Before it became the symbol of gentrification in the United States, Brooklyn, New York, was a borough in where many Jamaicans settled. There was no shortage of ‘Yaad’-owned stores and dancehall/reggae parties.

The swinging days of the 1980s and 1990s are captured in Bad Like Brooklyn Dancehall, a documentary that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 8 at Spring Studio’s The Indeed Theater in Manhattan.

The event was attended by Shaggy, the film’s executive producer, who cut his teeth on the Brooklyn dancehall circuit; sound system selector Richard “Lion Face” Thomas; and co-producers Amy DiGiacomo and Jay Will.

Bad Like Brooklyn Dancehall revisits the era when sound systems like King Addies and Downbeat The Ruler roamed New York City’s boroughs, which was home to colonies of West Indians, mainly Jamaicans who moved to The Big Apple in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Lion Face, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago, migrated to the US in the late 1970s. He remembers going to dances in Brooklyn during the early 1980s, and making his name as a selector with the fledgling King Addies alongside senior selector Danny Dread.

He told the Jamaica Observer that projects such as Bad Like Brooklyn Dancehall are critical as they acknowledge the contributions of the unheralded.

“I’m very appreciative of the film-makers to shine the light on specific individuals who were part of that culture in Brooklyn, like myself, Red Fox, Screechie Dan, Shaggy, and several others. It’s very important to get that recognition,” he said.

Some of the artistes who migrated from Jamaica and figured in the New York City sound system movement of the 1980s went on to mainstream success during the 1990s. Among them was Super Cat, whose 1992 album Don Dada was embraced by hip hop fans.

Bad Like Brooklyn Dancehall also showed at Village East by Angelika and AMC 19th St East 6.