ladydontekno, Feb 22, 2009
Another dancehall classic!
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Edited by Azizi Powell
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 and other sound files of this song on YouTube. Thanks also to the commenters in those YouTube sound files who shared lines from that song and memories of that song.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
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, I haven't found any videos of this song or any videos of that artist.
The only 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.
Instead of that summary, I believe 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. My guess is that a kimbo king/queen is another term for "rude boys" or maybe "kimbo kings"/"kimbo queens" are what rude boys/girls are called when they are no longer teenagers.
Here's a definition of "rude boy"/"rude girl" from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rude_boy
"Rude boy is a slang term for a subculture that originated
from 1960s Jamaican street culture.[1] In the late 1970s, there was a revival
in England of the terms rude boy and rude girl, among other variations like
rudeboy and rudebway, being used to describe fans of two-tone and ska. This
revival of the subculture and term was partially the result of Jamaican
immigration to the UK and the so-called ”Windrush” generation. The use of these
terms moved into the more contemporary ska punk movement as well. In the UK and
especially Jamaica, the terms rude boy and rude girl are used in a way similar
to gangsta, yardie, or badman.[2]"...
Click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KS6bVTYRh-w for a YouTube video of Supercat's 1992 song "Ghetto Red Hot". That song refers to rude boys and the video shows those rude boys/rude girls (or older versions of rude boys/rude girls) in action.
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"
**
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.
**
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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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