Sting, it appears, has always been a show for Ninjaman, whether it is for clashes, handing over a gun or sheer showmanship. Long before he was running into a cartel around Vybz Kartel in 2003, Ninjaman was involved in real clashes, where lyrics, not numbers, counted.
By Mel Cooke"My first big clash (on Sting) was wid Red Dragon, Flourgon an' Junior Demus. Mi tell Demus fi come outta it, me an yu come from St. Mary," Ninjaman said, saying that he went on to win that 1988 clash.
Two years later, with Shabba Ranks riding high on an overseas contract, he was slaughtered at the National Stadium, Ninjaman declaring at one point, "I gwine have to teach my own student an' kill it in front a de people dem." He did just that, but it is not something that he is proud of.
"Dat a not even one I like talk bout. It no suppose to go on. Afta me an Shabba a come from cut-off pants an' lean-boot days, me no want it. Some people boots it mek it haffi gwaan," Ninjaman said, looking solemn as he spoke to THE STAR outside Exodus Studio on Red Hills Road, St. Andrew.
"Me no feel happy bout it. Me is a man weh rate Shabba," Ninja said.
The clash in 1991 with Supercat, in which the Wild Apache flung back a bottle into the crowd at the National Stadium with force, was a different matter.
"Yu see Supercat now, is a clash me did well waan see. A de greates' competition me eva go inna. A de only deejay mek me knee trimble three time," Ninjaman said. "Him entry, place no good. 'Killing p...y', me sey b..t, half a Stadium me see tan up. Supercat 'ave some b.....t talk. When him go inna him bad man talk ongly ting yu can do a tek out yu gun an point it inna 'im face an' yu cyaa do dat a Stadium," Ninjaman said.
The turning point of that clash came when Supercat quoted a scripture and Ninjaman pounced with "Bible yu a go inna Cat?" and reeled off one, followed by a killing lyric. "Any war yu go inna an' yu get nervous, draw fi God. God carry yu tru," Ninjaman said.
And there is also a certain mindset that he operates with. "Dem (other deejays) enter fi clash wid Ninjaman. I don' clash wid dem. I enter like ow Olympian enter Olympics. Me go pon de stage as me a represent Jamaica. Whenever Ninjaman do sometin dat is good me do it fi mi country, not Ninjaman," he said.
