwe Hall, YWCA, Rumours aka Agony Centre and Nyamutamba Hotel.
One would be tempted to think that only Jah B’s children – Benjamin, named after the selector’s father, Tanaka, Simba, Sarah, Adesta and Nyasha – are the only ones who remember their dad.
They are not alone, though. One of Jah B’s best products, a talent he nurtured from age 12, selector and emcee Etherton Mutemasango, remembers.
Plucked from Mbare, that factory of talent both tapped and untapped, Mutemasango’s name has become synonymous with reggae-dancehall mixtapes.
Today, the boy once used by Jah B as a secret weapon to neutralise other sounds systems during clashes, has since transformed himself into a strong brand, a brand which has enabled him to finally fulfil his wish of throwing his late mentor one hell of a memorial gig.
And while it has taken Mutemasango aka Etherton Beenie eight years to honour his mentor, friend and brother-in-law, he has finally done it. This Saturday, Beenie hosts the Jah B commemoration when Zim dancehall superstars Soul Jah Love, Killer T, Freeman, Seh Calaz, Kinnah, Hwindi President, Shinsoman and Dadza D among many others take to the stage at Harare Gardens.
As was the case during Jah B’s days, there will be an MC contest and a sound clash where over 20 sound houses will compete in the Cup Clash.
Beenie, a member of Judgement Yard, cut his teeth as a DJ and MC at Jah B’s Stereo One. He worked with Jah B in a company that boasted of talents like Booker T, Major E, Allan Ranks, Mikey Fabulous, Shaggy and Goddie Banton.
“The DJ booth at any club or venue was our work place and there was no time for anything else,” he says. “(Jah B) was passionate about music. It was a serious environment. Jah B would fire someone or suspend them on the spot should he find them slackening on the job. He would really make us feel that what we were doing was important. Every day was a learning process and with Jah B, it was like we were back in school.”
Away from the turntables, Beenie describes Jah B as quiet person.
“He hardly spoke . . . We mainly dealt with the manager when it came to work issues. He was loving and a very good teacher. He gave me literature to read, dictionaries that translated English to Jamaican patois. Together with the likes of Dadza D we learned and began to create our own version of dancehall.
“This event, this show, is my way of showing appreciation to Jah B. This gig is going to be a prestigious show. We are trying to educate young Zim dancehall artistes and fans. We are trying to show them where it all came from,” says Beenie.
Beenie, whose gig is supported by Chipaz Promotions, has printed T-Shirts and caps that will be sold on the day. They have also compiled CDs of several shows Jah B did in his lifetime.
Jackie Dzambasa of Chipaz Promotions said cup clashes, which they revived in 2012, were Jah B’s creation.
“We took over in 2012 but we never forgot where it really came from. So when Etherton came to us seeking partnership to honour one of Zimbabwe’s foremost reggae-dancehall practitioners, it was an easy decision for us.
“We are glad that finally Jah B is being remembered, that finally someone has decided to appreciate what he did not just for dancehall in Zimbabwe but the music industry as a whole,” said Dzambasa.
Beenie says, although, Jah B was born in Jamaica, his love for Zimbabwe was immense.
“He always said he grew up wanting to repatriate to Africa. During his entire stay in Zimbabwe he went back to Jamaica only four times.”
Born in January 1953 in Clarendon, Jamaica, Jah B came to Zimbabwe soon after Independence in 1980.
Together with Shambare, Mikey Dread and the late Culture T, Jah B formed A1 Sound. Along the way they split and Jah B retained the name A1, which he later renamed Stereo One.
