D’Shella rails against ‘Mental Slavery’
Dancehall artiste D’Shella is raising eyebrows with his latest single, ‘Mental Slavery’, a hard-hitting analysis of the state of the black race in the 21st century as it relates to self-determination, race-based violence and self-identity.
“This song was based on my observations of society. I noticed how easy it is for people to bring down others. It forced me to ask why do we have to live this way as black people? Is it because of the legacies of slavery, then the shackles are mental then,” the artiste whose real name is Leon Dawkins, said.
The song was released on his own label, and a visualiser has already racked up over 15,000 views. D’Shella lowers the boom on the power and race dynamics that exist in today’s societies across the world. He deejays with intensity, anger soaking every bar: “The black race still weak/dem a kill off each other ah Mozambique/all we have now are hoes and freaks/nobody nah nurture, nobody nah lead/no wonder why the yutes dem a turn inna sheep”.
The whole song is filled with deep hitting bars, and D’Shella really highlights the clear crisis of leadership and self-identity that continues to haunt minority communities. The rest of the song talks about issues like slavery, self-hate, internal race conflicts and belonging.
Another standout line is: “dem a shoot each other and call it bravery/but that ah mental slavery/ah set a mental slaves”.
“My song is asking, can we actually make meaningful change? Do we need to take a different approach to how we try to make changes? I don’t have all the answers, I am constantly thinking about issues with the world and issues we as black people face,” D’Shella said.
The young rhyme spitter is now based in France where he is carving out a decent niche for himself on the emerging dancehall scene.
“It is the same as being anywhere else. They have a different take on dancehall, they call it ‘Shatta’ Dancehall. But anywhere dancehall lovers are, the energy is the same,” he said.
D’Shella, hails from Kingston, Jamaica where he attended Kingston College before migrating years later. Over the years, he has emerged as a multi-faceted artiste whose artistry varies in style from roots reggae to hardcore dancehall.
He has released a number of songs this summer including club bangers like Face Card and Role Play, party songs like Golden Spoon, and other conscious songs like Black States.
