3. Charlie Chaplin, “Entertainer”
This deceptively simple-sounding tune paints a descriptive portrait of the city, as seen through the eyes of a first time visitor from Jamaica. A step-by-step recounting of Chaplin’s arrival for a performance here (with, he notes, fellow deejays Nicodemus, Lone Ranger and Brigadier Jerry), “Entertainer” is rich with placemarkers: “The airport where mi land named Laguardia,” “Mi seh the tallest building is World Trade Center,” “Dem have a likkle bridge run underwater/Fi pass that, you pay a dollar, quarter,” etc. But the best part is Chaplin’s contrasting of Jamaican and American terminology: We say spliff but dem say J/We say fish, dem say filet/We say train station, dem say subway/We say forward, dem say replay/We say yes, dem say Awwkayy.