‘Can you own a rhythm?” asks British-Egyptian historian Dr Hannah Elsisi. She points out that pop charts around the world are infused with Africa-rooted music, from reggaeton, dancehall and hip-hop to African pop itself. “But who benefits from this music made from migration? How do we understand and credit the labour that goes into the beat of our culture?”
These vexed questions struck Elsisi when she came across a 2023 US lawsuit. Jamaican dancehall production duo Steely and Clevie alleged their 1989 track Fish Market originated the dembow rhythm that has since become a staple of reggaeton and countless pop productions. Over 1,000 songs using a version of that rhythm, some of them by the most streamed artists in the world including Bad Bunny and Drake, have been targeted by the pair in the ongoing copyright case.
