Walshy Fire ADD
Walshy Fire To Release 'Art of Dancehall' Book
03/12/2025 by Press Release
Walshy Fire—Grammy-nominated, Jamaican-American musician, DJ, MC, and producer and one-third of the platinum recording act Major Lazer—will release his first book, Art of Dancehall: Flyer and Poster Designs of Jamaican Dancehall Culture on April 1, 2025 through Rizzoli Universe.
Art of Dancehall is a definitive celebration of the distinctive art of poster and flyer design in the highly influential culture of Jamaican dancehall music, by one of the best-known ambassadors of the genre, and the first Rizzoli book to spotlight dancehall and Jamaican sound system culture.
Drawing on unrivaled private collections from Jamaica, London, New York, Toronto and Tokyo, this book is a window onto the colorful and effervescent world of dancehall—at once celebrating the ingenuity and beauty of the DIY flyers themselves, and chronicling the evolution of DJs, records, and venues that made the genre into the musical and cultural phenomenon that continues to captivate audiences to this day.
Combining the energy and vibrancy of vernacular Jamaican art with the cultural insight that only original ephemera can bring, the flyers and posters collected in Art of Dancehall are testament to the creativity and spirit behind one of the most influential and enduring cultures in contemporary music.
Originating in Jamaica in the late 1970s, dancehall music is a club-friendly offshoot of reggae. The genre found particular resonance in the Jamaican diaspora and defined the soundsystem cultures that rose to prominence in New York and London, influencing the origins of hip hop and rave culture. In much the same way that graffiti and paste-ups would for hip hop, the unique style of the artwork, coloring, and lettering of handmade flyers for dancehall nights became a visual language of the culture.
With cover design by noted contemporary Jamaican poster artist Nurse Signs, Art of Dancehall charts the global spread of dancehall and sound system culture through visual artifacts advertising legendary sound clashes in Brooklyn and Toronto to the formation of the first Jamaican-style soundsystems in Japan, with commentary from Walshy and collectors Lee Major DeBoss (New York), Sheldon “Muscle” Bruce (Toronto), Mark Professor (London) and StranJah. The book includes rare and little-seen flyers from the late Denzil “Sassafrass” Naar, Jamaica’s original celebrity poster artist, as well as contemporaries like New York’s Errol “Irie” Myrie.
Art of Dancehall is also the title of Walshy Fire’s forthcoming solo album, a strictly dancehall-focused followup to Abeng (Mad Decent), his groundbreaking 2019 debut album which paired dancehall, reggae and soca artists from the Caribbean with the emerging stars of Africa’s Afrobeats movement.
Art of Dancehall is availalbe for preorder @ RIZZOLIUSA.com
