Red Rat's Jamaican Dancehall Song "Big Man Little Yute" (Information, Sound file, Lyrics, & Comments)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents information about Jamaica's Dancehall music and information about Dancehall recording star Red Rat (Wallace Wilson).

This post also showcases two sound files of and the lyrics for Red Rat's hit song "Big Man Little Yute".
Selected comments from the discussion thread for one of these sound files are also included in this post.

This post also includes my interpretations in standard English for several Jamaican patois songs that are in Red Rat's song "Big Man Little Yute".

The content of this post is presented for cultural, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Red Rat (Wallace Wilson) for his musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of these sound files on YouTube.

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INFORMATION ABOUT DANCEHALL MUSIC
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancehall
"Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s.[2] Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.[3][4] In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably, with digital dancehall (or "ragga") becoming increasingly characterized by faster rhythms. Key elements of dancehall music include its extensive use of Jamaican Patois rather than Jamaican standard English and a focus on the track instrumentals (or "riddims").

Dancehall saw initial mainstream success in Jamaica in the 1980s, and by the 1990s, it became increasingly popular in Jamaican diaspora communities. In the 2000s, dancehall experienced worldwide mainstream success, and by the 2010s, it began to heavily influence the work of established Western artists and producers, which has helped to further bring the genre into the Western music mainstream.[5][6][7]”...

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INFORMATION ABOUT RED RAT
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Rat
"Wallace Wilson (born 17 January 1978), better known by the stage name Red Rat, is a Jamaican dancehall reggae recording and performing artist.[1] He was born in Saint Ann's Bay, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica.[1] He is known for his up-beat music, comical style, and signature catch phrase "Oh, No!".

Wilson's father was the guitarist for Byron Lee & the Dragonaires and two of his older brothers were professional musicians before him.[1]

Red Rat's debut album, Oh, No.. It's Red Rat (1997) featured songs such as "Shelly Ann", "Dwayne", "Tight-up Skirt", "Cruise" (featured in the movie The Big Hit), and "Big Man, Little Yute". It became one of the best selling records from Greensleeves Records.”...

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From http://www.loopjamaica.com/content/where-are-they-now-red-rat-pushing-substance-over-hype Dancehall veteran Red Rat has continued to remain relevant in the music after 21 years.
"These days, he lives overseas in Florida and is currently working hard in the Spanish market not only as a recording artiste, but also as a producer and a writer with his business partner Pascalle. Together, they are the co-owners in the label Infinity Moguls Inc, which is an independent record label based in South Florida."...

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE
Here's an explanation for the word "red" in the stage name "Red Rat":
In the Caribbean the referent "red" refers to a light skinned Black person. The comparable term in the United States is "yellow", although it's not socially acceptable to use that referent for Black Americans. The American term "red bone" has a different meaning than the Caribbean term "red". "Red bone" means a Black person with a reddish tinge to their skin.

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SHOWCASE EXAMPLES
Example #1: Big Man Little Yute + Lyrics


TeLeVisiN, Published on Jul 2, 2008

A blast from da past.......
-snip-
This song's lyrics are found in the summary of that sound file. However, I prefer the copy of those lyrics from https://www.lyricsofsong.com/lyrics/goofy-big-man-little-youth-lyrics-_om96.html as that site give more information about who is singing which line.

LYRICS: BIG MAN LITTLE YUTE
Intro:
Goofy:
She told me, after she loved me, she'd never love another
Red Rat:
And she told me, she want a splendid first temoulcious lover

Chorus:
Red Rat:
A mi she want, you nah see how mi cute
Goofy:
A big man she want, she nah want nah little yute (oh no)
Red Rat:
A mi she want, look how mi brown and slim
Goofy:
A muscle man she want, dats why mi start go a gym (oh no)

Repeat

Verse 1:
Red Rat:
Aye Goofy,
Mi definitely know sey a mi she a look (bo)
She want di new prince she nah want nah old boops (bo)
Dis little red bwoy nah tell lies,
She tell mi sey yah really wotless fi ya size

Goofy:
Little bwoy,
She nah waan you, cause she nah able (a lie)
For nobaddi sey she a rob di cradle (aye)
Worst of all look how yuh maaga and feeble (aye)
And she sey ya only got a little needle (and a lie you a tell)

Red Rat:
Mi know she woulda love feel di little bwoy energy
Cause from wha day mi notice she penny mi
She sey di guiness and she mash you fi sip it up
Cause she know sey di big bwoys caan keep it up

Goofy:
Bwoy mi nah really know what you a tink
But look fi ya self, if a nah mi she a wink
Look how mi mek she a blush, till she turn pink (suppen inna yah eye)
Now she want mi fi fill up her pen with mi ink (aye cho)

Verse 2:
Red Rat:
Talk to dem now

Goofy:
She nah stop admire, di way mi attire
And mi cologne set her heart on fire
Hear mi out Iyah, mi she desire (aye)
Its best if you retire

Red Rat:
Aye, she sey mi own profile, bashment hairstyle, child
Mek she get wild
Worst she direct, she look inna mi dreary eye, oh my (what yah know)

Goofy:
All you a gwan, she sey you was a saps
So its best if yah cool little Chaps (aye)
Cause she just show yah the ting an yah collapse (check dis out)
Now you ask her fi hold it locka drops (Goofy, aye)

Red Rat:
Ah mi eyes mi use man dem, smile mi use grab dem
Dun talk, we aggo see who got dem
Aye, aye, you a, aye

Verse 3:
Red Rat:
We love fi sey

Goofy :
Tonight we aggo see, a who she want

Red Rat:
Mi feel sey a mi, cause she close to har Aunt

Goofy:
No disrespect but hear mi out brother
Mi gone inna business with her mother

Red Rat:
And mi and her use to play dolly house together

Goofy:
But now she get big, a mi a give her di pleasure

Red Rat:
You only get a choops
Dat mean you is a floops
Go away, she tek yah fi a wotless boops, aye

Repeat Chorus 3x

Verse 4:
Goofy:
Every night she walks right in my dreams (oh no)

Red Rat:
The girl is mine

Goofy:
The girl is mine

Red Rat:
The girl is mine

Goofy:
Um, um, that buffulous girl is mine (only mine)

Red Rat:
Oh no, she's mïne
Aye
-snip-
None of the lyrics for this song that I've found online exactly fit the record's version which has the chorus in between some of the different verses.

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Example #2: Big Man Little Yute-Red Rat ft Goofy



dtm727, Published on Mar 4, 2011
-snip-
Here are some comments from the discussion thread for this sound file, with numbers added for referencing purpose only:

1. RON Aldo the 1st, 2016
"I love this track big up red rat!"

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2. André BM, 2016
"classic! 🔥🔥🔥🔥"

**
3. ganja planter, 2016
"mad comments about naseem hamed lol good tune despite him using it funny seeing so many people knowing this just from him though lol"
-snip-
"Mad" here means "a lot of" (many)

**
4. high life, 2018
"Who tf is Prince naseem?"

**
REPLY
5. dante laufter, 2018
"Really? A famous boxer from 90's. Watch his entrance against Kevin Kelly with this music it's funny as awesome"

**
6. Alexandra Green, 2018
"Tune!!!😁😎"

**
7. Joe Hanson, 2018
"One of the best dancehall song ever 🔥🔥🔥🎤"

**
8. grace segirinya, 2019
"This combination was impressive.The two artists are rhyming well.Un like this days where collaborations donot correspond.I remember this high school days when we used to rhyme using this trucks.Big up to my old boys in high school."

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STANDARD ENGLISH MEANING FOR SEVERAL JAMAICAN PATOIS WORDS THAT ARE FOUND IN RED RAT'S SONG "BIG MAN LITTLE YUTE"*
aggo = are going to

bashment - something wicked (positive connotation)

bwoy - boy

choops - light kiss (2) small amount (or toops)

dat = that

dis = this

fi = to (used for expressing direction or motion or direction toward something)

fi = for [?]

gwan = 1. go away or 2. go on

inna = into

maaga= skinny

mek = make

sey = say

tink= think

waan = want

Yute = youth
-snip-
Most of these definitions are from urbandictionary.com. and jamaicanpatois.com. Additions and corrections are welcome.

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Good Lord (Run Old Jeremiah) Ring Shout

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post includes a song file & lyrics of the ring shout "Good Lord" (also known as "Run Old Jeremiah").

The content of this post is presented for historical, educational, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

My thanks to the unknown composer/s of that song. My thanks also to the vocalists who sung this song & the collectors who recorded and published this song.

Thanks also to the producers of these featured sound files & videos.

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INFORMATION ABOUT RING SHOUTS
From http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5759/:
"“Run Old Jeremiah”: Echoes of the Ring Shout

Spirituals and work songs, rooted in both the slavery era and the West African societies from which most African-American slaves were originally taken, provided cultural sustenance to African Americans in the midst of intense racial oppression. Folklorists first began collecting traditional southern music in the late-19th century. By the 1920s and 1930s, John and Alan Lomax were recording southern musicians (African-American, white, and Mexican-American) for the Library of Congress. “Run, Old Jeremiah,” sung by Joe Washington Brown and Austin Coleman in Jennings, Louisiana, in 1934, was a ring-shout, a religious song using a West African dance pattern, where the performers shuffled single file, clapping out a complex counter-rhythm. The ring-shout was common during slavery and remained popular well into the 20th century as a means of emotional and physical release during religious worship. The lyrics of the ring-shout spoke of escape from the travails of the present."

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LYRICS OF "GOOD LORD" (RUN OLD JEREMIAH)
[composer/s unknown]

Likely lyrics:

By myself. (5)
You know I've got to go.
You got to run.
I've got to run.
You got to run.
By myself. (3)
I got a letter, (2)
Ol' brownskin.
Tell you what she say.
"Leavin' tomorrow,
Tell you goodbye."
O my Lordy. (6)
Well, well, well. (2)
O my Lord. (2)
O my Lordy. (2)
Well, well, well. (2 )
I've got a rock.
You got a rock.
Rock is death.
O my Lordy.
O my Lord.
Well, well, well.
Run here, Jeremiah. (2)
I must go
On my way. (4)
Who's that ridin' the chariot? (2)
Well, well, well . . .

(New Leader:)

One mornin'
Before the evening
Sun was goin' down (3)
Behind them western hills. (3)
Old number 12
Comin' down the track. (3)
See that black smoke.
See that old engineer.
See that engineer. (2)
Tol' that old fireman
Ring his ol' bell
With his hand.
Rung his engine bell. (2)
Well, well, well. (2 )
Jesus tell the man,
Say, I got your life
In My Hand;
I got your life
In My Hand. (2 )
Well, well, well.
0l' fireman told,
Told that engineer,
Ring your black bell,
Ding, ding, ding,
Ding, ding, ding, ding.
0l' fireman say
——?—- -
——?—- -
——?—- -
That mornin',
Well, well, well, (2)
0l' fireman say,
Well, well,
I'm gonna grab my
Old whistle too.
Wah, wah, ho,
Wah, wah, wah, wah, ho,
Wah, wah, ho,
Wah, wah, wah, ho. (etc.)
Mmmmmmm
Soon, soon, soon,
Wah——— -o.
Well, well, well,
0l' engineer,
I've got your life
In my hands. (2)
Tol' your father, (2)
Well, well, well,
I was travellin', (2)
I was ridin' (3)
Over there. (2)
Ol' engineer.
This is the chariot. (2)

Source: Afro-American Spirituals, Work Songs, and Ballads, ed. Alan Lomax (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress Archive of Folk Song, AFS L3). Sung by Joe Washington Brown and Austin Coleman at Jennings, Louisiana, 1934. Recorded by John A. and Alan Lomax.
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5759/:

FEATURED SOUND FILE

Ring Shout: Good Lord (Run Old Jeremiah)



Uploaded by reverendmeds on Mar 30, 2011

By Austin Coleman, Joe Washington Brown & Group.
Alan Lomax field recording, 1934

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RELATED LINK
http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/05/african-american-ring-shouts-origins.html

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