Teejay continues to fly the dancehall banner with his new EP, I Am Chippy, out now.
The Mobay Dancehall artist is chiding the naysayers who say that dancehall is “dead” and are pushing Afrobeat music as the replacement for dancehall music. According to Teejay, fans can enjoy Afrobeat but still support dancehall, which is now at a critical juncture as it leaves the old behind and moves into a new age of digitization.
Teejay hosted his official album party for his EP I Am Chippy to coincide with the Island Music Conference hosted and organized by Shaggy and Sharon Burke in Kingston this week.
According to Teejay, dancehall fans need to continue to support the genre and stop blaming the artists or government for any decline in the music. He directly singled out those pitting Dancehall and Afrobeat music as competitors.
Teejay push back on people saying dancehall is dead
“So who now a say dancehall music dead, no offence to nobody but I know if Burna Boy or somebody drop an album or a EP right now unnu support and buy it. So how you find time to support another genre but not supporting your own?” Teejay asked.
He continued, “So, before we all sit down and criticize, we need to help dancehall music, you get what me a say? Support it. Find a way how, or we just need to start a protest, put iTunes store inna our region now. Artist nah sell CD outta car again it’s digital now, and we phone. So support the music and stop compare how Afrobeat or dancehall music and ah we fi dweet and stop blame the artist and the government.”
Teejay says stop comparing dancehall to Afrobeats and show support to your own genrehttps://t.co/UQbGzkuRYM pic.twitter.com/XTB5Nyh7CD
— Urban Islandz (@urbanislandz) February 23, 2024
Teejay and Tommy Lee Sparta also performed their latest collaboration, “Dip,” which marks their third collaboration. The two previously worked on “Brawling” and “Power Struggle”. The song, released two weeks ago, has a cumulative 1.5 million views on YouTube.
Teejay recently got engaged to his longtime girlfriend Tionna after popping the question at an intimate dinner just before Valentine’s Day. In his response to some critics, particularly female fans, who chewed him out for not going on one knee during the proposal, Teejay reminds them that he and his fiancee have been together for well over a decade.
“Mi never know because mi nuh know how fi do them something there,” the artist said. “Hear what mi think about it- people need fi understand going down on your knees nuh really prove nothing. That nuh prove say you love a woman more than [us]. We deh ya a rock it for 14 years like baby girl, you go through so much.”
