Best Slang: Popcaanese

“Weh dat a go?” “A dat yuh pick?”

Of course we had to pick… well, pretty much everything Popcaan said this year… as best slang of 2015!

We’re not sure if it’s because of his sing-song voice, or his ability to quickly pick up on any type of shakiness and fix it, but Popcaan definitely knows where to find the slangs.

The Fry Yiye started the year with slangs such as “Fix Tings”, “Nuh Shakiness” and “Ruppingz”, and stayed on the tip of everyone’s tongue with phrases built around the word “Pick”.

Eg. “A dat yuh pick? Dat neva get pick, (often followed by “Weh dat a go” or “Nuh time”.

Contextually, those slangs are used to express disapproval of certain actions, objects or ideas. If you agree with the matter at hand though, be sure to express this by saying “Nuh lock nuh pick” or “Nuh bag nuh grab”. This essentially means nothing is wrong.

With Chi Ching Ching, another prominent slang maker, signed to his Unruly label this year, we have seen both artistes share slangs such as “Way up (Stay Up)”, “Kickout” and more recently “Get there.”

Even before this year though, Poppy has always been a slang maker, whether intentionally or not. Remember Gaza days when he had people walking around and answering their phones saying “Yaaaaaaaaaaaoooooowww!”?

This year especially, which is doubtlessly one of the best in Popcaan’s career, has been a year of viral slangs for him, which in turn has drawn a wider audience to his music. The best part is that Poppy doesn’t have to repeat the slang 100 times in the chorus of songs for them to be hits.

2016 promises to be a #wickedwickedwicked year from Popcaan and Unruly Ent, so #GetThere.

Worst: “Belleh”

Now what Sanjay probably doesn’t understand is that for a slang to really go viral, it must sound good.

BELLEH just does not sound good. It sounds like someone is shouting “Belly!” or “Bleh!” which are both very awful sounds that bring images of nausea and indigestion to the mind.

The fact that Shelly Belly is featured in the song for this slang furthers our fears that it means something unpleasant.

“Mi style dem belleh” is the main line of the song that attempts to give us contextual clues on how to use it. But let’s be honest, if you try a new outfit and ask your friend how it looks, and he/she says “It look belleh” how would you feel?

There are three main reasons why this slang has gained enough popularity to be known by so many people:

1.       The Dance –  It’s nothing spectacular, but dancehall is about dance, and because there is an accompanying move, it will be played in the dance.

–  Portland Cottage did a fantastic job producing the song, ensuring to give t enough kick that people can still feel the song without listening to the word Belleh.

2.       The Beat

–  It’s a good clean verse, with a powerful voice. He proved his name with that verse, as he did the best he could with the topic. 

 3.        Innovata’s verse

But then again, maybe Sanjay knew Belleh could not stand on its own, and that’s why Unruly’s “Kickout” is repeated in the chorus of the song.