Any conversations concerning the Virgin Islands Sound System industry cannot be authentic without discussing the foundation sound, Doghart International. Pioneering the VI dancehall culture since 1991, Doghart and their contemporaries Calabash and Westline, they set the framework for our dancehall establishment. Doghart International originated in Strawberry Hill, St. Croix with Daddy Babz and Artical Trini. The present members:  originator, manager, and selector, Daddy Babz, Andy Luv (MC), and newer members Lloyd Banks and Lion. CORE speaks to Daddy Babz concerning the sound’s past and present status.

CORE: Doghart was really known as the original VI Rude Boy Sound System, how did this come about?

DB: When I started Doghart there were no real sound systems at the time. Though people in the VI listened to reggae music, dancehall at the time was real hardcore and only a small percentage of people were truly into it. Ghetto youths started to follow and back the sound, plus we were a clashing sound.

CORE: How did you get involved with the dancehall movement at such an early stage?

DB: When I lived in America, I was around a lot of Jamaicans and got involved with a sound called Black Turbo. I was an artist at the time and was performing on the sound, being around Black Turbo gave me the inspiration to come home and start my own sound system.

CORE: I know you have a long list of big dances, can you speak on some of them?

DB: There was Stone Love in 1994, Doghart versus Tek 9, Doghart versus King Barka and King Addies in New York.

CORE: King Addies is a foundation sound for modern day dancehall (the Biltmore Era), and you clashed them in New York. That’s not an easy feat, how did that turn out?

DB: It turned out great, I was well prepared. The massive underestimated us because we are a VI sound. It ended as a draw because we never got to the dub for dub. We got a great response from the Jamaican community and they respected the way we represented the Virgin Islands that night.

CORE: Doghart stopped performing at some point, what was the cause?

DB: I was getting tired of the violence that was plaguing our community and I didn’t want the liability in regards to the cause of violence in and around the dance.

CORE: A couple of years ago it was being said through the grapevine that you were preparing to come out again…

DB: Well the Doghart dub box is at a place where we can take on the industry at any given time. We have all the possible foundation dub plates that any big sound needs, these allow you to play at any time and still be relevant. Most of the new tunes come and go so quickly, but the foundation keeps you going.

CORE: Being in the industry for so long, I know you have some icons in that box…

DB: You know the greats that have come and gone like Culture, Garnett Silk, and Dennis Brown to name a few. Of course, a rude boy sound in the nineties could not be without the great Super Cat, I knew his brother and we got the name from him. The main local DJ that was on the sound was De Apostle, before he started to do his own thing.

CORE: As a known clash sound, how do you see the VI clash scene?

DB: Here in the VI, being a juggling sound will benefit more than a clash sound because the economy does not support the clash thing like the states or Jamaica. The prizes for clashes right now do not make it worth buying the necessary dub plates to compete. For this reason we are concentrating more on the juggling aspect, but we are always ready to switch gears.

CORE: Any words of advice to the younger sounds coming up in the industry?

DB: You have to know how to play for the massive.