{"id":1235189552,"date":"2026-09-22T11:41:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T15:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibe.com\/?p=1235189552"},"modified":"2026-09-24T16:23:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T20:23:14","slug":"beenie-eminence-album-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibe.com\/features\/editorial\/beenie-eminence-album-interview-1235189552\/","title":{"rendered":"Please Don’t Call Beenie Man a Legend"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\tBorn Moses Davis, Beenie Man has gone by many names over a storied career spanning almost half a century. Some call him the Girls\u2019 Dem Sugar<\/a>, some call him the Doctor<\/a>, others refer to him as the King of the Dancehall<\/a>. He doesn\u2019t mind what you call him, as long as you don\u2019t call him a legend. \u201cI am not a legend,\u201d he insists. \u201cThings that I\u2019ve done are legendary.\u201d Things like Beenie\u2019s 2020 Verzuz battle with longtime rival Bounty Killer. \u201cThat was a legendary move,\u201d he says. \u201cBeenie Man, Bounty Killer. The longest rivalry inna dancehall music. We ah war for 24 years\u2014it’s not an easy thing.\u201d But please don\u2019t call Beenie a legend. \u201cCalling myself a legend is telling myself that I can resign tomorrow,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd me no plan for that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\tRaised in the economically challenged but culturally vibrant Kingston community of Waterhouse, Beenie says he started DJing\u2014Jamaican terminology for chatting on the mic\u2014at the age of five to help him stop stuttering. \u201cWhen teacher call me up fi read anything, me DJ it,\u201d he told me in a recent interview. \u201cBecause they know me nah go talk.\u201d By the age of eight, he\u2019d recorded his first single<\/a>, and dropped the first of his countless albums by age ten<\/a>. Asked to explain the name \u201cBeenie Man,\u201d he replies: \u201cBecause I’m a big man trapped in a little boy’s body.\u201d

Beenie Man first hit the Billboard<\/em> chart with his 1995 single \u201cSlam<\/a>.\u201d He received his first Grammy nomination in 1999 for the album Many Moods of Moses<\/em><\/a>, which included his smash hit \u201cWho Am I<\/a>,\u201d also known as \u201cSim Simma.\u201d That song\u2019s hook was inspired by Missy Elliott<\/a> and went on to inspire countless other tunes, including this banger<\/a> by Redman. After earning three nominations in a row, Beenie finally won a Best Reggae Album Grammy in 2001 for Art and Life<\/em><\/a>. He\u2019s collaborated with international stars like Janet Jackson, Wyclef Jean, Mya, Jeezy, and T.I., to name a few.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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