If you’re a recording artiste who has been struggling to pen a song for days and weeks, you may want to reconsider the instrumental. According to veteran dancehall deejay Beenie Man, it only takes 10 minutes to write a hit song. If it takes longer than that, he said the beat is the problem.

“It takes five minutes to build a hit song,” he started.

“It takes five minutes to find that hit melody. When you find that hit

melody the only thing left for you to do is word it the right way. So when you

use the right words and put it in the right way with the right melody and the

right beat, 10 minutes. Best song.”

This was the case for his 2004 hit King of the Dancehall

which appeared on his Back to Basicsalbum.

“The album is coming out and I was tryna go different so I

link up back with the old producer weh mek Bookshelf,

Mr Tony Kelly. He got some different beats so when him drop the beat it was

like ‘Whoa, this is what I’m looking for’. So mi go outside, it tek mi like 10

minutes fi find the song.”

The single peaked at number 26 on Billboard’s Hot RnB/Hip Hop

Songs chart.

Beenie Man was speaking about the making of some of his biggest

records with Zimbabwe’s ZiFM Stereo. The year 2004 also yielded his hit Dude, which also appeared on the Back to Basics album. The steelpan-infected number featured Miss Thing,and Beenie Man shared that the song’s iconic intro was inspired by selectorRichie Feelings.

“I was at the studio and there was no entry… The song was

already written… Miss Thing already sing already and I was there like this is

gonna be boring cause she’s gonna start ‘I wanna dude with the wickedest slam.

I need a one, two, three hour man’ and that’s how the song started. I said, ‘I

don’t like how it start’, so we go inna di studio and we deh deh… Richie

Feelings have a ting where him seh, ‘Gyal if yuh waan bed, call mi. Yuh waan

dresser? Call mi’ and this is how we get the entry weh seh, ‘Yuh want a proper

fix? Call mi. Yuh wanna get your kicks? Call mi. Yuh waan di cheese trix? Call

mi’…”

Dude peaked at

number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

As for his 1997 banger Who

Am I, Beenie Man said it was inspired by a real experience.

“I came to Jamaica, have a brand new BMW and mi hear a rhythm

weh mi like so mi start sing bout mi car and then things start go

different,” he said. “The problem is I couldn’t find the key in the

morning. My brother’s name is Simma, ‘Sim Simma, who’s got the keys to my

Bimma?’… Dem couldn’t find it so mi drive the truck, ‘In a rush, pass mi di

keys to my truck’.”

The Jeremy Harding-produced record attracted a deal from Virgin

Records and appeared on the Many Moods ofMoses album. It peaked at number six on Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart.