rolling dancehall & reggae 2017

Some v half-baked thoughts after listening to Large Up/Mighty Crown's eoy mix:
This was a good year, but I do think it was kinda uneventful/unsurprising, basically dominated by a handful of (excellent) artists. As mentioned above, no single uniting song or riddim, no weird/funny novelty tracks, a very quiet year for the roots scene. No promising new stars with the exception of Shenseea, whose success put the shutout of women in the genre into relief. There are a couple riddims on that mix that absolutely cry out for an Alaine or Denyque--it's weird that there are no women in that rnb-ish space while we have Kranium, Jahmiel, Vershon, Chris Martin, et al (as much as I dig all those guys) plus all the singjays.

That all sounds like I'm complaining but tbc there are a ton of awesome tracks on that mix. Alkaline was especially versatile and consistent--he has like 10 tracks on the mix and they're all fire, even the one about his mom. I find Mavado in 2017 to be kind of a puzzle: it's always nice to hear him pop up in that mix but he's never the best thing on any riddim. OTOH he has really good taste in riddims, unlike say Popcaan who is pretty indiscriminating but there's always a bunch of gems.

Of course the mix is just one crew's take and Large Up's actual lists are to come so there's probably some major blindspots in all that^. I think it's a decent year overview but there are some weird choices (why only one Shenseea track and why that one?).

A couple new to me tunes on that mix. This Popcaan track seems to be some Japan-only thing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsU7ofIkLUs

and then there's this Sizzla:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTI1o-aWigU

I really like Mavado's Red Rose - it's one of those songs where the emotion doesn't just sound like it's his default mode but actually means something. Probably in my top 20 dancehall songs this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAR39kbwsVQ

Ah yeah that is superb, hadn't heard it before!

LargeUp's dancehall tracks list:

1. Chronixx – “Likes”
2. Vybz Kartel – “Mhm Hm”
3. Aidonia – “Yeah Yeah”
4. Vybz Kartel f. Shenseea – “Loodi”
5. Masicka f. Vybz Kartel – “Infrared”
6. RDX – “Shake Your Bam Bam”
7. Aidonia – “Banga”
8. Ishawna – “Equal Rights”
9. Ding Dong – “Fling Yuh Shoulda”
10. Bounty Killer – “Do Better Than This”
11. Vybz Kartel – “Highest Level” / “Kremlin”
12. Alkaline -- “Pretty Gyal Team”
13. Popcaan — “Addicted"
14. Vybz Kartel & Wizkid — “Wine to di Top"
15. Spice — “Sheet"
16. Shenseea & Sean Paul -- “Rolling"
17. Kranium, et al – “Can’t Believe”

Plus honorable mentions: Gorillaz track remix, Wizkid Drake Popcaan w/e, Kartel "All Aboard," Mavado & Jahmiel "Badness"

and the riddims (in reverse order):
Chicken and Dumplin
Eagle
Humbug
1 Guh
Money Mix
Forever
Mhm Hm
La Vida
World Fete
Genna Bounce

No All Night?

maybe too recent? not sure World Fete belongs on there though

new Busy video is pretty great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6DwAox2hF8

I like World Fete. Mainly for the one song but the Charly Black is kinda charming too.

They missed crazy glue as well. It’s weird to me that gyalis pro wasn’t a much bigger hit. Maybe because of the 92 bpm tempo?

rolling dancehall & reggae 2018