a bigoted Bedroom Bully. "Yow,'' the dancehall reggae star tells Lorin Smith,"I'm an artist just struggling to survive.'' A small crowd has gathered in the lobby of the Marriott's Castle Harbour Resort, anxiously awaiting the appearance of Shabba Ranks. Even a number of hotel guests join the curious onlookers hoping to find out what all the commotion is about. Over in a corner of the lobby, a group of young girls are talking excitedly amongst themselves while they wait to catch a glimpse of the Jamaican dancehall king. When Shabba finally appears, accompanied by two burly bodyguards and a small posse, everyone watches in amazement. There he is, in living colour, tall, dark and intriguing, similar to the larger-than-life images we've seen portrayed in his entrancing music videos. He appears somewhat oblivious to the stares and gazes of those who are gathered, although he does stop to sign a few autographs and pose for pictures.

Dressed casually in a multi-coloured shirt and dark designer pants, Shabba's laid-back fashion-conscious look is topped off by a large diamond clustered ring on his left pinkie finger and an equally conspicuous solid gold and diamond bracelet, as thick as handcuffs, on his left wrist. The man is living large these days and the material trappings of his success are clearly visible for all to behold.

"What's happenin'?'' he asks in a thick Jamaican accent as he warmly extends his right hand. "Terence tells me you here to do an interview. Where you wanna do it?'' I motion to a small square table in a secluded area of the hotel's Bayview Lounge and we head off towards the area with his two bodyguards following closely behind. These two 6ft 4ins powerfully-built dudes are definitely not the type you'd welcome encountering alone on a dark street of the American inner city, I can assure you! As Shabba and I take our seats, the bodyguards sit at another table a ways off observing the proceedings.

"Shoot,'' Shabba says with characteristic rudeb'woy swagger. "I'm ready!'' Basking in the glow of his carefully coiffured image as dancehall's number one "loverman'', Shabba reigns supreme as the undisputed king of reggae music.

The most famous Jamaican artist to emerge on to the scene since the death of the legendary Bob Marley in 1981, Shabba has taken dancehall music uptown from its humble origins in Jamaica to large concert halls and arenas across the United States and throughout Europe, Africa and Asia.

In the process, he has broadened the appeal of the music, won two straight Grammy Awards and earned the respect of music pundits for helping reggae to cross over big time into the urban American market, a feat that even Bob Marley failed to accomplish during his lifetime.

Asked to explain the reason for his phenomenal success, Shabba points out that he really has a very simple formula. "Women are my biggest fans, so yow, I set out to please them. I feel if I can make a woman smile, then I can make a nation smile. If you please a woman, you please a whole generation. Once I do that, Shabba is assured of success,'' he says chuckling.

But, it's not just women who have elevated this 26-year-old to his present status as a musical superstar. Men, too, identify with the sensually hypnotic rhythms and the robust, in-your-face virility of Shabba's music and the image of the all-conquering, female seducer often portrayed in his music videos.

Yet, despite the widespread appeal and acceptance of Shabba'smusic, there are those in the Caribbean community who view dancehall, with its emphasis on gun talk, machismo, sex and money, as promoting decadence amongst island youth.

And Shabba in particular has repeatedly come under fire for his own X-rated lyrics, which are referred to as "slackness'' in Jamaican music circles.

How does he respond to the criticism? "I respond by saying `just watch the result of what is happening.' Put it like this,'' he points out, "there are seven brothers, there be seven different minds, seven different ways of thinking. So, if people be saying this is all slackness, then whatever they wanna say, just watch the result. They say it's slackness, but I say there's bigga slackness within this world that people don't even say anything about.

Apartheid is the biggest slackness and racism is much crueller than slackness.

It's eviler and no one complains about that, or tries to stampede or stop it.

But music, they're trying to stop music,'' he insists, while shaking his head in amazement.

With dancehall moving beyond the relatively safe confines of Jamaica into the larger, more lucrative American market, it will inevitably invite more intense scrutiny than ever before. Rappers in the US, for an example, have been taken to task over the overt sexual content of their music and for the use of words like `bitch' and `ho' (whore) in their songs which are considered degrading to women. Also, the images of half-clad, young women shaking their bodies in rapturous delight is one that many women find offensive and sexually exploitive. However, when it comes to his music Shabba feels he operates on a totally different level.

"Yow, I have never called a woman a whore, a bitch or a slut in any of my songs. I will never disrespect the sisters,'' he claims. "I was taught respect by my momma. What I do is say things women want to hear, how they want to be treated by their men. I be giving them what they want.'' But, lately, Shabba's outspoken views have landed him in hot water. At one time considered a darling of the American entertainment circuit -he's wooed audiences on the Arsenio Hall Show and generated publicity in the mainstream press such as Newsweek and Time magazine - Shabba has suddenly become persona non grata as result of his statement in support of fellow Jamaican dancehall artist, Buju Banton's controversial song Boom Bye Bye, which advocates the killing of gays.

Though he later apologised and attempted to clear up his comments, Shabba is still feeling the affects of his controversial remarks.

"Yes, there's been a lot of affect on me, most definitely, because the music has stopped being played and I've been eliminated from shows that I was due to appear on because of the statement I made,'' he says as his voice drops to a whisper.

In hindsight, does he regret making the statement? "Yow, I do not advocate the killing of anyone for their sexual preference and I'm not here to judge anyone. Each to his own. You to your beliefs and I to my belief. If they wanna stop the progress of my life because of things I said, for believing in who has created me and gives me great strength and power to do what I'm doing, then I can't stop them from doing what they wanna do. Such is life, man, such is life. But, I leave all judgment to God. I leave it to God.'' As the most widely-recognised figure in Jamaican music, Shabba sees his role as that of a facilitator, carrying on the musical legacy that was begun by Bob Marley. "I'm just here to see that people accept the music as never before and it's like a relay be running,'' he points out. "Bob Marley was the first leg, so I'm running the second leg. I be not trying to do what Bob do cause I could never do what he do. He did the greatest part of it, but I'm here to make sure that people reckon me and others after me.'' Shabba also speaks with particular delight about the way in which reggae music has helped to break down longstanding cultural barriers and stereotypes.

"Reggae has helped to break down much barriers that have been up years ago.

Y'know, in the Sixties, brothers in America would never take time out to show appreciation for a Caribbean brother, or a brother from the islands,'' he asserts. "They used to term Caribbean people as monkeys,or banana boat people or coconut-headed people. But, now with dancehall, rap and R&B coming together, that is all changing. There's new respect coming through the music.

If we can put our music together, then we can unite and be much stronger.'' The pairing of Shabba with recognised, chart-topping artists like Maxi Priest and Johnny Gill has made his music more receptive to urban radio programmers and helped to accelerate the acceptance of his music amongst a broader segment of the African-American community. But, as far as future collaborations are concerned, Shabba claims he'll concentrate on working with his own countrymen back home in Jamaica.

"I'm going back to Jamaica and I think I'll be collaborating more with artists out of Jamaica.'' He insists that his decision has nothing to do with his changing fortunes in the United States, however. "No, that has been in my thinking before my second album was finished. I've always been based in Jamaica and everything concerning Shabba is rooted in Jamaica. If it happens that I should have to leave Jamaica, I ain't going to America to live. I'll go to Africa first,'' he explains. "I'm not paying no high price for no high company. It ain't all about fame. It's about keeping connected with my roots and my brethren. I ain't leaving Jamaica for no where else in this world,'' he asserts.

For Shabba, winning a second straight Grammy (for the album X-tra Naked) is more than a personal accomplishment. It's also an acknowledgement that dancehall has finally earned respect in the music industry. "The second Grammy shows we ain't working for nothing. It proves we are working for something,'' he maintains. "The first one could be termed luck, or a buck-up, but the second one shows, yow, if you do much great work within the circuit of the music, the outcome will be great reward, much big-up reward!'' Although the competition within dancehall circles is intensifying with American record companies signing up as many reggae artists as they can discover, Shabba maintains that he's not interested in competing with anyone else. He has a far greater vision in mind.

"I'm not under competition, I'm into promotion. I have standard setting for the music. That's what I'm about. Y'know, it's best to have two rather than one because if I'm the only one, then someone is always gonna be out there trying to slit my throat to obtain the number one position. But, if there be two, where he be looking for his own and I be looking for my own, the circuit and defence of our music will be much stronger. I'm happy for each and everyone that is making their contribution so that the music will be wider accepted,'' he explained.

Now that he has achieved widespread fame and fortune on both sides of the Atlantic, what does Shabba feel is most important that people know about him? He glances away, contemplates, then turns back and responds. "I would like people to know that I'm a human being like anyone else out there, but I'm not an individual to okay wrong doings and hurt anyone. I'm just a human being on the verge of survival,'' he says firmly. "Just trying to survive.'' Freelance writer Lorin Smith contributes regularly to RG Magazine. He wrote about BET founder Robert L.Johnson in last month's issue.