Remembering Gerald 'Bogle' Levy
before exposing them on the dancehall stage. He was also present at many events promoting the moves, and sometimes not only dancing, but taking the microphone from a selector to speak to the audience. Previously, he thought of becoming a DJ, but didn’t pursue this until just before his untimely death (he was killed in a drive by murder in January 2005) when the popular hit “All dem deh” was released to silence emerging dancers who were being blinded by the spotlight into thinking they were more skilled than Bogle.
Bogle said, “I am dancehall.” “Because of me… Everybody wanna dance! Everybody wanna dance right now.” As far as Bogle was comcerned, the “dance don’t change until Bogle come...You never see any difference in the dance until Bogle come.” And, he was confident about his ability to allow any DJ to reap success from their songs if only Bogle were to create a dance for it. Bogle took credit for the success of such DJs as Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Buju Banton, and Junior Reid who recorded songs describing Bogle’s dance styles or built on Bogle’s lyrical suggestions. He said there are phrases such as “Mr. Mention,” used by Buju Banton, with album and single of the same name, that sprang naturally from the Bogle fountain of creativity but often went unacknowledged. Apart from DJs who used his phrases in their
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songs, there were others who forgot to mention or honour his creativity and place as dance creator. One example was the single “Log On” by Elephant Man about the dance of the same name created by Bogle. The song named “Keiva” who purportedly had a “dancing school” to which she should have taken those in need of dance tutelage, but does not acknowledge Bogle. As the adage says, and as Bogle believed “the king is not crowned in his own country.” Because of Bogle’s presence in the dance, there has been an increase in the number of popular male dancers and financial opportunities for their advancement, albeit with Bogle himself not benefiting in ways that he would have liked. These include John Hype, who received a contract with the Skocking Vibes recording company, formerly the management company of DJ Beenie Man. Other examples include Sadiki, Craigy Dread, Shortman, Spongebob, Ding Dong, Sample Six, Blazay, and the male crews such as Ravers Clavers, Sample Six and Cadillac. Bogle’s death in 2005 signalled the passing of an icon, one whose shoes have not yet been filled. The circumstances around his death, the yet unsolved mystery of the cockfights he started, and the energy that still waits to be harnessed in the unfolding of dancehall artistry, innovation and ritual, all lie in the wings of time, their master. As for dancehall, there is an endless fountain of creativity waiting to be tapped. Until then...
R.I.P. Bogle.