THE University of the West Indies’ Cultural Studies Institute, last evening hosted the launch of Dancehall: From Slave Ship to Ghetto.

The book is the only publication to date that has documented the institutional, industrial and cultural significance of Jamaican dancehall in local and transnational contexts looking through the lens of over 400 years of Black Atlantic history, and through the eyes of a Jamaican.

The launch, which was hosted by executive director of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, Cordel Green, took place at the Rex Nettleford Hall’s Multi-Purpose Room at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. It featured discussion and commentary on the book by notable scholars and industry giants including Brian Meeks, Professor of Social and Political Change; Wilma Bailey, Professor of Geography and Clement Branche, Head, Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work.

Speaking at the launch, Minister of Culture and Youth Olivia Grange pointed out the integral role of Dancehall in Jamaican culture. “Too often we undervalue and undermine and label our spaces ‘backayard’, ‘tenament yard’, ‘ghetto’. Through dancehall every ni**er became a star… we must find space for dancehall,” she said.

The book now forms an integral part of the literature available on Jamaican popular culture and Caribbean Cultural Studies as well as African and Diasporic Cultural Studies. It will be useful for students and scholars in a range of disciplines and fields from the Humanities and the Social Sciences including History, Performance Studies, Sociology, Anthropology, Geography, Popular Music, Gender Studies, African American Studies, and Caribbean Studies.