Editing Dancehall (section)

===Origination from the DJ scene===
Sound systems and the development of other musical technology heavily influenced dancehall music. The music was needed to "get where the radio didn't reach" because Jamaicans often were outside without radios.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Henriques|first=Julian|author-link=Julian Henriques|date=2008|title=Sonic diaspora, vibrations, and rhythm: thinking through the sounding of the Jamaican dancehall session|url=http://research.gold.ac.uk/4259/1/HenriquesSonicDiaspora%2A%2A.pdf|journal=African and Black Diaspora|volume=1|issue=2|pages=215–236|doi=10.1080/17528630802224163|s2cid=14966354|via=Routledge: Taylor and Francis Group|access-date=2019-09-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221054807/http://research.gold.ac.uk/4259/1/HenriquesSonicDiaspora**.pdf|archive-date=2019-02-21|url-status=live}}</ref> Yet they eventually found their way into the streets. However, because the audience of dancehall sessions were lower-class people, it was extremely important that they be able to hear music. Sound systems allowed people to listen to music without having to buy a radio. Therefore, the dancehall culture grew as the use of technology and sound systems got better.
[[File:Dizzy Dee & Dancehall artist Slicker 1.jpg|thumb|Dizzy Dee & Slicker]]
The Jamaican dancehall scene was one created out of creativity and a desire for accessibility, and one that is inseparable from sound system culture. The term 'Dancehall', while now typically used in reference to the specific and uniquely Jamaican genre of music, originally referred to a physical location. This location was always an open-air venue from which DJs and later "Toasters", a precursor to MCs, could perform their original mixes and songs for their audience via their sound systems.<ref>Henriques, J. (2008). Sonic diaspora, vibrations, and rhythm: thinking through the sounding of the Jamaican dancehall session. African and Black Diaspora, 1(2), 215–236.</ref> The openness of the venue paired with the innately mobile nature of the sound system, allowed performers to come to the people. Inner city communities were able to gather for fun and celebration. It was all about experiencing a vibrant and trendsetting movement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harris |first=Michael Sean |date=2022-08-26 |title=Beyond dancehall: Exploring its influences, impact, and identity |url=https://splice.com/blog/beyond-dancehall/ |access-date=2023-12-09 |website=Blog {{!}} Splice |language=en-US}}</ref>

[[Krista Thompson (art historian)|Krista Thompson]]'s book ''Shine'' further expresses the experience of this trendsetting movement and how particularly women were able to confront gender ideologies to enact change. The use of video light specifically was a way to express  oneself and seek visibility in the social sphere in order to be recognized as citizens in a postcolonial Jamaican society.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Thompson |first=Krista |title=Shine |publisher=Duke University Press |year=2015}}</ref>

At the onset of the dancehall scene, sound systems were the only way that some Jamaican audiences might hear the latest songs from a popular artist. Through time, it transformed to where the purveyors of the sound systems were the artists themselves and they became whom the people came to see along with their own original sounds. With the extreme volume and low bass frequencies of the sound systems local people might very well feel the vibrations of the sounds before they could even hear them, though the sound itself did travel for miles.<ref>Natal, B. (2009). Dub echoes. Soul Jazz Records, 1.</ref> This visceral sensory pleasure acted as an auditory beacon, redefining musical experience.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Henriques|first=Julian|date=July 2008|title=Sonic diaspora, vibrations, and rhythm: thinking through the sounding of the Jamaican dancehall session|journal=African and Black Diaspora|language=en|volume=1|issue=2|pages=215–236|doi=10.1080/17528630802224163|s2cid=14966354|issn=1752-8631|url=https://research.gold.ac.uk/4259/1/HenriquesSonicDiaspora%2A%2A.pdf|access-date=2020-08-29|archive-date=2019-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190221054807/http://research.gold.ac.uk/4259/1/HenriquesSonicDiaspora**.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

Jamaica was one of the first cultures to pioneer the concept of remixing. As a result, production level and sound system quality were critical to Jamaica's budding music industry. Since many locals couldn't afford sound systems in their home, listening to one at a dance party or at a festival was their entry into audible bliss. Stage shows were also an entry for exposing artists to bigger audiences.<ref name=":12"/>

Writer Brougtton and Brewster's book ''[[Last Night a DJ Saved My Life (book)|Last Night a DJ Saved My Life]]'' states that sound systems were a product of Jamaican social lifestyle. The success of music wasn't just in the hands of one person anymore, it was a factor of the DJ, speaking poetic words to the audience, the Selector, harmonizing beats in an aesthetically pleasing way, and the Sound Engineer, wiring the sound systems to handle deeper and louder bass tones. Music became a factor of many elements and the physicality of that sound was a strategic puzzle left for musicians to solve.<ref name="Brewster, Bill 2014" />