rolling dancehall & reggae 2015

I can only listen to this on laptop speakers right now, but I'm feeling pretty excited about this new J Capri, produced by Di Genius who has been missed this year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwiFq23v_Yg

I liked this piece by J0rdan on "Cheerleader": http://www.thefader.com/2015/07/01/omi-gen-f-interview

I haven't had much time to listen lately but this Popcaan track stood out among a surprisingly consistent stream of Kartel tracks in the last Robbo Ranx I listened to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAccKfqERN0

This is a quick, mid-year reminder that all available tracks mentioned on this thread (and a handful of album selections from each listed) are being posted as updated to the thread-specific Spotify playlist. I just did a top-to-bottom sweep prior to posting this message and have updated as of today with everything that's been added on Spotify since it was first mentioned.

50 tracks, 3+ hours.

ILX's Rolling Dancehall / Reggae 2015 Thread Spotify Playlist

new Chronixx produced by Damian Marley: https://soundcloud.com/chronixxmusic/chronixx-ghetto-people-prod-by-jr-gong-ghetto-youth-int

more good stuff from Kalado:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYf5CssXotE

just reposting Hipsters Don't Dance links at this point, but I really like this mid-00s dancehall vocals over afrobeats Voicemail song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=173&v=mAUgv-LoCAY

this Di Genius sounded better in the mix where i first heard it, but I like the drums plus lol at skrrrt:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWevFZhDFyE

Life Support riddim is pretty scintillating; here's Ishawna's version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTTLDV6co2w

I keep getting that kind of roots reggae track "Avocado" by Jah9 in my head. Heard it out too, I think in the dj set before Beres Hammond's nice gig last night.

that song is def an earworm. also the word "avocado" is fun to sing. How was Beres?

Gyptian's "Let Dem Een" is also great on that Life Support riddim, though neither version are on the riddim album on Spotify for some reason.

Beres sounded good (albeit a bit raspy at times), but to nitpick--for much of the set he did a bunch of songs one right into another without really finishing each one before starting the next; kinda like the dj who preceded him who was just mixing key parts of "Night Nurse" and other reggae hits together. ADHD reggae dj mixing. Beres did a fair amount of uptempo ones but also a few slower verses from that Barbra Streisand 1974 song "The Way We Were (Memories)". At one point though he said, "I'd like to slow it down, is that ok? Hey I said is that ok?" Before waiting for an answer from an enthusiastic crowd that was busy cheering and singing along and taking phone photos, anyway; he did then do a few more complete songs and allowed his sax player and keyboardist to do more while he beautifully engaged in call and response with his strong-voiced female backing singers. This latter segment was the best. He was also jumping up and down literally through various points of the set which helped further convey his ongoing passion for being onstage all these years.

This is a quick, third-quarter reminder that all available tracks mentioned on this thread (and a handful of album selections from each listed) are being updated to the thread-specific Spotify playlist as posted. I just did another top-to-bottom sweep prior to posting this message and have revised as of today with everything that's been added since first mentioned. Subscribe if you're into it!

Slow year for dancehall? Nobody seems to be posting.
Even so, the playlist is 59 tracks, over 3 hours long.

Rolling Dancehall / Reggae 2015 Thread Spotify Playlist

started grad school so I barely have time to do any listening let alone posting, but you should hear Popcaan's version on Life Support if you haven't:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNr0CbQk6Fk

Idk if anyone uses Google Play but I've set my 2015 Dancehall & Soca playlist on there to public so here it is anyway - it's a few tracks longer than the thread specific spotify one:

https://play.google.com/music/playlist/AMaBXymCOVU6tU7Im5znEQSxA0DA_kDFRYpNQYLPbAnNvt9vwvTnF4u1mDRFJ8ePu1QNuvJoeIXD81vtI6jvwQmA1NusdNOm0Q==

Vershon's "Inna Real Life" is number 1 in JA right now, at least according to the random chart I look at sometimes, it's nice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNjcgy7pV2Y

this starts with a barrage of unfortunate similes, but is pretty worth reading: http://www.vogue.com/projects/13362670/reggae-revival-jamaica-chronixx-protoje-roots-music/

no idea which thread to put this in (LargeUp called this 'afro-soca'), but this Suit of Black (Assassin, Bunji Garlin, and Kardinal Offishall) track is nice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rBBHxVPTC0

Fay-Ann Lyons and Mavado on the same riddim:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXY0vPGFl-Q

(and apparently afrosoca is the producer's term)

rob, which charts are you checking? I try to look around but most of these sites seem pretty non-authoritative.

Definitely not authoritative: http://www.reggae-vibes.com/jamtop20/jamtop20.html
I basically just use that to see if there's some big track I've missed through my haphazard youtubing and random blogs

Thanks, I've been using that one a bit too. Keeping up with dancehall/soca is a full time job it seems. I wish there was some sort of official chart.

As we move to the end of the year, I'd like to drop a quick note to encourage any readers / lurkers / ilxors to post their favorite dancehall / soca / reggae / tropical / roots tracks from this year to the thread so that I can hoover them into the ongoing spotify playlist. Last chance for any accessible stragglers that may not already be in the lexicon.

forks, Weed Is My Best Friend is up on spotify now: https://open.spotify.com/album/4H2r6DRRwodfh0bQu6Mhop

some recent stuff I like:

Tifa, "Ratings"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmoaWWOVrDo

after J Capri's accident (relieved to read today she is headed to a full recovery!) I looked up some of her tunes I missed earlier this year. Really like "Heat My Love":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpJj6st4G68

and "Tuff Love":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=47&v=IOVlT73zxjw

^sorry for fucked up URL. neither J Capri is on spotify, but here is the Tifa: https://open.spotify.com/album/49qIpekzDVW2sqFQ36yz7P

love love love j capri, didn't know she was injured.

added "wife me" and "ole digga" with Konshens (hit as an american single in '15).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-tllfgXpWw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5q83A_r8V4

Can I just say mood riddim?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjNXrmFKJ6U

Also willing to stan for Vybz' Viking in EOY polls. Just putting that out there.

oh shit, RIP j capri. i had no idea she'd been in an accident :(

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Singjay-J-Capri-dies

Oh no, RIP :( So young and already with so many classic singles - "Lyrics To The Song", "Reverse It", "Pull Up...", "Wine & Kotch" ...

:( RIP. Likkle is one of my top jams this year.

that's terrible, RIP. what a promising, though already amazing career as etc said.
I knew about the accident but they'd just reported a couple days ago that she was likely to recover :(

aw man. RIP.

Popcaan has had such a quietly awesome year. I can't imagine him attempting something like this before now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5Xq2THQXNk

If he put together a mixtape of his best 2015 tracks, in some ways it would be better than WWCF

^sorry, that's the "rough" version of "God Alone", here's the final mix:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rBb4UV0FpA

and I guess I never even posted "Way Up"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWLT4OZjIyI

did anyone here ever get into Samantha J's "Tight Up Skirt" from a while back? it was cuet kinda teenpop-dancehall. she did a song with Dej Loaf earlier this year too that I wanted to like but it didn't quite get into. this is promising:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qCTkXGTzE4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRdSFi4KvDE

missed this Dexta Daps song over the summer (Who Bad):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRdSFi4KvDE

oof, Dexta link is actually: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RosT0LHkZWs

somehow missed this Charly Black song that has 20+ million views (!!) and, judging by the comments, is huge in latin america:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K71gPNn52vE

reading back over the thread I feel obliged to acknowledge that I got over my aversion to Alkaline a little bit, especially this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nTe4rdSVWw

can't summon the will to sort out which Kartel tracks are worth listening to and which were scraped out of the bottom of the barrel, but "Pressure" is good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SPV2TbLBg0

I'm sure there are others, longneck?

also, I just posted this in the Soca thread and nommed it in the eoy poll, so while I'm generally spamming the board, you really need to hear this Olatunji track, Big Business:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8r9UtFvegg

Yeah, I'm behind on all the Kartels that have been flooding the market these past months. And once you do get behind it's easy to mistake something old for something new, etc. But I'll try to make an effort soon. Looks like this one is picking up steam right now:

https://soundcloud.com/21sthapilos/vybz-kartel-mile-high-club-pink-eye-riddim-kwashawna-records-2015-21st-hapilos

yeah, thats not bad! terrible riddim name though

R.I.P J Capri. One of the most exciting artist with the most potential to have emerged in years. Having listened to her music a lot in the last week, I think her best track is 'Lyrics To The Song'. Not quite as immediate as some of her other tunes, it's the kind of song that becomes more vital every time you hear it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5J2_PJoDtw

And from this year 'Likkle' is terrific

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwiFq23v_Yg

Speaking of Kartel I really like 3am:

http://youtu.be/tmSJkegVeTk

hey any of you aware of a good year end summary and/or list for dancehall? feel like I am pretty behind. there is an pirate urban radio station in Boston that plays a lot of dancehall and I am digging much of it a lot but I am pretty out of the loop otherwise

these guys have a terrible name but are good selectors imo - http://www.dummymag.com/lists/the-best-dancehall-riddims-of-2015-according-to-hipsters-dont-dance

HDD do good work, lots of great stuff on that list. I haven't seen any other lists yet. Largeup usually does one but they're pretty rare ime.

Yeah, that's a good list. Lots of favourites.

Largeup's list came out a while back:

1. Vybz Kartel, "Dancehall"
2. Busy Signal, "Text Message"
3. Jamie XX featuring Popcaan and Young Thug, "Good Times"
4. Vershon, "Inna Real Life"
5. R City, "Locked Away"
6. Popcaan, "Rup Rup (Bad Inna Real Life)"
7. Future Fambo, "Bloodclaute Song"
8. Aidonia, "Nuh Boring Gyal"
9. Busy Signal, "What If"
10. Mavado, "Up Like 7"/"Boy Like Me"
11. Dexta Daps, "7Eleven"/"Shabba Madda Pot"
12. Kranium, "History"
13. Spice, "Needle Eye"
14. Alkaline, "Fleek"
15. Gyptian, "All On Me"

They've got a soca and a riddim list too.

inna real life is so good

thanks all for sharing these lists too