A number of African artistes are highlighted on Grungecake.com, website for the marketing company run by Richardine Bartee, an American music industry player who works with urban acts.

The past three years has seen the Queens, New York-born Bartee help expose Afrobeats artistes like Laycon, Oxlade, Davido, TeeManay and D-Black to the lucrative United States market. She wants to do the same for dancehall music.

“I grew up and went to school — from pre-school through college — in New York City. Dancehall, in particular, was becoming one of the leading derivatives, and its strong influence was present in American culture, especially in the black-American communities. Aside from the music blaring from the speakers of local businesses, the dollar van drivers were Jamaican, and you would see show bills taped alongside the street or at the entrance of highways,” Bartee recalled in an interview with the Jamaica Observer. “The kids I grew up with wanted to learn the dances, tried to speak like Jamaicans using the distinct patois and even claimed to be Jamaican.”

Bartee, whose parents are from Liberia, shares a natural affinity with acts from West Africa, who have become the rage through the percussive Afrobeats. Her links to publications such as Essence Magazine and BET.com, plus her affiliation with the Recording Academy, have helped some of those acts get a foothold in the US scene.

She was instrumental in Spice’s 2020 feature in ESSENCE.com in 2020 and helped promote New York-based Jamaican deejay Emprezz Jay’s song No One, two years ago.

While Afrobeats has taken off in the US thanks to Wizkid, Burna Boy and Davido, dancehall’s sales have lagged. Up to 20 years ago, and during the 1990s, Jamaican acts like Sean Paul, Cham, Shabba Ranks and Super Cat were being sought by major labels.

Bartee does not believe all is lost, but for dancehall to make a big comeback in the US, she believes there has to be synergy with a core group.

“I believe open-minded producers with experience are the best way to go. A seasoned or wise producer would be able to help me translate global business acumen and sounds to new artistes and their teams and cultivate artistes. Why? Because many Caribbeans have come to me for help, and if I can do anything to continue to shine a light on black culture with worldwide mainstream appeal, why not?” she reasoned.

Producers with clout have played a major role in the success of dancehall artistes. Clifton “Specialist” Dillon with Shabba Ranks and Patra; Robert Livingston with Shaggy; and Jeremy Harding with Sean Paul.

Although Afrobeats continues to clock mega sales globally, Bartee stated that breaking that sound stateside was not easy.

“It has been challenging, but more people in North America get it now. Five years ago, it wasn’t easy because most people in positions to make life-changing decisions didn’t care, couldn’t understand, or just weren’t black or African. The difficulty that I experienced didn’t stop me from spreading the word. I told everybody about Africa. It was like, ‘Hi, how are you? Good, my name is Richardine Bartee, and let me talk to you about Africa and Afrobeats’,” she explained. “Now, people in the business come to me when they want to connect with artistes and businesses from/based in the continent. They can remember me talking to them about the extraordinary talent coming out of Africa over a decade ago.”