PassaPassa is a term coined by Carl Shelley, it is a name given to a block party that originated in Kingston, Jamaica. These parties have spread throughout all the Caribbean and the world. The party usually gets going around 1am and can go straight through until 8am or longer. The first passa passa party was said to have happened on Ash Wednesday in 2003, and is still happening worldwide today.
If you attend a PassaPassa party you will eat caribbean food such as rice and peas, oxtail, curry, bbq chicken and drink lots of liquor and beer. You will hear dancehall music all night and get to see some amazing amateur and professional dancers perform. PassaPassa events are usually filmed and made into DVD for mass distribution, which has helped spread its popularity to the world. There are currently Passa Passa parties happening all over North America weekly, and its popularity has spread to Europe and even Japan.
The main focus of any passapassa party are the dancers. Both men and women alike dress up in their best party outfits and spend the night dancing their hardest and showing off to each other. Much of the dancing includes sexually suggestive grinding and sometimes imitates performing sex acts themselves. There have been people who have criticized this, saying it is demeaning to women, that the only way for them to gain acceptance from the men in the crowd is to perform these dances. Others will say it is just men and women getting together and having the time of their lives and getting loose. There are also groups of friends who form dance troupes, performing complex, high energy routines to their favorite riddims.
The music of passapassa is called dancehall. It originated as a mix of African, American blues and Jamaican folk rhythms, evolving from the spiritual roots reggae of the 70’s to a more aggressive and technical sounding music that it it today. It is highly danceable, but can sometimes contain lyrics that some find offensive. All the tracks and riddims are layed down by the dj, known as the selecta.
If you do attend a passapassa party, be sure to indulge in tasting some of the food available. Rice and peas are a staple to any caribbean diet, it is white rice mixed with red kidney beans, coconut milk, and herbs to taste. It is eaten with fish, curry chicken or goat, or oxtail. Jerk chicken is one of the most popular jamaican foods, it is chicken with a spicy sauce ranging from mild to extra spicy, which is almost guaranteed to burn your tastebuds.
It is impossible to put into words the vibe that happens at a passapassa party, with the music, dancing and food, you get a true sense of Jamaican life, whether you are on the island or in a club in your local city.