rolling dancehall & reggae 2021

I felt better about the genre last year than I had in a while. There weren't a ton of stand-out hits, but lots of promising new artists starting out in a very consistent mode.

Here's something I largely overlooked last year: the Trinibad scene, which I usually liked well enough when I checked it out but didn't really connect with. So far I'm partial to Prince Swanny's melancholic stuff, though I love Boy Boy's feature on the Pa Salieu album and expect more good things from him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0-FTtuuz3A

Prince Swanny — "Tell Me"

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

Prince Swanny — "Heathen"

Also hoping we see albums from Rihanna, Koffee and Chronixx this year.

I’ll leave the new-thread-making to rob, just came here to mention that Skillibeng has a 35-track album out called The Prodigy.

― partyin' maskless with Rudy G. and Vanilla Ice, it's a gas gas gas (breastcrawl), Monday, January 4, 2021 4:10 PM (yesterday)

(^from the 2020 thread.) I was getting really into this, until I hit a streak of eye-rollingly direct lyrics about blowjobs and had an insurmountable "I am too old for this" feeling. The production is very cool though, so I'll return and be a little quicker with the skip button.

yeah, I was really into it as well when I played it last night and got all the way up to track 24, but when I played the final section today I was in for a rude awakening. some really weak and lame shit there, and I don’t think it was just because of the harsh daylight. it had me running straight into the arms of Dexta in fact - “call me if...”, and I did.

the first two thirds were fire for the largest part tho, tracks like “Vicious” (!!!), “Enemy Antidote”, “Bin Laden”, “Tun On E K”.

this is the current video from the album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD801P7ZrZY
Skillibeng ft. Street Gena, Quenga, F.S. & One Sparkes • Not

going by Spotify availability I think only two of the tracks were released earlier and all the rest
is new, which would explain all that chaff, but it’s still quite impressive, even if many tracks are more mood pieces than fully-fledged songs.

otm, I returned to it while making that post and lyrically it's extremely off the cuff* but the production maintains consistent vibes: dark, psychedelic, at times a little 90s rap ("Enemy Antidote")

* iirc there were at least 3 songs in a row about fellatio, which is so ott it ends up kind of amusing. Plus I confess that despite being too-old-for-this I lolled at "gyal naam mi pickney, she wicked"

lmao I just saw the name of track 33. I agree that overall this is impressive though, bodes v well for the year

well, we’ll always have track 35

lol, the final three track names are p hilarious as a collection

tbc I felt the last third was much weaker musically as well, but that the project as a whole was still quite impressive

(unrelated, and 2020, but I’m kind of sad longneck didn’t do any noms this year. feeling “Call Me If” should have been on the ILM record at least, not to mention other Kabza (& Maphorisa) projects besides I Am The King Of Amapiano)

xp tbh it's so much music I was pretty fatigued by the end and couldn't trust my ears anymore, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if the best riddims are in the first 2/3 -- would be super pleased if someone with the exact same taste as me took the time to cull a ~15-track version :)

"Call Me If" still hasn't quite grabbed me. I haven't written him off by any means, but nothing Dexta has done has ever topped the one-two punch (nb, I might be misremembering how closely they were released) of "7-11" and "Shabba Madda Pot," the latter in particular seems like a lane he's abandoned now and is what I'd most like to hear from him. Of course, now that I've posted this take publicly next time I hear "Call Me If" it will probably blow my mind.

Beyond the opining, I would love it if longneck posted more! Hell I'd forgotten about "Yami Bolo" until he mentioned it on the last thread. Never mentioned last year iirc, and I'd post the video now but it's hella violent.

i love 'call me if,' sounds like ne yo 'let me love you'

felt last year’s Vent album was strong as well (caveat: I only played it once)

Prince Swanny dropped an album yesterday, Serenity, not sure if it's on other streaming yet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sh-0WFIZSU

just want to reiterate that "Heathen" is fucking dope, sounds like William Tyler produced it lol

ok I got a little bored during that tbh. the production is consistently good but the singles are enough.

I can't say enough how much I'm enjoying dancehall sounding weird again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV7p0luo4z8

Rytikal f. Skillibeng "OneSyde"

Rytikal-Skillibeng 2021
Make Dancehall Weird Again

I have a soft spot for songs that sound like they’re tipsy or drunk, so this one works wonders!

(btw, on Spotify this track is called “1 EastSyde”

yeah I guess the youtube title is a typo?

Just saw that Skillibeng signed to Sony UK a few weeks ago

his new one "Hot" is accurately titled:

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

we're in such a purple patch right now, I feel spoiled

Intence, "Money Nuff Funds"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5N68ZOlgIg

I'd like to thank whoever nominated Kartel's Uptop Gaza so I could vote for it, lol. I do think Yami Bolo is the standout Kartel track of the year, but there were many. Also voted for Likkel Bit Of Money, Lockdown, Lizard Pon Limb, Yeng, and even Heavy, even though that last vote should have gone to Tiwa's Koroba, in retrospect.

I think I nom'd that one. And yeah, to your point, for me it's as much if not more a great Teejay song

It’s definitely a great Teejay song, and a top ten Kartel tune as well so I’m not complaining. I was sad to see that no one had nom'd the Protoje album however - one of my absolute favs from last year.

We forgot to nom Dexta too, huh? Tsk tsk tsk.

sure hope your new year’s resolution was to nominate your favourite tracks at the end of this year, longneck!

I would've thought about nominating Protoje, but tbh I had no idea you liked it! I did nominate "Switch It Up," but I think I cut it due to the same "lone voter" suspicion...sincere apologies if you end up being that lone voter, longneck

speaking of Proto, I like how he puts his whole crew in every video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z04PEg2QwNY

also enjoying Jahvillani, "Gangsta"

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

From last year
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As59PhBFrKQ
Maureen - Tic.

I'm thinking of Domino, it seems to be a whole style out of Martinique, probably with some kind of soca influence. Check also DJ Chinwax - Bubble.

Also very pleased to have found out about Jada Kingdom. Love her mix of styles.

Lastly: Shenseea - Sure Sure wasn't posted last year. Love it.

Yeah, Sure Sure is fire. Might have voted for it if it had been nom’d.

I like Rvssian's riddim on that, but idk the vocal never quite takes off for me? Def like "Bad Alone" much more...though now that I'm listening to them back to back it's more similar than I remembered lol.

Did yall like "Lighter"? another one I couldn't make my mind up about

@Nabozo, yeah I've been repping for Jada around here for a while. I posted "Green Dreams" at the very end of the last thread, but it deserves a mention here, probably her most pop move so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvRUol3niYM

i did like Lighter. It should have been huge, and might have been if clubs were open.