Dancehall Queen — Beenie Man & Chevelle Franklyn

“Dancehall Queen” is a dancehall record first, but it reached house DJs too. The title song of the 1997 Jamaican film paired Beenie Man with the singer Chevelle Franklyn over a Sly & Robbie production, and its American 12-inch came with club remixes by Maurice Joshua and Mike Dunn.

A film about a dance contest

Dancehall Queen, released on 10 October 1997, was directed by Don Letts and Rick Elgood and co-produced by Chris Blackwell. Audrey Reid plays Marcia, a single mother and street vendor who invents a masked dancing alter ego, the Mystery Lady, to win a cash-prize contest. Beenie Man and Lady Saw appear as themselves. The soundtrack mixed recent hits with songs written for the film, and the title track went to Beenie Man.

Beenie Man, Chevelle Franklyn and Sly & Robbie

Beenie Man, born Moses Anthony Davis in Kingston, was on a run in 1997: “Who Am I” went gold and his album Many Moods of Moses followed on 9 December. Chevelle Franklyn, who grew up in Spanish Town, had scored her first hit with “Nice and Naughty” in 1992 and released the album Serious Girl in 1996.

The record was produced by Sly & Robbie — Sly Dunbar on drums and percussion, Robbie Shakespeare on bass — with Steven “Lenky” Marsden on keyboards and Lloyd “Gitsy” Willis on guitar. Credits change from country to country: the US 12-inch names Beenie Man featuring Chevelle Franklyn, while the UK CD single puts Franklyn first.

Charts and house remixes

The book Reggae Routes calls it the biggest song of 1997 in Jamaica, with nine weeks at the top of the Star Top 40. Abroad it reached No. 10 in the Netherlands, No. 45 in France, No. 70 in the UK, No. 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 64 on the US R&B chart.

Island Jamaica’s US 12-inch turned it into a club record. Maurice Joshua delivered a “Club Hall Mix” and Mike Dunn a “Hardazz Dubb”, next to a Bonzai mix by Jim “Bonzai” Caruso and dancehall cuts mixed by Jason Sterling and Johnny Most. The UK CD single added a Delano “Renaissance” mix.

After the hit

Franklyn later said she was frustrated that an actress usually replaced her in the song’s videos. In 1998, on stage, she sang Kirk Franklin’s “Silver and Gold” instead of “Dancehall Queen” and announced she had become a Christian; she has recorded gospel ever since. Beenie Man went on to win the Grammy for Best Reggae Album with Art and Life.

For a house set, the Maurice Joshua and Mike Dunn mixes are the way in. Keep digging with “Jack Your Body” and “Move Your Body”.