Meaning
A musical battle between rival sound systems, each playing its best and most exclusive tunes ('dubplates') to win the crowd's favour and 'kill' the other sound. A cornerstone of Jamaican music culture, the clash is judged by the audience's reaction — the wheel-ups, forwards, and roars a sound can pull — and the losing sound is figuratively buried. Fierce, boastful, and full of strategy and showmanship, the sound clash is where selectors and their sounds win or lose their reputations, and it has spread worldwide as a pillar of the culture.
Examples
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Di two sound face off inna a big clash.
The two sounds faced off in a big clash.
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Him drop di dubplate an win di sound clash.
He dropped the dubplate and won the sound clash.
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Di crowd decide who win di clash.
The crowd decides who wins the clash.
Origin
From 'sound' (sound system) plus 'clash' (battle); the competitive heart of sound-system culture, spread worldwide from Jamaica.
How it’s used
A sound-system battle won by crowd reaction; exclusive 'dubplates' are the weapons. See [[dubplate]], [[sound-bwoy]].