Sister Nancy Talks New Documentary & Why Jay-Z’s 2017 ‘Bam Bam’ Sample Is Her Favorite: ‘He Did the Right Thing, Everybody Else Was Cheap’ 

A little over 40 years ago, Sister Nancy — widely considered the first female dancehall DJ — released a song that would transcend genre, her home country of Jamaica and time itself: “Bam Bam.” 

Built around a sample of Ansell Collins’ “Stalag 17” riddim, “Bam Bam” is arguably the most sampled and recognizable dancehall song in music history. From Jay-Z‘s “Bam” and Ye’s “Famous” to Ms. Lauryn Hill’s “Lost Ones” and Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts,” Sister Nancy’s commanding timbre — as well as the song’s infectious melody and alluring brass — has proven irresistible to generations of musicians across genres and regions. In 2024, Janelle Monáe’s The Age of Pleasure, on which Sister Nancy is both featured (“The French 75”) and sampled (“Water Slide”), earned a Grammy nomination for album of the year. 

Sister Nancy’s breakthrough hit initially appeared on her 1982 debut album, One, Two, garnering far more notoriety internationally than in Jamaica. Though not a chart hit upon its release, the song has grown into an indisputable classic around the world, a perennial musical announcement of summer’s arrival. Since 1991, when Luminate began electronically tracking music sales, “Bam Bam” has garnered over 185.4 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 329,000 digital downloads. Sister Nancy relocated to New Jersey in 1996 — and didn’t put out another album until 2007’s Sister Nancy Meets Fireproof — but the undying legacy of “Bam Bam” helped influence several new generations of female dancehall DJs, including icons like Lady Saw (now Minister Marion Hall), Macka Diamond, Spice and Shenseea. By 2016, she retired from her accounting job to return to the stage and her pursuit of music. 

A few decades removed from the release of “Bam Bam,” Sister Nancy, 63, finally seized the opportunity to tell her remarkable story on her own terms, resulting in a new documentary titled Bam Bam: The Story of Sister Nancy. Written and directed by Oya Media Group founder Alison Duke, the documentary follows the arc of Sister Nancy’s life and career, culminating in her victorious battle to win back years of unpaid royalties due to unauthorized samples, through tour performances, interviews, reenactments and archival footage. The film, an official selection at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, is yet another innovative step forward by Sister Nancy on behalf of all women in dancehall, a physical space and musical genre that can be flagrantly misogynistic. 

“If it’s mine, I am going to fight for it,” she stresses to Billboard. “It’s either I win or lose, but I have to try. And I implore all women to do the same thing. If it’s just sitting there and you haven’t claimed it, you’re going to lose it. And I’m not going to lose.” 

Earlier this year, Sister Nancy teamed up with iconic dub music producer Mad Professor for her newest album, Armageddon. The eight-track offering arrived on Sept. 12, a few months before the dancehall innovator is set to headline The Brooklyn Monarch on Dec. 11. 

Below, Sister Nancy speaks with Billboard about her new documentary, why she “really appreciated” the way Jay-Z went about sampling “Bam Bam” and her hopes for the genre’s current iteration.

When did the idea of a documentary first come about? 

My longtime agent was insisting that I write a book, and I was like, “Mi nuh have time for it. Mi nuh write no book!” Then he said I should give someone the opportunity to write about me, and mi seh, “Who? Who yuh fi get fi write bout meh?” He said he could get someone, and he introduced me to [Oya Media founder and Bam Bam director] Alison Duke — and she fell in love with me. [Laughs.] She told me, “I’ve been listening to you in basement parties, I never thought I’d get a chance to meet you!” I felt comfortable with her and knew [the whole endeavor] was worth my while, so I just went ahead with the documentary. 

What was it like to finally see the final cut of the documentary? 

Every time [Duke did] something different, she always showed it to me. And she traveled the whole world with me, so I had an idea of what the film would look like before it was finished. It’s just a plain documentary; everything you see is one take because I don’t repeat myself. I don’t like that. Catch me when you can!  I have the documentary on my phone so I can watch it every day. It’s very nice and it’s all about me, so it’s good! 

What’s your favorite scene? 

When I sprayed the perfume between my legs. [Laughs.] I was in my bedroom and this guy kept following me. I said, “You don’t have to follow me everywhere, I’m going to the bathroom! You’re going to come in there?” And he said, “Yes, Nancy, I’m going to come in there.” When I put my clothes on in my bedroom, I always spray my hair. This time, I did a joke and sprayed it in between my legs too. 

What’s your favorite song that samples “Bam Bam?” 

[2017’s] “Bam” by Jay-Z [and Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley]. The reality of him taking me with him to shoot the video in Jamaica was amazing. I really appreciated that. Everybody has sampled the song, but he chose to take me with him. Jay-Z is my No. 1. He did the right thing. Everybody else was cheap; they didn’t even think about me. At the time, I had just left my accounting job at the bank, so it meant a lot. 

When did you first hear an unauthorized sample of “Bam Bam”? 

Many years before I even came to live in [the United States], I heard “Bam Bam” on Kris Kross’ [1993 song] “I’m Real.” I’ve been coming here since 1980, but I migrated here in 1996. When I finally arrived, the first place I heard “Bam Bam” was in the 1998 Belly movie. 

[The legal fight for compensation] started in 2014 after I heard the song playing in a Reebok commercial. I was in my bedroom, my daughter was in the living room, and she said, “Mommy, look at this!” I saw this Australian girl [model Miranda Kerr] all over the television, and I thought, “They’ve been doing so much with my song, and I can’t even buy a pack of cigarettes.” I couldn’t even buy a Heineken, which I used to love so much.  

Working my 9-5 at the bank was rough, and my daughter was in high school at the time. I had to depend on my mother so much as well; I’m so sorry she’s not here to reap what she sowed — because I didn’t sow it, she did. 2014 is when I decided to fight for what is mine. And nobody complained, because they knew I deserved it. They basically just gave me what I was owed.

What was that moment like when you got that first check? 

As soon as I get it, it finished! It was 90,000 pounds, man. My attorney talked to the publishing company, and the process wasn’t hard. They knew I had never been compensated for 32 years. I have to give thanks to Almighty God because without him, it wouldn’t be possible for me to stop working and do the thing I love best, which is performing. I know I’m a great performer; I love to tour the world. Di people dem love me! 

Where’s your favorite place you’ve ever performed? 

[Outside of] Jamaica… California and Rome. I love those places. 

Why do you think overseas audiences initially latched onto “Bam Bam” before Jamaicans did? 

I don’t know, but I’ve never really heard it played [in Jamaica]. The only time I heard it was when I did it live at Sting in 1990. I ain’t never hear “Bam Bam” really played. They like “One Two.” “Bam Bam” is not my favorite song on my first album, but it’s a song that has made a way for me and I really cherish it. It’s my signature song, but it’s not the best song for me. “Roof Over Mi Head” is my song.  My mom is the breadwinner, so I love it. 

Do you actively mentor any younger female artists in the dancehall space? 

Every single one of them. Some will not tell you, because women are like that. I even mentor men, because I have a lot of men I used to listen to when I was younger.  But I was there. I did it in that dancehall, so all the women after me could do it like that. They have to listen to Sister Nancy at one point or another.  

My mentor was my older brother, Brigadier Jerry. I also used to listen to Muma Liza. She was the first [woman] I heard on the radio. She and my brother are the ones who made me want to do this. I’ve never met her because she was not in the dancehall; she was a recording artist. It’s so bad she didn’t get what she deserved. Some of us don’t have the ability, some of us don’t have the drive, and some of us don’t have that ting in us to fight — but I was born a fighter. 

When you think of the current dancehall space, what words come to mind? 

It’s never been 100% the way I wanted it from 1982, but it’ll never be the same thing. Everybody haffi do their own thing. Whatever helps you gain is what I think they’re going to do. If the artists and the DJs choose to do profanity music, they do so because it works for them. I can’t tell them not to do it. I just know I won’t do it. 

[Dancehall] music is going a way that I don’t like sometimes, but that’s why I am here: to make sure it stays focused and to make sure it stays the way I like to see it with the roots and the culture at the center. You can’t have everybody leaning towards one thing. The music right now doesn’t bother me, people will see which one lives longer. Too much of one thing is good for nothing. And I’m here as a testament to that. I am still here. All of these ladies come and go, and Sister Nancy is still here. I’m the beginning, and if you start it, you haffi finish.