ladydontekno, Feb 22, 2009
Another dancehall classic!
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Edited by Azizi Powell
Latest revision - February 24, 2026
This pancocojams post showcases a YouTube sound file of the 1990 Jamaican Dancehall record "Kimbo King" by Reggie Stepper. That title is also written as "Kim-Bo King".
This post also includes my attempt to transcribe the words for Reggie Stepper's song "Kimbo King". Please add your additions and corrections to this draft transcription.
The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and entertainment purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to Reggie Stepper for his musical legacy. Thanks to the publisher of this sound file. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE: Updated Feb.24, 2026
I woke up this morning with this song in my head. I thought the title was "Original King And Queen", but thanks to Google Search, I found this song's actual title.
Although there are several sound files of "Kimbo King" on YouTube and YouTube showcases some other songs by Reggie Stepper, the only YouTube videos (not sound files) that I found of of Reggie Stepper singing "Kimbo King" or any other examples of his songs are two 2025 YouTube video shorts
- https://youtube.com/shorts/YsKHZxBAqY0?si=I90cjbx7VvU3rfz
https://youtube.com/shorts/ojpv9C7OX0Y?si=nERuGarNye3KTcsy
and a 2025 YouTube video of Reggie Stepper singing a number of his songs, including "Kimbo King"- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch9Rp6Ehila "Reggie Stepper | Episode | Yardstyle Live Presents
@MusicPhillreggaeshow"., published by YardstyleLiveshow, Premiered Jul 9, 2025 (7:00
– 8:49 of that video.)
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As of Feb. 24, 2026 I still haven't found any online lyrics for Reggie Stepper's "Kimbo King" besides my partial attempted transcription.
The only other lyrics that I found online for Reggie Stepper's song "Kimbo King" are WRONG.
Although attributed to Reggie Stepper, the lyrics and song summary that are found on https://sonichits.com/video/Reggie_Stepper/Kimbo_King and on at least one other website are in a non-English language and "explores the theme of yearning for a lost love. The song is filled with emotions of longing and regret as the protagonist ruminates over the relationship that has slipped away.". That is definitely NOT the lyrics to and a summary for Reggie Stepper's "Kimbo King" dancehall classic.
The original 2023 version of this pancocojams post presented my speculation that Reggie Stepper's "Kimbo King" is about men and women who spend their time hanging out in the "hood", watching the sights, hustling, enjoying themselves, and instigating trouble. I think that may still be correct.
But my guess was that "kimbo king" and "kimbo queen" have the same meaning as "rude boys" or maybe "kimbo kings"/"kimbo queens" are what rude boys and rude girls are called when they are no longer teenagers. Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rude_boy for a definition of the Jamaican term "rude boy."
I believe that my guess about that is WRONG.
Instead, if I had listened to the song more closely-regardless to how difficult that is for my ears that aren't familiar to Jamaican pronunciation of English, I would have realized that Reggie Stepper uses the terms "kimbo king" and "kimbo queens" as referents for lazy people (unproductive people) who hang around the streets doing nothing and contributing nothing positive to their community.
A number of comments in the discussion thread for the video that is embedded above mention that this song is about lazy people.
Also, thanks to Anonymous August 21, 2024 at 9:52 AM for his comment added to this post's discussion thread:
"No he’s telling a story about lazy people.
He said it in the intro…"
-end of quote-
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"Original" in the lyrics "Original kimbo king" means "authentic" (i.e. real), not "first".
-snip-
I should also mention that I retained my comments about the meanings of 'akimbo" that I shared based on my trying to suss out the meaning of the word "kimbo" in this Jamaican dancehall song. I still think that the word "akimbo" is the source of the term "kimbo" in this dancehall song, mostly because the two words are spelled and sound so much alike. But also I'm leaning toward the idea that these two words are connected in this song because of two main online examples:
-the way the host of the 2025 YouTube video showcasing Reggie Stepper singing some of his hits- including "Kimbo King"- kept putting his hands on his hips in an akimbo stance while he was dancing when Reggie Stepper was singing "Kimbo King". Reggie also put one hand on his hip at one point while he was singing this song. [That link and that time stamp are given above).
and
-the fact that Reggie Stepper (or some other Black man) is shown with one hand on his hip in the record cover that is used for the Stepper's song "Kimbo King" [1992 release in France- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1VZflraXUU
I wonder if doing the akimbo (both hands on the hips with the elbows pointed outward) was a regular element of the dance that was done for the "Kimbo King" song.
If so, what did that akimbo stance mean? Did it just reflect the singer's annoyance with the lazy people who were hanging around the street, or did the use of "kimbo" describes how the lazy men and lazy women are seated.
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This is the end of this Feb. 24, 2026 update for this post. This post now returns to the original Pancocojams Editor's Note.
Several YouTube discussion threads about Reggie Stepper's "Kimbo King" include comments which describe that song as a dancehall classic. I definitely agree. As such, the real, complete lyrics for this song and a verified accurate description of that song deserve to be online.
Please share your additions and corrections of my attempted transcription of this song and my definition of "kimbo king"/"kimbo queen".
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LYRICS - KIMBO KING (draft transcription)*
(by Reggie Stepper)
[…]
I wanna get this song out to all the people around the world
I fire this one to all the people around the world
Boom!
Original kimbo king uuuuhhhhhh
Kimbo queen and a king uuuuhhhh
Original kimbo king uuuuhhhhhh
Kimbo queen and a king uuuuhhhh
They wanna laze around sittin uuhhhh
they want to do nothing uuuhhh
they’re fond of money making uuuhhh
And fond of kimbo watchin uuuhhh
and they pon de corner ah pure posing. uuuhhh.
And in the mix of every ting uuuhhh
Nuff people business watching uuuhhh
[…]
They live in Brooklyn
And they make they’re livin
We call dem Kimbo King!!!
[…]
Kimbo Kimbo what fon a kimbo
Tell you what work and I tell you who I am
[…]
They full of passion
One time gone we call em lazy man
One time gone we call em lazy woman
But now days we have a different passion
Original kimbo king uuuuhhh
Kimbo queen and a king uuuuhhhh
Original kimbo king uuuuhhhhhh,
Kimbo queen and a king uuuuhhhh
He went to work last Saturday
I let him know that this is Thursday
[...]
-snip-
*This is my draft transcription of this song.
Thanks in advance to all those who help document the lyrics for this dancehall classic by adding those words to this pancocojams comment section below and/or to the YouTube discussion threads for this song.
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SELECTED DISCUSSION THREAD COMMENTS
I listened to sound files of this song multiple times to arrive at my attempted partial transcription of Reggie Stepper's 1990 Dancehall classic "Kimbo King". However, since I'm not Jamaican and don't know any Jamaicans or anyone familiar with Jamaican Patois, I admit that I probably will never get all the words to this song without some help.
Here are some comments from the YouTube discussion thread for the sound file that is embedded in this pancocojams post. These comments are either lines from that song or explanations about what that song is about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zeiki-obkvM
1.@evertzinho, 2013
"Pon de corner ah pure posing.. ... Nuff people business
watching... always in ah mix-up an' ting.
We call dem Kimbo King!!!"
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2. @miriamstuart7343, 2014
"Original Kimbo King, Kimbo Queen and a king wow"
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3. @tyestbarnhart2115, 2016
"Dem bout sum damn lazy ting!! lmfao"
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4. @TheV6MaSTer, 2017
"original kimbo king uuuuhhhhhh, drum pan sound uuuuhhhhh"
-snip-
"Drum Pan" is another song by Reggie Stepper that has this same Stalag riddim and includes that "uuuuhhh" refrain.
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5. @sircedricgardner7757, 2017
"One time gone that a lazy mon"
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6. @sircedricgardner7757, 2018
"Eye hustle and beg for money and don’t want to grow or add
to society"
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Thanks for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
I think that the word "original" in the lyrics "original kimbo king" and "original kimbo queen" means "authentic"/ "real" (and not necessarily the first).
ReplyDeleteAs such, an "original kimbo king" and an original kimbo queen" are men and women who fit the descriptions that the song gives for kimbo kings/queens.
Read the descriptions in comments #1, #3, #5, and #6 in this pancocojams post.
That song says (something like) "we used to call them lazy but now we call them "Kimbo kings/queens".
DeleteI'm curious about the history of the word "kimbo" in Jamaica and how that word came to have the meaning that (I think) Reggie Stepper used for it in his 1990 Dancehall hit song "Kimbo King".
ReplyDeleteThe Jamaican word "kimbo" probably came from the English word "akimbo". Here's the meaning for that word from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/akimbo
" 1
: having the hand on the hip and the elbow turned outward
2
: set in a akimbobent position
a tailor sitting with legs
Did you know?
It's akimbo nowadays, but in Middle English, the adverbial phrase in kenebowe was used for the bent, hand-on-hip arm (or later, for any bent position). Originally, the term was fairly neutral, but now saying that a person is standing with "arms akimbo" implies a posture that communicates defiance, confidence, aggressiveness, or arrogance."
-snip-
I think that "kimbo" in Reggie Stepper's song isn't the literal body posture, but the attitude/swag descriptors that are listed in that definition.
Here's a link to a 2014 article about Jamaican mothers that includes the word "kimbo": https://jamaicans.com/7-things-that-set-jamaican-mothers-off/ "7 Things that set Jamaican Mothers off" by Delano George Bell, 2014
DeleteThat article list "kimbo" as the #1 thing that "sets off" ("angers/"annoys" Jamaican mothers.
Here's the quote about "kimbo" from that article:
"1. Kimbo
Kimbo ,which is when you have an attitude and place your knuckles on your waist".
-snip-
Here are #2 and #3 on that list"
"2. Kiss teet/Suck Teet
“Kiss teet” or “sucking your teet”(Hissing your teeth) when your mother talks you."
3. Cut Eye
Rolling or “cutting” your eyes when your Jamaican mother talks to you."...
A word can have different meanings within the same population at the same time and its meaning/s can change within that population over a period of time.
DeleteI believe what Reggie Stepper's 1990 meaning of "kimbo" and the 2014 Jamaican meaning of "kimbo" have in common is their attitude (being defiant and arrogant). Needless to say, being kimbo isn't the preferred way of feeling and acting if you aren't grown and are challenging parental authority. And the behaviors that Reggie Stepper described in his "Kimbo King" song are or can also be quite problematic.
No he’s telling a story about lazy people.
DeleteHe said it in the intro…
Thanks for correcting my guess Anonymous. I appreciate it.
Delete