Street dances fill an important role in providing entertainment and an expressive outlet for Kingston's poorest. Sound clashes are held often, during which each sound attempts to outperform the other, with the ultimate judge being the crowd, which expresses approval with hands raised in the air as if firing a pistol, accompanied by the requisite shouts of "braap, braap, braap, braap!" or "pam, pam, pam!" These sounds grew on the coattails of King Tubby, among the biggest sound system personalities of all time. Street dances like Passa Passa foster the development of DJ artistry, providing a venue for the different sound systems to flex and clash, like the ever-popular Stone Love, Renaissance, Black Chiney, or Razz and Biggy. While a number of different sounds vie for the top ranking at clubs and stage shows, historically they were the voice of the street dance, having replaced the African drums of yesteryear.Ī sound generally comprises a few individual selectors who form a team to blast the latest dancehall tunes, using equipment that ranges from a home stereo system at max output for those just starting out, to the most sophisticated equipment operated by the more established names. Jamaican sound systems have grown in conjunction with reggae music and dancehall, one giving voice in the street to the other's lyrical prowess and social commentary from inside the studio. Jamaica's musicians responded by bringing traditional mento and calypso rhythms to the R&B and pop tunes the people were demanding, ultimately giving birth to the ska, rocksteady, reggae, and dancehall genres. Starting out as little more than a set of speaker boxes on wheels, the sounds would set up at different points around town or arrive in rural areas to feed a thirst created by the advent of radio in the country in 1939, which brought American popular music, whetting Jamaica's appetite for new sounds. Sound systems fostered the development of Jamaican music.