5. Gully Bop
We couldn’t have a list of Artists to Watch for 2015 without including the most hyped “new” dancehall act of the moment, Gully Bop. Now, we must put new in quotations because Gully Bop is actually about 50 years old, and has been around since the ‘90s, when he used to go by the name of Countryman. It’s just his fame that’s new, really. Late last year, the wizened and reportedly once-homeless deejay became a sudden star when a video of him freestyling about how “every gyal wanna wuk offa mi” was spliced over the Punanny riddim, and then re-recorded as the single “Pussy Specialist” (or, as it’s radio-friendly version is known,“Body Specialist”). That led to TV appearances, newspaper covers and ultimately the most talked-about and anticipated appearance at Reggae Sting in December. Gully has continued to feed demand for new music, and he’s scored a minor follow-up hit in “Dem Nuh Bad Like Me,” but time will tell if he truly has staying power, or if he was just a flavor of the month. —Jesse Serwer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5IMOz5VMTY