For over three decades, Ting-A-Ling has stood as one of Shabba Ranks’ signature tracks, and the popular song marks its 32nd anniversary this year.
Born Rexton Gordon, Shaba Ranks’s flamboyancy and energy made him a standout performer in both the local and international 1980s and 1990s Dancehall scene. Following the release of successful tracks like Mr. Lover Man and Twice My Age, the deejay went on to release Ting-A-Ling on his Grammy-winning album X-tra Naked.
Produced by iconic Jamaican producers Wycliffe ‘Steely’ Johnson and Cleveland ‘Clevie’ Browne, Ting-A-Ling samples Bunny Wailer’s nursery rhyme-laden single Back to School. Ting-A-Ling, intern, has been sampled by artistes such as Burna Boy and Nicki Minaj as it sustains its popularity, with the song currently his top streaming track on Apple Music.
Shabba combines both a childish playfulness that fills Ting-A-Ling with 90s childhood nostalgia and the bravado and energy he became well known for. The music video reinforces this with scenes from a school of rowdy students and Shabba Ranks taking to the streets as he declares himself as the general of the “deejay army.”
“Ting-a-ling a ling, Dancehall it swing. DJ ears cock up when him hear boom riddim. Ting-a-ling a ling, School bell a ring. Knife and fork ah fight fi dumpling. Booyaka! Booyaka! Call for Shabba Rankin. Shabba Ranks disappear and tear another man chin. Dem a di don, to di biz we have di key. Put di don to di key and turn him inna donkey,” Shabba sings on the track.
Listen Ting-A-Ling below.
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