Deejay

Deejay is the Jamaican vocal style in which a performer chants, raps and improvises rhymed commentary over a rhythm track, originating in the island's sound system dances of the 1950s and 1960s. Unlike the record-spinning disc jockey of radio, the Jamaican deejay is a microphone artist: hyping the crowd, praising the selector, boasting and reporting on current events in a rhythmic, half-sung patter. Recorded from 1970 onward over dub versions of reggae songs, the performances of *U-Roy*, *Big Youth* and their successors became a central form of reggae and the direct ancestor of dancehall and of hip hop.