What it means
Literally means dirty, filthy, messed up. But in dancehall and Jamaican chat it can flip into a compliment, like something is so grimy and hard it’s actually sick. A dutty tune is raw, heavy, no-polish vibes that hits you in the chest. Same word can still be an insult though, so yeah, read the room.
Usage examples
"Yow, dat riddim dutty bad, star. Wheel it, selector, mek di speaker dem breathe. Whole place a bruk out and everybody a wine."
"That bassline is proper dutty, turn it up."
"Take your shoes off, they're dutty from the garden."
Where it comes from
It is the Jamaican Patois way of saying dirty, the spelling tracking how the word sounds in the islands. In dancehall it flips to praise: a dutty riddim is so raw and heavy it hits hard.
Other ways to say it
Editors of this term
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