The Un-Crowned King of Dance hall, the Legendary Mr. Bogle.

Gerald "Bogle" Levy was born on Aug.22nd 1964. Gerald was a hit at every dance he attended, he quickly earned recognition as a talented dancer. He was one of the founding members of Black Roses Crew, named after the street he lived on, headed by himself and The Legendary Willie Haggard.

Gerald Levy attended a dance thrown by One of Jamaica`s biggest sound systems, Stone Love. It was at this dance that Gerald`s name became a thing of the past. Rory, who is considered to be the best selector on the Stone Love sound system, looked into the crowd and saw a young man dancing and asked "who is dat yout", to which the response was Gerald Levy. Rory moved by the style and fashion of this energetic yout, shouted in reply, " Nah dat yout deh name is Bogle". This name coined by Rory of Stone Love, later went on to become a legend in the dance hall.


By the early 90s Bogle became so greatly recognized as a dancer that his style influenced the music of Jamaica`s very best artists. With the creation of his newest dance which he named after himself in 1990, "The Bogle", he soon took Jamaica`s dances by storm. A year after naming his dance, Jamaica`s rising star Buju Banton recorded a song which brought called attention to Jamaica`s newest dancing sensation and the style and pattern of his dance. The song entitled "Bogle" topped the charts in Jamaica, the Uk, and the States (U.S.A.).


Bogle was so unique that everything he exemplified soon became the trend which the Island of Jamaica expressed through song and dance. Bogle was known to produce catchy phrases which entered the mouths and conversations of dance hall lovers globally. Bogle is credited with inventing the phrase, "Dat ah Toy friend, Not ah Boy friend", a phrase which later found it`s way into the chorus of a song by another rising star in Jamaica, who went by the name Beenie Man. As the years passed Bogle`s style and dances became authority of expression in the dances thrown across the world.


Bogle invented dances such as The bogle, Tatty, Loy, Zip it up, Pelpa, Pepper Seed, Urkle, Sesame Street, Weddy weddy, Wacky Dip, Willie Bounce (Named after his late friend and Black Roses leader Willie Haggart). Bogle`s phrases also were legendary, he would say things such as: Dem seh Wow but ah wee, Ah lie, Anybody can dance but anna anybody ah dancer, Dem seh fashion but we seh style-we seh fashion ova style, all dem deh all dem de de deh, See da key deh lock dem up now, common fowl, coup dem up....etc.


Bogle`s popularity landed him in a role in Hype William`s "Belly", where he played pelpa. By 2003 Father bogle had almost every big name artist or d.j calling his name in their song or in a dance. Beenie Man, Elephant Man, and Sean Paul to name a few, were among Jamaica`s biggest stars to call his name and create songs in honor of his dances. It was also at this time that a young man named John, who later became known as "John Hype", who used to play football (soccer) with Bogle, was soon making his way as a dancer. Bogle in an interview is quoted as saying that he taught John how to dance.


John Hype soon became a hit in Jamaica as a reputable dancer, and he joined league with Beenie Man, who created a song entitled King Of the Dance hall, referring to John Hype, which was taken as a huge insult and diss by Father Bogle. Soon there after the frienship which Bogle had with Beenie and John Hype soon deteriated.

The bright success of Bogle soon threatened to become eclipsed by Bogle`s fading relationship with Beenie Man and his rivalry with John Hype. John addding insult to injury dubbed himself King of the Dance hall and dissed Bogle openly. This led Bogle to hit the studio for the first time as an artist an record his first and last, but deadly war tune entitled, " All dem deh". This record sparked a feud between the rival camps of Bogle and John Hype, and influenced John to later record his counter-action. Beenie Man was now caught in the middle of a war between two people he was very close with. Bogle was vex with Beenie`s promotion of John Hype called Beenie Man "Common Foul" in his song entitled "All dem deh".


This musical war transformed into a violent trade of words which later claimed the life of the legendary Gerald "Bogle" Levy. The last straw was drawn one night at a dance in Jamaica where both Beenie and Bogle were present. The dee-jay played the baddest song of the night which was a personal insult to Beenie as the song was a diss record made especially for him and John. As the song played someone from Bogle`s entourage pulled out a suitcase which contained two foul (birds). Beenie`s entourage outraged at this soon left the dance. Hours later as Bogle exited the dance and stopped at a gas station, his truck was riddled with bullets from two armed assailants on a motorcycle. Bogle was taken to Kingston public hospital where he was later pronounced dead....!!


Beenie Man immediately offered a $1 million dollar bounty for the assailants, but they were later found shot dead in the streets. Bogle`s funeral became the biggest event in Jamaica since Bob Marley`s One Love peace concert. He was paid fairwell by the likes of Bounty Killer, Elephant Man, Jagga-B, and a slew of dancers and fans filled the streets. He was laid to rest in a beautifully designed glass casket, a fitting casket for a person who`s dancing mirrored his spirit.