rolling dancehall & reggae 2019

That makes sense, and there is a feeling of isolation around Alka right now.

But yeah I'd have a hard time making a list of best riddims for the year. Even the best ones didn't quite transcend their biggest versions. Zinc Roof was fun but I'm not sure that made much of a splash--certainly nothing like Bruk Off or the dozens of riddims I could cite if we went back to like 2011-14.

Alkaline's woes aside, I feel like the riddim ecosystem is crumbling. Probably too early to make any big conclusions, but Alka is certainly not the only artist putting out mostly one-off singles, and nearly all riddims seem to get no more than four versions max now. I'm not sure what the culprit is: boredom with the tedium of version dumps? economic pressure? streaming? maybe a lack of social connection among artists and producers?

Another thing I've been wondering about: Now that Popcaan's signed to OVO, I wonder if Mixpak will just move on from (Jamaican) dancehall or will they look to sign someone else up?

Good questions. The thing is... the riddim ecosystem must have been crucial in establishing a market for so many talented artists out of such a small population. Riddims are great if a competent dj is mixing one version into another (and such fun for the dj too!), but obviously less suited for the streaming era where you have to listen to the whole thing from start to finish. Not sure what could replace it though - it's not as if minor dancehall artists are particularly visible on a global scale. If they had been, Tuff would have been on a whole lot more year end lists.

Also, one of my favourite musical moments of 2018 is still Shenseea making her presence known on the intro to the Flairy Riddim. First there's the subtle "heh... quenga quenga/ some gyal just a merma-merma (?)"just testing the waters like, followed by the playful "Talk 'bout say dem a no real genna-genna / stick 'pon him like tattoo with you hena-hena", then the brash "OH GOSH!"as if there's no turning back and she's preparing to go all in, followed by the quick rehersal of the song's theme with "Boy good, body clean / Body good, face cute and your body clean / Me no watch man, man fi watch me, how you meeeeean!?" before she finally drops the mandatory "Woi! a-Shenseea!" then a short full stop - and the song can start for real. It's such a quintessential riddim transition moment and I love it more than 90% of the music I listened to in 2018. I hope we're not losing that with the onslaught of streaming.

(The rest of the song is quite good too.)

Wow, thanks, guys. You sure did answer my question, and then some! Very interesting and illuminating.

(I guess this is what happens when you don’t follow a scene closely: I mean, of course I noticed that his singles have become less striking/immediate over the past 1-2 years, but you sort of assume that an artist’s status is a given.)

I suppose the most pertinent question re riddims is: what's happening in the dance? Which I have no insight into. And tbc I'm def not in favor of the riddim system going away (by "tedium of version dumps" I meant the unavoidable quality dip when you have like 15 versions--there's only so many Diwalis--or, a diff problem, if the riddim isn't that special) as I completely agree that it's instrumental for trying out new artists with minimal investment.

In that sense, I can't see it going away entirely (it's worth noting that soca has embraced it), but as you said streaming does seem like a legit threat to its enjoyability for casual listeners, and a shift to a more artist-focused feels inevitable to me. Hell even on streaming: a few years ago I heard new tunes always via Dancehall Dopeboi or Akam or some other promo YT channel, and now it's almost always the artist's own account and unofficial streams seem to get shut down pretty quick.

I think the Alkaline hype cycle kind of breaks down like this:
*2016--the next Kartel, a massive star who will break far beyond dancehall
*2017--the next, let's say, Aidonia, i.e., a major artist for those in the know but not making big waves outside of the genre
*2018--the next, uhhh, Gyptian? some big early tunes but not a career artist

all of which is pretty premature, considering he just turned 25

lol yeah, let's hope he figures it all out. Part of it must be that he is indeed trying to find new markets outside of JA, but for the moment at least Stefflon Don is a far more credible second coming of Sean Paul than Alka is.

Between Stay So, One Way and Hold A Medi, Busy Signal had a really good 2018, btw.

Man I have just not been able to get on board with Stefflon Don (though I dig Pretty Girl's chirpy male singer/gruff female deejay combination). See also Hood Celebrity/"Walking Trophy": I do not get why that one caught on, especially when Alicai Harley seems to be continually ignored (I feel bad pitting women against each other, but I think it's fair to say she's doing something similar but, imo, superior).

Busy is in a wonderful class of his own these days. The whole Dolla Van EP is also good, speaking of versions & riddims. I saw you nominated Stay So in the eoy poll--pretty torn on that as I'm almost certain I nommed it last year and definitely would have voted for it. If I can convince myself it's a 2018 track, it'll be very high on my ballot.

YouTube says 20 December 2017 for Stay So, so maybe you did. It didn’t really register with me until a few months later I think but it has stuck with me throughout the year.

As for Stefflon, I like her. But I think the point is that it’s a lot easier for a Londoner with a Jamaican accent to become the hot dancehall crossover artist than it is for someone like Alka or Shenseea, and mainly because she’s not Jamaican. I’m guessing it’s mostly a cultural literacy thing. Western audiences want something that registers as caribbean but not necessarily the real thing. What comes across as pure and raw about Jamaican culture is often also what seems most insular and resistant to translation. And someone like Stefflon has grown up with all these different cultural impulses and knows how to translate them from one sphere to another. It’s not that she’s faking it - she comes across as steeped in a variety O f musical cultures.

I guess this is NYC/flex/FDM but I heard this on an Equinoxx NTS show and I love it:

https://soundcloud.com/immortal-instruments/magazine-riddim
https://soundcloud.com/immortal-instruments/magazine-ft-kiyano

The vocal version is dope. I have no idea what flex or FDM are though?

Afaik it's an NYC regional thing based around the contortion-heavy dance style w/dancehall-ish beats around 100 bpm?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRBJv1bdAFk

very cool. I guess it's been around for quite a while: https://pitchfork.com/features/article/9864-flex-tunes-brooklyns-own-dance-music/

Er*n MacLeod voted Protoje album A Matter of Time” as her #1 album in the Uproxx poll of 200 writers. Her #1 song was Soca Kingdom by Machel Montano and Superblue

I should go back and listen to that one again. I recently put on Chronology and it was waaay better than I thought at the time, I think my expectations were too high

she also voted for Popcaan's album

https://uproxx.com/critics/erin-macleod/

Oh, onetime Ilxor Alex M voted for Spice - Captured.

New Dexta, “Dash It Out”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXGfm53KOgc

(It’s good. He’s had sex again)

It's very good, yes.

Weak To You was one of 2018's very best songs, btw.

Yeah, “Weak To You” is fantastic.

I have a very high tolerance for slackness, but I wonder if Dexta wouldn't be bigger if he embraced a more accessible approach? I still remember being surprised when I heard the raw version of 7Eleven after only hearing the clean for a while. Maybe I was misled by that experience, but I feel like he's got a natural pop presence and the explicitness undermines it.

Anyway, despite opening last year's thread with it, I'd kind of forgotten about Weak to You until recently--it is really good!

Absolutely agree w regards to Dexta's slackness.

Same here, hence my sort-of trigger warning.

I honestly feel kind of bad about holding him to a double standard. The dirtier songs on Forever don't bother me at all; last night I was unselfconsciously blasting Alkaline's "Fine Whine"; "Banana" is one of my '18 faves; etc. Maybe there's something specific about Dexta's voice/vibe that makes it less agreeable? The heavy-breathing intensity of it? In contrast, there's a casualness to all the counter examples I cited. Exception that proves the rule might be Popcaan's My Type which sounds gorgeous but I couldn't play very often.

That said, the clean version of Weak To You works fine, but the radio edit of Dash It Out has that curiously hollow quality of bad/lazy censoring.

Listening to ILX Listen: 2019

Koffee - Throne
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQJZ9NIRKSo

Her style + rootsy.

Wow that's awesome, very excited for the EP to drop

yeah, that's great

I'm really enjoying the Peppa Mint riddim these days:

Busy Signal - Know You Good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT8QUDcIYDg&frags=pl%2Cwn

Konshens - Set It Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8txqRj9AMz8&frags=pl%2Cwn

A riddim mix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMgCuSnvM_M&frags=pl%2Cwn

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5V4ZDNV4si0
Throne repost with the video

I love the rootsy "unsexiness" of all her outfits in those clips, looks very deliberate (coupled with the raw camera quality / 80s worship)

same tbh. she's definitely one to watch; all the singles are great.

Her gender presentation is definitely interesting, but she's like 16...not that 16-year old female musicians aren't routinely sexualized. But yeah so far she effortlessly splits the difference between roots revival and crossover-appealing dancehall in a hugely exciting way

Great song, great video.

Ah, nice, I knew what age she was, but good that you made me check. Koffee was born on the same day as me (!), which means she'll turn 19 on the 16th.
That said, I thought the same as you from seeing the clips, but check the video where she's live in the studio doing Ragamuffin, she's a woman alright and... err very cute imo.

ah ok, that's good to know really--I was mildly worried about her blowing up before she'd graduated high school (possibly metaphorically speaking, idk). I wonder if what I heard was she was 16 when she started

I was gonna wait for the EP, but fuck it: gratitude is a must: the Koffee thread

this takes about a minute to achieve lift-off, but then damn:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M9HoNHdwj8

Tee-Jay, "Owna Lane"

I was kind of vaguely aware that Tee-Jay was getting popular last year, but never really clicked with anything I listened to--I expect this will be huge (the view count is already impressive on that video).

lol sorry it's just TeeJay, no hyphen needed

Speaking of lanes, Masicka isn't exactly swerving out of his usual zone here, but "Darkest Times" is nice:

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

I'm not sure the lyrics video approach does Quada's "Celebration" any favors but the mood is sweet (I really like that brief instrumental break at the end):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-r9EwdxJYs

The Supreme riddim has a few good voicings. Dexta's songs are always so dense, I'm never quite sure what I think on first contact, but "Squeeze" is excellent?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krNN2z-Bigs

Masicka's "Headshot" is more immediately accessible--the contrast really shows what's unique, possibly to a fault!, about Dexta:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwZjy-y5JKc

Did we ever post Shenseea's rather good "Trending Gyal"? There's a mediocre video now:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kou6dgRQY64

On that topic: A/C COOL TURN UP DI TEMPERATURE WITH A PRETTY GYAL WEH FAVOR SHENSEEA is in my head like 60% of the time these days

This Stefflon & Sean Paul tune isn't particularly outstanding but should be noted in support of longneck's thesis:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO4Zrf2o92Q

Dexta Daps' "No Underwear" does exactly what it says on the tin, but I'm on board:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAj7CP6yTfM

should i assume this was posted last year? love this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7agMxttD7A
squash - money fever

We are kings music channel
5 months ago (edited)
Bloodclat dem feel like ..dancehall trap all day.
6 out here .
121

that one's new to me but I like it. I was checking this Squash tune the other day:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNtrZW3CC1g

I'm curious what rap fans think of "dancehall trap." Some earlier attempts were p derivative and uninspired, but I feel like it's stepped up in the past year or so.

I love this fantastic Govana and Tarrus Riley collab on "Unanswered":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwZlD8RToA0

feeling the bass line on this new Jada Kingdom ("Business"):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY4TfKrrnwk

btw Jada fans should watch this excellent, elegant & jazzy live 1Xtra set: https://youtu.be/r73MT8eSvpU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7Vp_TBf9wk

Alkaline, "Eva High"

Squash with a video for "Trending":

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

I wasn't completely sold on him at first tbh, but that's vibes.

This new Stylo G knocks:

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

So far I'm pretty strongly in favor of the dialectical response to trop house eating everyone's lunch being rap

You posted Stylo G twice! This is that Squash video for real:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hplD4QyV4Q8

Great track btw. Plus it namechecks Suriname, I like that!

((busy is also headlining a show in BK this upcoming Friday with Afro B, Shenseea, Spragga Benz an a bunch more: https://concerts1.livenation.com/event/1D0056DCD56143BA))

Fader feature on Squash: https://www.thefader.com/2019/09/04/squash-mek-it-shake-6ix-interview

I saw this on LargeUp and really like it; Jaz Elise "Fresh & Clean":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaZ6t2IKAmo

Her older "For You" is lots of fun too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kzd2mrkzpoY

She's great!

Love to the Solomon Islands:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXNrSp6zcEY
Jaro Local - "Dakini Tangarareh"

Dunno if ILM's ever had a track from there, but this one was a hit in the south Pacific, and won the international award at the New Zealand Pacific Music Awards.
- https://www.chmsupersound.com/jaro-local-makes-history-pmas

yeah, this is great!

UK dancehall, this one has a murder's row of great producers (Epic B, Anz, Sinjin Hawke, etc)
https://mcfoxmcr.bandcamp.com/album/juice-flow

I'm currently hooked on this catchy little trifle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xfnRoHpBy0
Skillibeng - Brik Pan Brik

I re-discovered the Lifestyle riddim today :)

Loving the Power House riddim at the moment.

https://youtu.be/B-Lo2DKE1zM

hi thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBUrfyZmii4

Chronic Law, "Pull Up"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHYndFq91xs

Govana, "Up Front" + basically the whole Aircraft riddim

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMaC2_SmNgk

Jada Kingdom, "Finally" -- love the bits where this threatens to turn into some kinda dembow house

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

Ding Dong, "Gyalis Story"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucfWqTot8iA

Buju Banton, "Steppa"

Hi, rob! Thanks for those. I've been waiting for Aidonia to pop up with some real heat again, and with Aircraft he's back for real.

Has there been a real consensus hit from JA this year outside of maybe Beat Em Bad and idk Owna Lane or something?

I'm still amazed at how Kartel manages to stay one step ahead of the competition this far into his sentence. 2019 hasn't been the best post-incarceration year for him, but most of the stuff he has released has been pretty great.

I've been super out of the loop since the summer (there's probably an album's worth of recent Kartel I haven't heard yet lol), but I think the genuine consensus hit for 2019 is Toast? Obvs that's kind of unsatisfying since it came out a full year ago, but I'm not aware of anything else in real contention with it. Plus, of course, it rules. It was my #1 for the eoy poll last year and I might just do that again.

Tommy Lee Sparta has a song called "Blessings" that I did not like when I checked it out, but is pretty popular. Surprised there isn't a Popcaan or Alkaline to consider, except With The Thing maybe? That's a personal fave at least. If there's a consensus choice for Squash or Chronic Law, maybe one of those?

Speaking of, I feel like there's lots of room for new artists to make a splash right now. I haven't heard *the* song from Intence yet, but I think he's worth keeping an eye on; here's Go Hard on thread-fave Lifestyle riddim:

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

his buddy I Waata's version is good too; Cut Off Jeans:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2xtt6EUNnc

Daddy 1 on this skeletal riddim (I'm broadly in favor of the minimalist turn riddims seem to have taken?):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3aEvwDF1Cs

I dig this Rygin King "One Time":

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

Yeah Toast is the obvious one - I just keep thinking of it AS a 2018 tune. I feel like this has mostly been an off year for dancehall AND rap though. Most of my favorites have been afro stuff.

*as

I basically agree about both genres, though I don't follow rap enough to be as confident. I've got a few things saved to check out, but the Denzel Curry album is the only thing I've really loved this year.

My year has largely been jazz and rnb for albums, and definitely afropop for tracks (plus African Giant likely my AOTY), and I have at least a few days worth of breastcrawl posts to work through once the semester is over. So I could end up with a couple dozen afropop jams on my year-end playlist, which is more than enough for one year really!

But it is telling that Mixpak do a "best new dancehall" playlist for Spotify and it's like 5% stuff from JA. Quality of the music aside, there's a lack of enthusiasm for sure. My hunch is the kinds of listeners who might have been keeping an ear out in the past are mostly listening to afropop and reggaeton instead? IDK, I think Koffee's trajectory illustrates a strong desire for freshness and lightness too.

Don't get me wrong, there have been plenty of dope dancehall riddims this year. Lifestyle riddim is among the best but it's not alone. What I do miss is the great singles, stuff like Tuff or Bullet Proof or Yeah Yeah or Fever or Loodi, just to name a few from the past couple of years. There's Toast and, of course, Balloon, but those truly great singles have not been popping off the way they used to afaict.

2019 rap has mostly been dead to me, outside of a few club friendly singles. I like DaBaby as much as anyone but tbh it's just not that exciting.

Re: Jaro Local and Solomon Islands tracks, by chance I've just heard this one which is also from the Solomons, from 2011. I think I like it more (and maybe Jaro did too :-)

Young Davie - "Mama Vule Mae"
- https://youtu.be/-Bb11qg_Oxc

https://www.reggae-vibes.com/charts/2019/11/ja-dancehall-top-25-november-29-2019/

Good to see Davido x Popcaan’s “Risky” in that chart, such a jam.

lots of songs I don't really recognize on there though. I guess I need to investigate a bit more

I should rectify posting the wrong new Buju. The people's choice is the paranoid and otm Dave Kelly-produced "Trust":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rb9F4qsCCk0

btw longneck that Skillibeng track is dope, good Equiknoxx before-they-went-FACT vibes

Speaking of, I feel like there's lots of room for new artists to make a splash right now. I haven't heard *the* song from Intence yet, but I think he's worth keeping an eye on

add Maestro Don to this list too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBRx9NK7qfU

If I can figure out what to call it, I might make a thread for Jada Kingdom and Stalk Ashley's take on heavily accented but intl rnb:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHY9OV75Ik4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEl11iGFivI

did we ever talk about the Narcos riddim?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CNxHQ2FaFE

This one is intriguing. I’m still trying to make sense of the rhythm. It’s like a rodeo ride. Will Taksik stay in the saddle?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deTaiDXDgV4
Taksik • Party

huh. yeah I can't decide if that's excitingly offbeat (literally and figuratively) or a shambles

Came across this on the Jamaican Deezer chart, where it’s the number one - he has the whole top 5 in fact, which might simply mean that only he and his peeps are using it. I *think* I like it, but/and I keep playing it to make sure.

Finding useful & accurate information about JA music has become really difficult! I look at this site sometimes, but I think it's just aggregating YouTube views (arguably better than most other metrics though, but gets too influenced by intl views): https://popnable.com/jamaica. I haven't seen a single EOY or EOD list.

On that note, I found Marvin Sparks' critical retrospective on the decade worth thinking about: https://marvinsparks.blogspot.com/2019/12/wrote-about-dancehalls-deadest-decade.html

I don't endorse all of it--(being American?) I have much more time for the trap-influenced sound than him--but I do think the narrowing of lyrical horizons has been detrimental, especially for women, and helps explain Koffee's instant appeal. Plus I think the slow withering of these threads over the decade does have something to do with the music not just ILM's concurrent depopulation. And his point about the lack of major stars is interesting.

here's a big hit we never posted (iirc), Munga Honorable's surprisingly jubilant kiss-off anthem "Nah Mad":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40H_Qrq94Lo

enjoying that one, as well as Ding Ding’s “Gyalis Story” from somewhere upthread.

https://reggaetop40.com/

Just saw this site linked to on twitter

http://www.largeup.com/2019/12/31/the-30-most-essential-dancehall-tunes-of-the-2010s/

Thanks for what you folks post here

I am not in touch these days that much, and appreciate your efforts

thanks curmudgeon! and thanks for posting that LU list--I checked a few times earlier in Dec and then gave up. It's definitely telling that they didn't do a '19 list (plus I don't think there's a '19 release on the decade list).

I'll start a 2020 thread eventually (though anyone should feel free to if they've got something to post).

Well I mean you COULD do a 2019 list. I think Robbo Ranx refrained from doing a top ten countdown this year too. Gabriel Heatwave complained about the lack of good riddims in 2019 but I could name a few decent ones. He also chose Stylo G as the artist of the year, which, I mean, ok, but also not okay, lol.

There was some good dancehall in 2019, although most of it might as well have come out in 2018. No big departures, no monster hits, Koffee as the big breakout artist and Kartel still going relatively strong. Superhero Love is the one I play the most.

Weak year from Popcaan (overall) and Alkaline though. Shenseea is still stepping up her game, but a few more clear strong voices would definitely be appreciated.

I wrote up a long response to that, so I think I'll just start a new thread...

new thread: rolling dancehall & reggae 2020