Dancehall has, arguably, never been so nice. Thousands of music lovers had their musical appetite satiated at the ninth staging of the Death Before Dishonour World Clash Jamaica, staged at Pier One in Montego Bay, Monday night.
Yes, it was a musical and lyrical war among approximately 12 sound-system operators from all across Jamaica and as far as Japan. But when the dust settled just before 6 a.m. Tuesday, there was only one don who reigned ultimately and walked away with the coveted trophy - Black Kat, the Christiana-based sound system.
The show started out with about eight sound systems clashing against each other in a segment dubbed 'Town Against Country'. At the end of that session, Kentucky sound system thrashed all others and sent the Kingstonians packing.
The real deal was yet to unleash and at about 2:57 a.m., the four giants squared off. They included the veterans - Body Guard of Clarendon, Black Kat, the nine-month-old Black Blunt, of Negril, Westmoreland and Mighty Crown, out of Japan - the 2007/2008 champions.
By round three, Body Guard was crushed, leaving the others to battle it out. Black Kat and Black Blunt urged the crowd not to allow the trophy to leave Jamaica this year and indeed they lived up to expectation. Minutes later, Mighty Crown was buried.
It was now a fierce duel between the two 'blacks', but the better of the two triumphed. "I feel so good. We've been in the business since 1988 and we were determined not to go home without the title this year," said Pink Panther. "I am really overjoyed and I thank the crowd for choosing us as the winners."