‘Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story’ Documentary Set To Premiere At Tribeca Film Festival

The Canada-based OYA Media Group documentary, titled Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story, is set to make its world premiere at the 23rd annual Tribeca Film Festival, which will be held from June 5 to 16 in Manhattan, New York .

The documentary, which is an exploration of the life and legacy of pioneering female Dancehall artist Sister Nancy, is both written and directed by the acclaimed Alison Duke and produced in collaboration with Ngardy Conteh George.

The 98-minute feature will be unveiled in the categories of Women, Documentary, Music, Biography, Black and African American Diaspora Stories, and Expressions of Black Freedom.

The film’s producers spoke highly of Nancy, widely regarded as the first female dancehall deejay, and known for her groundbreaking 1982 hit single Bam Bam.

“Join OYA Media Group as we unveil this electrifying journey through the life and music of a true legend. Sister Nancy’s story will leave you inspired and uplifted. We extend our deepest gratitude to Muma Nancy for entrusting us with her story and to all the contributors and collaborators who helped bring this project to life,” the post noted.

Sister Nancy has been a trailblazer in the music industry, inspiring countless artists and helping to shape the Dancehall genre.

The upcoming film not only features Sister Nancy, but also includes appearances and insights from notable figures in the music industry, among them the legendary Kool Herc, Reggae/Dancehall icons Sister Carol, Queen Ifrica, Tony Rebel and R&B Soul singer, Janelle Monáe.

The producers have also promised that after the premiere screening, there will be a special performance by Sister Nancy with DJ Gravy.

In its introduction of the project, Tribeca extolled the virtues of Bam Bam, Dancehall’s most sampled song, which has been interpolated more than 80 times.

“You know that the iconic track Bam Bam has left a mark on music since taking the industry by storm in 1982, but what do you know of the incredible artist who laid her passionate vocals down to give it life? Sister Nancy is one of the most legendary Dancehall artists to grace a mic, and yet the understanding of her impact and legacy suffers beyond diehards of the genre,” it noted.

“It’s time to rectify that. The song that has become a sample darling and star-making vehicle for many artists now brings into focus the trials, tribulations and rousing success of its original songstress,” it added.

The introduction also heaped praises on Alison Duke, pointing out that her directorial vision and expertise, ensures that Bam Bam not only entertains but also educates and inspires.

“Helmed with a deft touch by Alison Duke, the story provides an opportunity to give Nancy her flowers by way of industry titans like Janelle Monáe, Young Guru and Pete Rock. As efforts to right wrongs (both personal and professional) take center stage, the narrative weaves an indelible look at an artist staunch in their authenticity and fueled by the same resilient vigor that allowed her to become the first woman to break out internationally through Dancehall years ago,” it stated.

The song Bam Bam, was written by the late Toots Hibbert and performed by himself and members of his band which was known only as the Maytals at the time, as their entry in the Government of Jamaica’s National Festival Song Competition, which they won, thus cementing themselves in the annals of Jamaican history.

The theme of Toot’s Bam Bam is about a righteous man, who, if provoked, will not hesitate to defend himself. Bam Bam subsequently became an integral part of Jamaica’s Independence celebrations over the decades and the term, embedded in the Jamaican Patois lexicon.

Over the years, a plethora of famous solo artists, including Sister Nancy, as well as groups, have been found on record to have sampled or covered the song in full.

In August 2020, Toots had said he had instructed a team of intellectual property rights managers to launch a thorough forensic audit to ascertain which entities and individuals had been collecting publishing and royalties, as well as which musicians had covered Bam Bam without giving him requisite credit. Toots had said that despite being the writer, arranger, composer, singer, and being listed as the producer of the original song and as the principal songwriter in the US Copyright Office in Washington DC, he had never received royalties for the track.

Sister Nancy was the first person to do a cover of Bam Bam. Her version was voiced on a rub-a-dub rhythm in 1982 in which she adapted the chorus and altered it to say “this woman never trouble no one; I am a lady not a man” from Toots’ initial “This man I don’t trouble no one; but if you should trouble this man”.

She had also used the entire hook and the altered verses from Toot’s original song, ten times throughout her thirteen stanza version, with only three verses being her own original content.

Toots had told the Jamaica Observer that he had met Nancy at a festival in Europe “years ago” and that “she came to me and told me she never know that it was my song, and the song was done before she was born.”

“At the time, I respected her as an artiste trying to help herself, and this song provided a lot of help for her career. So there’s no ill will, just the business,” he had added.

In an interview with OkayPlayer, Sister Nancy was quoted as saying that she had been collecting royalties from Reebok which used the song (with Toots hook) in a 2014 advertisement. She had also stated that she has also collected royalties for Jay-Z’s use of the song.

Jay-Z had sampled the song in Bam from his 2017 album 4:44 and even travelled to Jamaica to film the music video, which features Sister Nancy.
However, in none of the interviews has she credited the Maytals, or acknowledged that Bam Bam was a Government of Jamaica-commissioned National Festival song.

In an interview with NME, she had noted that: “There was an older song called Bam Bam, so I decided to do a Bam Bam too. I freestyled it. I only wrote it down after.”

Several other notable artists have sampled Bam Bam. In 1992, Chaka Demus & Pliers covered the song in its entirety for their album All She Wrote. Nigerian singer Tiwa Savage sampled the hook in her 2014 remix of Girlie O with Patoranking, while Lauryn Hill used the same rhyme schemes of Bam Bam in her 1998 song Lost Ones from her album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Heavy D & The Boyz sampled the song in their 1992 track Talk Is Cheap while and Junior M.A.F.I.A, featuring Cam’ron and Mase, used it in their 1997 song Young Casanovas.

In 2016, Kanye West sampled Bam Bam in his song Famous featuring Rihanna. Beyoncé also sampled it during live performances of her song Hold Up, the second track from her 2016 album Lemonade.