rolling dancehall & reggae 2019

so that’s 3/5 on Spotify then, seems about the going rate

yeah part of why I'm wondering about that "Dawg" track is it was never officially released anywhere iirc despite there being artwork
I'm surprised "Dolla Van" isn't on spotify though, that's at least on Apple

When I played his recent stuff earlier today I also liked “Furnace Flow” with G3n3xgy, of which there’s only this video-wise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HEhUeNn9K4

i had been digging 'it ruff', 'know you good' and 'great man' all of which i guess aren't on the lp?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSMdCn1dbRs

(would also spare some 2019 busy love for 'set it good', 'perfect spot' plus the duets of 'go dance' with afro b, , 'nuh weh nuh safe' with bounty killer and - of course - 'celebrating life' with davo)

((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