NEW YORK'S CHAMPION SOUND: STEELIE
BASHMENT
For the past 17 years, Steelie Bashment has been the name in New York’s
vibrant Reggae/Dancehall music culture. From Steelie Bashment Sound System to
Waah Gwan Internet Radio, to the Annual Steelie Bashment birthday/anniversary
celebrations, Steelie Bashment has grown into a brand synonymous with Caribbean
music, media, and entertainment.
Founded in New York City in1990 by popular selector Dwayne “Steelie
Bashment” McKay, Steelie 
Bashment
Sound System set out on a mission to not only play music, but to be a leading
force in Reggae and Caribbean music entertainment worldwide. With an arsenal of
the best contemporary and vintage tunes spanning the Reggae, Dancehall, Calypso,
Soca, Hip Hop, Rhythm & Blues, Soul, and pop music genres, Steelie Bashment
Sound System has worn New York’s “Sound of the Year” crown for the past 7
years and counting, playing in just about every Caribbean music market around
the globe from North and South America, to Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia .
Capitalizing on their extensive following, Steelie Bashment ventured from
sound system to promoter/event producer with two of New York’s signature
events: Steelie’s annual birthday celebration and the annual Steelie Bashment
Sound Anniversary. Both events feature the ‘toppa top’ local and
international sound systems and entertainers and attract no less than 15,000
patrons.
In 2003 Steelie Bashment launched Waah Gwan Radio, an Internet station that
quickly rose to be a leader in Caribbean media, with DJs and personalities from
Jamaica, Trinidad, and Guyana covering the gamut of Island music and
entertainment. Known as far away as England, Waah Gwan Radio streams live from
6pm to 2am on Weekdays and 24 hours on weekends at http://pr4.netatlantic.com/t/269557/2423423/7227/0/?u=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5zdGVlbGllYmFzaG1lbnQuY29tLw%3d%3d&x=8d0d1219.
Dwayne McKay was born and raised in Brooklyn of Trinidadian and Jamaican
parentage, where he grew up on the sounds of Reggae legends Bob Marley, Peter
Tosh, Gregory Issacs, and Dennis Brown. Before branching out with his own sound
system, he was a selector for a number of local sounds systems including
Spectrum, Stereosonic, Thunderbolt, Super Strong, Afrique, and Addies. Nicknamed
‘Steelie’ for his childhood idol Steely of Silver Hawk Sound and the
production duo Steely & Clevie, he picked up the name ‘Bashment’ from
his days as part of the selector dream team the ‘Bashment Squad’ with fellow
A-List selectors Tony Matterhorn, Super Twitch, and Super Claude. Inspired to
branch out on his own by Matterhorn’s post-Addies success, Steelie maintains
that it was his own drive and hunger for success that kept him at the top for 17
years, and still climbing.
“Steelie is hungry—I want it all,” he states matter-of-factly. “If I
have $100, I want $150; if I have $500, I want $1,000. No matter what, I just
keep going harder and harder.”
