Tygapaw Shares Her List of ’90s Dancehall Style Influences

Tygapaw’s colorful sense of style didn’t just emerge fully formed from some sort of vacuum. The Jamaica-born, Brooklyn-based DJ has already delved into the adolescent obsessions that influenced her unique, bare-all approach to dressing, from her mother’s ’60s purple bell-bottoms to the bratty punkish looks of No Doubt–era Gwen Stefani. That said, her biggest sartorial reference point is undeniably the liberated looks on full display in dancehall clubs throughout Jamaica. With batty riders, bikini tops, and, of course, lots of mesh, Jamaica’s dancehall queens have consistently been unafraid to express themselves with aplomb, much like Tygapaw.

Now that Tygapaw’s just released her excellent debut EP titled Love Thyself via underground Brooklyn label Sweat Equity, she’s taken a moment to share the Jamaican dancehall icons that have influenced her distinct aesthetic (with a few exceptions that were impossible to exclude). From the revelatory androgyny of Grace Jones to the vibrant looks of Lady Saw, read Tygapaw’s list of Jamaican ’90s style influences, below.