{"id":8174,"date":"2026-02-09T12:08:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T11:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riddim.world\/?p=8174"},"modified":"2026-03-15T14:37:35","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T13:37:35","slug":"carlene-smith-original-dancehall-queen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riddim.world\/mystaging01\/carlene-smith-original-dancehall-queen\/","title":{"rendered":"Carlene Smith \u2013 Original Dancehall Queen"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It is an icon\u00adic image: dressed in gold \u2013 bal\u00adloon panties with ruf\u00adfles, an off-the-shoul\u00adder, midriff-bar\u00ading top with puffed sleeves, high-heeled over-the-knee boots, heavy jew\u00adellery \u2013 topped with a plat\u00adinum-blonde wig, she dances the \u201dBut\u00adter\u00adfly\u201d to Cha\u00adka Demus & Pli\u00aders\u2019 \u201dMur\u00adder She Wrote.\u201d She was the first Dance\u00adhall Queen, a sex sym\u00adbol of the 1990s cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00aded for her volup\u00adtuous curves. She carved out space for women in dance\u00adhall and shaped the aes\u00adthet\u00adic of artists from Lady Saw to Spice. Togeth\u00ader with Bee\u00adnie Man, she became the first dance\u00adhall pow\u00ader cou\u00adple, con\u00adstant\u00adly fuelling pub\u00adlic fas\u00adci\u00adna\u00adtion. More than 30 years after her coro\u00adna\u00adtion, Ellen K\u00f6h\u00adlings and Pete Lil\u00adly met the style icon.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Text: Ellen K\u00f6h\u00adlings<\/a> & Pete Lil\u00adly<\/a> \/\/\/ Pho\u00adtos: Roy Sweet\u00adland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This arti\u00adcle was first pub\u00adlished in March 2025 (RIDDIM 02\/2025<\/a>).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Some\u00adtimes things sim\u00adply fall into place. For years, we had want\u00aded to inter\u00adview Car\u00adlene Smith, the first Dance\u00adhall Queen, but some\u00adhow our paths nev\u00ader crossed \u2013 some\u00adthing else always seemed more urgent. Then, at the soft launch of Bee\u00adnie Man\u2019s seafood restau\u00adrant Sim\u00adma, she was sud\u00adden\u00adly sit\u00adting at the next table, smil\u00ading at us. Phone num\u00adbers were exchanged with\u00adin min\u00adutes, and just a few days lat\u00ader we found our\u00adselves in the liv\u00ading room of her ter\u00adraced house on a side street off Hope Road. Unex\u00adpect\u00aded\u00adly con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal in its over\u00adall feel, the space nonethe\u00adless bears her unmis\u00adtak\u00adable dance\u00adhall sig\u00adna\u00adture, with plush fur\u00adnish\u00adings and leop\u00adard-print accents through\u00adout. From a shim\u00admer\u00ading oil por\u00adtrait that cov\u00aders almost an entire wall \u2013 as well as from Carlene\u2019s T\u2011shirt \u2013 her sis\u00adter Pinky, who passed away in 2023, gazes back at us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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