rolling dancehall & reggae 2020

Some other Iwaata (who appears to have gotten rid of the space sometime in the last little while):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7acB7Ovq_Nw
Like How

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz8BpfeBGtU
Digi Loan

I like the way he interacts with the riddim, generally - something kinetic-feeling about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST_Jx7NmnBE
Detta Play

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J9wJ1O1hx0
Start It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWgjS4yjTVI
Science

He's put out a ton of videos over the course of the pandemic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLW83_mSgls

Masego feat. Shenseea - Silver Tongue Devil

Romantic stuff, Wizkid vibes, love it.

haha I just this minute made a post about Masego on the rolling r&b thread! great minds et cetera.

this track is produced by IzyBeats of Koffee fame btw (for the longest time I assumed that their producer tag was in fact Koffee’s own tag)

ooh that is nice! Izy is so good with guitars

Masego catching a fire over on the rolling r&b thread fyi & btw

Alkaline — "Buryberry" [sic?]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ILFKfDwwc4

It's been a while since I heard Alka on a riddim like this (light as air), it took a second to adjust but then it clicked completely, reminds me a bit of the "City" era

Teejay with a banger:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRwTbXN6U5k

"City of Gods" (I also like his "Big Drip" a lot)

I love the deep sub-marine, almost dub-techno riddim on Jahvillani & Skillibeng's "Smooth":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDHKi_cw5Ec

whoa, “Smooth” is fantastic, thanking you!

this other recent Madvillani track reminds me *a lot* of that Martinique (Martinican) dancehall sound:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S2hioP4baE
Madvillani • Lizzad Pon Limb

*JAH*villani lol

Smooth is impressive, what a beat.

Ha, I was just coming here to post "Lizzad" + its riddim, Style A Style. All the versions I've heard are good, but I think that's cuz the riddim is so dope

Teejay (this or Jahvillani's are the keepers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fAqD-iUkss

Stylo G:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFyAwZT4Su4

This Rytikal track won't blow your mind, but in its modest way it illustrates how successfully dancehall producers have absorbed trap, I think. A lot of early trap-influenced riddims were derivative, but they've made it their own imo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7RPcsuGBjA

trust me and stick with Teejay's "Internet Badness" at least until 1:21:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZEMI8MhlqY

the opening line is also pretty great

Shenseea's "Bad Love" is on that same riddim, though the mix is p different--still dope though:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y62EV6zPUTI

"Bad Alone" not Bad Love

sorry if repost

These kids are wavey!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🇬🇭🇬🇭🇬🇭 pic.twitter.com/r47RUHr97C

— manda (@Comanda_x) December 12, 2020

what a delight :) love when the second dude drops into rockstone

Holy fuck

Roqar Vibes kids are alright

season's greetings everyone!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-iuiYDRH0E

that style a style riddim is so fucking good

those twitter kids have a single btw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLpXkAn5dY0

Intence + Zimi were definitely my favorite thing about dancehall in 2020:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSqBrHfr0bU

"Light Up"

LargeUp did a top 20 that I like more than most their past lists when the site actually published content regularly:

20. Runkus feat. Royal Blu, Jesse Royal, Kabaka Pyramid and Munga Honorebel – “5Gs” (Producer: Runkus Music/Walshy Fire)
19. Popcaan – “Buzz” (Producer: Mini E5/Two4Kay)
18. Chronixx – “Cool as the Breeze/Friday” (Producer: Pantha)
17. Teejay – “From Rags to Riches” (Producer: Damage Musiq)
16. Koffee feat. Buju Banton – “Pressure (Remix)” (Producer: Ryan Bailey)
15. Skillibeng – “Crocodile Teeth” (Producer: Adde Instrumentals)
14. Alkaline – “Ocean Wave” (Producer: Jahvy Ambassador)
13. Jada Kingdom – “Heavy!” (Producer: DJ Papis)
12. Intence – “Yeng” (Producer: Zimi Entertainment)
11. Skip Marley feat. H.E.R. – “Slow Down” (Producer: Rykeyz)
10. Govana – “Likkle Bit A Money”/ “HAMANTS Convo” (Producers: J.L.L. Prod/Emudio)
9. Various Artists – Aircraft Riddim (Producer: Chimney Records)
8. Lila Iké – “I Spy” (Producer: Izy Beats)
7. Protoje feat. Popcaan – “Like Royalty” (Producer: Ziah and Winta James)
6. Agent Sasco – “Loco” (Producer: Teflon Zincfence)
5. Dexta Daps – “Call Me If” (Producer: Good Good Production)
4. Kranium – “Gal Policy” (Producer: Jahvy Ambassador)
3. Buju Banton – “Blessed” (Producer: Dave Kelly)
2. Tarrus Riley feat. Shenseea – “Lighter” (Producer: Rvssian)
1. Koffee – “Lockdown” (Producer: Dane Ray)

I would've picked different Teejay and Alkaline tracks, and predictably there's a tad too much reggae, though this Marley/H.E.R. song is better than I would have expected. Still, this is a pretty good roundup with some interesting omissions: no Kartel (fine with me, he hardly needs the shine), no 6ixx crew (basically agree here--dug a few tracks early in the year and then they seemed to just churn out middling songs to the point I stopped checking for them), and it's kind of odd to highlight only one riddim and then choose one that came out in Nov 2019 (of course I'm sure it blew up this year).

tbf revisiting Aircraft (and I'd missed or forgotten they did a whole riddim video), Jahvillani's and Intence's versions *really* stand out, which makes it feel more 2020

super fun poppy new one from Jada Kingdom

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

"Green Dreams"

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.

Nice list, but come on... no Yami Bolo?

thanks for the nudge breastcrawl: rolling dancehall & reggae 2021