New book, Art of Dancehall, documents history of genre through vintage rave flyers
Collated by Major Lazer’s Walshy Fire, Art of Dancehall: Flyer and Poster Designs of Jamaican Dancehall Culture is due out on 1st April
Walshy Fire of Major Lazer has authored a new book, Art of Dancehall: Flyer and Poster Designs of Jamaican Dancehall Culture, which tells the story of dancehall culture through rave flyers.
Due on 1st April via Rizzoli, Art of Dancehall pieces together the trajectory of dancehall via flyers sourced from private collections in Jamaica, New York, London, Canada and Japan.
They include iconic designs created by artists like Denzil "Sassafrass" Naar (AKA Sassa) and Errol "Irie" Myrie. Running alongside the flyers, the book includes insights from collectors like New York's Lee Major DeBoss, Toronto's Sheldon "Muscle" Bruce, London's Mark Professor and StranJah.
The book tells the story of dancehall’s origins in the early 1970s through the ‘digi-dancehall’ era and the influence it would have on hip-hop’s formative years.
“In much the same way that graffiti and paste-ups would for hip-hop, the unique style of the artwork, colouring and lettering of handmade flyers for dancehall nights became a visual language of the culture,” a description for the book reads.
Walshy Fire will also release a new album, also titled ‘Art of Dancehall’, a follow-up to his 2019 solo debut, ‘Abeng’.
Pre-order Art of Dancehall: Flyer and Poster Designs of Jamaican Dancehall Culture here.
Last year, Marvin Sparks published a history of dancehall in the 2000s titled Run The Riddim 2K: The Rise Or Demise Of Reggae And Dancehall In The 2000s, a follow-up to the original which told the story of '90s dancehall.
Revisit Seani B's 100 Most Important Dancehall Tracks of All Time here.