Shabba-mania officially broke out at Henry E. Rohlsen Airport at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday when Jamaican-born international music star Shabba Ranks arrived and started dancing down the concourse.
Girls screamed – really, literally, girls screamed – media crowded around, and tourists who thought they were arriving for a brief tropical respite stared with bemusement at the scene, as Shabba sang, danced, signed autographs and took pictures with fans.
Shabba is here to headline the "Tempo Turns 4" concert this weekend on St. Croix. Tempo, the pan-Caribbean music and entertainment network, is marking its fourth anniversary with a show that may draw as many as 12,000 fans. For concert and ticket information, see related link at bottom of the article.
Shabba was on island early to promote the concert and to take part in another Tempo production, a new show planned for the network.
Since its inception Tempo has been dedicated to providing original, Caribbean-oriented content, Morton said. During the days building up to the concert, Tempo will film a segment on Shabba for its new show, "Inside the Rhythm."
During an airport press conference, Shabba swayed and danced to his music, which was playing in the room, keeping a non-stop monologue going—at times singing along with his lyrics, at others adding commentary over in the style of Jamaican "toasting," which is how he got his start. All the while, fans danced in the background.
Born in 1966, Shabba became fascinated as a boy with the rhythms and music of the dancehall. He began recording and by the late 1980s was one of Jamaica’s most popular artists. Scoring success in the United Kingdom, he traveled there and Shabba-mania was born. He eventually became too big to be confined to reggae, and developed his own fusion of reggae and hip-hop that made him an international star.
Asked what he has planned for Saturday, he replied, "Music. Music. Much More music. Great entertainment."
The singer, who rose from the Kingston ghetto of Trenchtown, said he has "never given any trouble to the law, never been in no trouble, never stopped moving progressively." He said he thinks he can be an inspiration to young people today.
"God has blessed me with this voice … I’m an instrument of God, and an instrument for progressive movement," he said.
At the same time, he scoffed at the notion that he’s a hero, especially in Jamaica where he is still tremendously popular.
"Teachers are heroes, doctors are heroes, policemen are heroes," he said. "People who do what they can for the betterment of others are heroes. I’m a singer."
