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ENTITY · RECORDING

"007 (Shanty Town)" — Desmond Dekker & The Aces

Well supported

"007 (Shanty Town)," Desmond Dekker & the Aces' 1967 rocksteady hit, drew directly on "rude boy" street culture and gang imagery, helping establish the rude-boy narrative as a recurring theme in Jamaican pop reaching international audiences.

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recording
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Well supported
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Desmond Dekker - 007 (Shanty Town) (Official Audio)

YOUTUBE · rights discovery only · documents

Official youtube upload (channel: Desmond Dekker Official); embedded as a discovery-only reference pending editorial review.

View transcript · 54 lines

Automatic captions — a machine draft pending editorial review.

  1. 0:08you can get it if you really
  2. 0:11you can get it if you really want you can get it if you really
  3. 0:15want you can get it if you really
  4. 0:15want you can get it if you really w't you can get it if you really want
  5. 0:18w't you can get it if you really want
  6. 0:18w't you can get it if you really want but you must try try and try try and
  7. 0:24but you must try try and try try and
  8. 0:24but you must try try and try try and try you succeed at last
  9. 0:31M
  10. 0:34M yeah persecution you must
  11. 0:37yeah persecution you must
  12. 0:37yeah persecution you must be we don't lose you got to get your sh
  13. 0:42be we don't lose you got to get your sh
  14. 0:42be we don't lose you got to get your sh You' got your mind set on a
  15. 0:45You' got your mind set on a
  16. 0:45You' got your mind set on a dream you can get it the hard mes now
  17. 0:49dream you can get it the hard mes now
  18. 0:49dream you can get it the hard mes now you can get it if you really
  19. 0:52you can get it if you really
  20. 0:52you can get it if you really want you can get it if you really want
  21. 0:56want you can get it if you really want
  22. 0:56want you can get it if you really want yeah you can get it if you really want
  23. 1:00yeah you can get it if you really want
  24. 1:00yeah you can get it if you really want you must try try and try try and
  25. 1:05you must try try and try try and
  26. 1:05you must try try and try try and try you succeed at
  27. 1:10last don't you
  28. 1:15know Rome was not built in a
  29. 1:18know Rome was not built in a day opposition will come you
  30. 1:22day opposition will come you
  31. 1:22day opposition will come you way but the hotter the B
  32. 1:26way but the hotter the B
  33. 1:26way but the hotter the B see the sweeter the B we
  34. 1:30see the sweeter the B we
  35. 1:31see the sweeter the B we you can get it if you really
  36. 1:33you can get it if you really
  37. 1:33you can get it if you really want you can get it if you really
  38. 1:37want you can get it if you really
  39. 1:37want you can get it if you really want you can get it if you really want
  40. 1:41want you can get it if you really want
  41. 1:41want you can get it if you really want but you must try try and try try and
  42. 1:46but you must try try and try try and
  43. 1:46but you must try try and try try and try you succeed at last
  44. 2:04you can get it if you really
  45. 2:07you can get it if you really want you can get it if you really
  46. 2:11want you can get it if you really
  47. 2:11want you can get it if you really want you can get it if you really want
  48. 2:14want you can get it if you really want
  49. 2:14want you can get it if you really want but you must try try and try try and
  50. 2:20but you must try try and try try and
  51. 2:20but you must try try and try try and try you succeed at
  52. 2:24last don't you know
  53. 2:30I show
  54. 2:33me don't you
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In stories

Story · Well supportedRude boys in the dock

A mid-1960s moral panic over Kingston's rudies played out, verse by verse, on record.

Story · Well supportedRecords that mark the turns

A starter timeline of songs and albums that help mark changes from shuffle and ska to roots, digital dancehall and global reggae.

Debate & reception

How people argued about the music — praise, criticism and public debate. See all debate & reception →

debate

The rude boy in song: glorifying violence or voicing reality?

Two documented positions on mid-1960s rude-boy records: critics held that songs glamorising the defiant rudie encouraged youth violence, while defenders argued the music voiced the real frustrations of unemployed ghetto youth. Neutral framing; no verdict. Sources: Jamaica Gleaner archive; Lloyd Bradley, Bass Culture.

Stance: records glamorising rudie violence vs voicing the frustrations of unemployed ghetto youth

debate

The rude boy: did ska and rocksteady glamorize the gunman?

Across the ska and rocksteady years, records split sharply over the 'rude boy' figure of the armed Kingston youth. One camp of songs condemned or pleaded with the rudies to stand down (Alton Ellis's 'Cry Tough'/'Dance Crasher', Justin Hinds's 'No Good Rudie', Derrick Morgan's 'Cool Off Rudies'); others celebrated the outlaw style (Desmond Dekker's '007 Shanty Town', Prince Buster's Al Capone persona). Critics and moralists charged that the music romanticized violence, while defenders — and producers like Lee 'Scratch' Perry, who answered Buster's authoritarian 'Judge Dread' — argued the songs documented and even justified youth pushed into crime by a rigged system. The Wailers' 'Simmer Down' is often read as doing both at once: urging restraint while celebrating the toughs. Grounded in Heather Augustyn's skabook 'Real Rude Boys' foundation-ska writing.

Stance: music as social commentary on poverty and injustice vs. music as glorification of criminal violence