The clash is an integral part of Dancehall culture and many artistes have engaged in this practice.

In the last season of Magnum Kings and Queens of Dancehall, Poor and Boasy decimated RC on the Magnum Stage and Tiki reigned supreme over Destiny. This year it seems every contestants wants to destroy the other lyrically, and this Saturday only the best deejay with the ‘wickedest’ lyrics will be left standing on the Magnum stage. Clashing is Dancehall’s heritage and it is only natural that Magnum Kings and Queens of Dancehall maintain the culture of good lyrical warfare in Dancehall.

One of the first feuds in the Jamaican music industry was between Prince Buster and Derrick Morgan. In the sixties, Derrick Morgan recorded with producer Leslie Kong and Buster was offended that Morgan’s song, Forward March, sounded similar to his track, They Got To Come. So Buster recorded the song Black Head Chinaman in which he accused Derrick Morgan of stealing his possession and giving them to a ‘Chiney’ man. Derrick’s response was the song Blazing Fire and thus the musical feud began.

The early 90’s saw several lyrical confrontations between Dancehall artistes — Ninja Man and Super Cat and later Lt Stitchie and Papa San on the Sting stage. In the case of Ninja Man and Super Cat in 1991 the rivalry was acrimonious. Both artistes claimed to be the ‘baddest’ and pledged to destroy the career of the other on the Sting stage. While the clash was a lyrical gem it was overshadowed to some extent by threats of violence.

Both Lt Stitchie and Papa San claimed to have the fastest lyrics in the business. Lines had been drawn at the previous year’s Sumfest when Stitchie had launched the first salvo at San. Papa San had chided Lt Stitchie for advertising a particular brand. It was a friendly rivalry with the two deejays throwing only words at each other.

Bounty Killer has featured prominently in two of the most written about and analysed clashes in Dancehall history. The Warlord’s first memorable clash was between him and Beenie Man. When Bounty Killa heralded his entrance on the 1993 Sting Stage by proclaiming: “People Dead!!” the crowd knew it was game set. The clash was a ‘ding ding’ battle with both artistes utilising there immense arsenal of deadly lyrics. The jury is still out on who won that clasht.

In Bounty Killa’s second memorable appearance on the clash stage it was ‘three the hard way’ with Killer teaming up with Bennie Man and Ninja Man to go up against Merciless at Sting in the year 2000. The clash started off with Merciless squaring off against Ninja Man who later called on Bounty Killer with Beenie Man joining in after. Merciless destroyed all three proclaiming himself the ‘war head’.

Merciless showed how clashing is done and this weekend the art of the clash will again be showcased on the Magnum stage.

Throughout the competition Juggla and Chozenn have been at each other’s throats and have not yet gotten the chance to show who is boss. On the female side, Mysterious has pledged to destroy Bubbla and Reggae Queen has pledged that none of the two will take the Magnum crown.

The clash begins at 9:30pm on TVJ this Saturday night. Who will be the last man and woman standing?