Dawn breaks over Montego Bay, and Reggae Sumfest '95 is smoking. The capacity crowd refuses to go home till an unmistakable cry rings out: "Ooooooh Gaaawwd!" That's when tall, dark Beenie Man strolls onstage in white pinstripes and bowler hat to ram the arena with hit upon hit: "Memories," "World Dance," "Big Up and Trust." No other DJ in Jamaica could close this show with such authority.

Besides pumping lyrical architectonics through his cordless mike, the rail-thin don keeps the crowd amped with an occasional Michael Jackson quickstep, a flip of his hat, or the dramatic removal of one of his tailored garments. When Beenie calls for his dancer, a cute six-year-old roughneck runs out and expertly executes the latest steps. "All girls!" Beenie beckons, his voice almost drowned out by female squeals. "Shock out and go crazy!" And they do.

"Jamaicans love young talent," says the artist, who first performed at age five and whose debut album was titled The Invincible Beenie Man: Ten Year Old Boy Wonder. Born Moses Davis, 21-year-old Beenie (which means "small") grew up surrounded by sound systems and sufferation in the Kingston ghetto of Waterhouse.

Even as "Slam"-the debut single from his first international release, Blessed (Island Jamaica)-ascends the Billboard charts, the superstar of the Shocking Vibes crew shows no signs of loafing. He voices a batch of Jamaican releases twice a week, and on days off, soundmen chase him down for dubplates. His rivalry with Bounty Killer (Beenie's only serious competitor for dancehall domination) has yielded enough wicked "counteraction" tunes to sustain any other career. But knowing how quickly champions can become memories, Beenie keeps "feeding the people with music."

Though sometimes prolific to the point of inconsistency (devoting one tune to God, the next to guns or girls), Beenie remains unapologetic. "You haffi DJ everything," he says. "Just make the people know you are for the girls, for the Rastaman, for the Christian, for the rude boy, for the police." The same police who shut down dances and lock up entertainers? "Yes, mon. You haffi make Babylon love you," he says matter-of-factly. "If they hate you, you dead."