Erup - Click Mi Finger (Gear Box Riddim)

My review of the latest hit single from promising young dancehall artist Erup was featured on the FACT website this week:

MP3: Erup - Click Mi Finger (Gear Box Riddim)

Other great vocals on the Gear Box riddim include Beenie Man's anthemic Buffer Zone, the elegant and melodic Vibes by T.O.K. and Elephant Man's raucous, rabble-rousing Never. All are available to buy on Truck Back 7" vinyl.

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Sunday 02 March 2008 | 2 comments

Blogariddims Episode 36 - Roots, Reality and Culture

The latest episode of the excellent Blogariddims podcasts is out today - our third contribution to the series after An England Story and last year's Spanish-language mix La Ola De Calor. Roots, Reality & Culture is another themed mix, focusing on dancehall with a social conscience: positive, political, uplifting and thought-provoking music from artists and producers who are perhaps unfairly best known for the negativity of their lyrical content. Visit the Blogariddims page to listen to previous episodes and sign up to the podcast, or download this mix here:

MP3 Mix: The Heatwave - Roots, Reality & Culture
Tracklist and lyrics here

Dancehall/bashment is often characterised as violent, misogynistic, materialistic and homophobic. While it would be ridiculous to pretend that music which fits this description is not being produced, and it is important to acknowledge and engage with attitudes that are hateful, negative and destructive, it's also important to retain a sense of perspective. I don't believe that dancehall should be defined purely as a negative force - one of the things that attracted me to reggae music in the first place was the rebellious and revolutionary nature of some of its lyrics, and I've found plenty of these in dancehall as well.

"It is funny how the gun was created by man and the biggest victim a them same one. Them not stop contribute to them destruction"
Tony Rebel - Guns & Ammunition

"Poor people can't afford good food to eat while the rich man giving dog expensive meat"
Kezi - Ghetto News

I've often bought dancehall records on the basis of their positive, thought-provoking or politically charged lyrics. I suppose at the same time there's quite a few tunes which I don't buy or play on the basis that they're objectionably violent, sexist or whatever. Consequently, my impression of dancehall - not an objective analysis by any means - is that it's pretty varied, with artists covering all sorts of topics: gun lyrics to government corruption, sex to social issues and partying to politics.

"I'm tired of life and death being sold as a pair and politicians who keep saying they care"
Tanya Stephens - What A Day

"Killing off we brothers and sisters could never ever help us now"
Copper Cat - Tings Tuff

So recently I thought it'd be nice to put together a mix of my favourite 'conscious' dancehall tunes to highlight that many of the same artists who are accused of making 'murder music' also make 'message music'. I'm not saying the latter excuses the former, but in order to evaluate the artists, their music and dancehall reggae as a whole, it's obviously important to have a fuller understanding of Jamaica's recent musical output and to realise that its lyrical preoccupations are not as simplistic or un-nuanced as they're sometimes made out to be.

"Two party but ah di same sad song dem a play: Poor People, Money, Lean Back and Rock Away. Question: Kingston mek no AK, how gun come inna JA? Who run the wharf and the airpot, the docks and the bay?!"
Vybz Kartel - Emergency

"No disrespect to the leader of finance but all now ghetto youth no give him real thanks. You give man big guns and big bombs and every day ghetto youth kill another one"
Beenie Man - My Wish

Still, I can see that the negative aspects of dancehall music seem to have become more prominent and dominant over the last twenty five years or so. But that's not to say that they weren't present in Jamaican music of the 1960s, or that there was a wholesale transition from the positivity of reggae to the negativity of dancehall in the 1980s, as is suggested by Ian Boyne and Lloyd Bradley.

"Every day a next man lose dem head dem find a next baby dead in a di bed. What gonna happen to we next set a yout dem? What gonna happen to we next generation?"
Sean Paul - Next Generation

"You see di crack a dangerous ting dat: it mek you sell off everything dat you got. Leave all the drugs alone, I beg unno leave all the drugs alone"
Clement Irie - Koloko

When I started planning the mix, I thought that maybe I'd find enough suitable material in my record collection to put together one mix. In the end, I found that I've got more than enough tunes to produce several volumes. So Roots, Reality & Culture is the first in a series of mixes I'll be doing to shine some light on dancehall tracks covering interesting thematic areas such as race, religion, rape, terrorism, safe sex, feminism, murder, domestic violence, language and incest.

"Gas price gone to the sky, every day a ghetto youth head fly, fi hunger the kids dem a cry, nuff a di youths give up and nah try"
Kiprich - Gun Ting

"Politics and poverty, corruption and crime make every man go join the visa line"
Assassin - Visa Line

The first half of the mix features songs addressing general ghetto sufferation, with artists describing and despairing with the desperate conditions in which so many Jamaicans live. As well as pleas for the killing to stop, there's plenty of outspoken criticism of the government, considered by many to be responsible for much of the destruction caused by guns and drugs. The rest of the mix comprises thematic sections focusing on drugs, serious times, guns and war, politics and finally, self-belief and self-upliftment:

"I can be somebody and you can be somebody. We can be somebody - say I'm somebody, you're somebody"
Suncycle - Somebody

"Too much cholesterol in your food, vegetable is good for your health. We got to live and do what's right, we got to put the war aside"
Sizzla - Live And Do Right

Visit the music section of the site for the full tracklist or to stream the mp3.

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Monday 03 March 2008 | 2 comments

Woofah - Issue 2 Out Soon

Issue 2 of everybody's favourite A5 reggae/dancehall/grime/dubstep fanzine magazine, Woofah, hits the shops this month:

The first issue was universally well-received and sold out its print run within a month or two of its release - no doubt the second edition will do the same, so jump to the Woofah website where you'll be able to order it and have it delivered to your door. My Badman Commandments piece last time around proved pretty popular, with even the New Statesman mentioning the "very funny taxonomy of quasi-biblical commandments so common in Jamaican dancehall" a feature on fanzines.

So I've done a reprise of that and some reviews of recent Jamaican/English bashment singles. Plus there's features on the unstoppable Durrty Goodz, legendary MC Tippa Irie (who recently sent for Wiley, Dizzee Rascal and Kano), Shut Up and Dance, Ninjaman, Iration Steppas and more. And it's gone colour! At least, the cover has - I think the inside's black and white still. It is a fanzine after all...

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Tuesday 04 March 2008 | Add a comment

Mavado & Jay-Z - I’m On The Rock (Remix)

Mavado's single on Baby G's The Mission riddim, I'm On The Rock aka Never Stop Me, has been hotting it up for a minute now:

MP3: Mavado - I'm On The Rock

The riddim takes its name from an incredible vocal by Damian and Stephen Marley and there's also a good cut by Elephant Man featuring - unusually for him - a conscious/reality lyric. Now Jay-Z's jumped on Mavado's version, keeping the hooks and adding verses of his own:

MP3: Mavado & Jay-Z - I'm On The Rock (Remix)

I'm not really into Mavado's graphic and gruesome descriptions of violence but he's got an incredible voice and an ear for wicked hooks, plus his lyrics here are a lot more interesting than the usual marrow-flying and brains-spilling fare. The anti-authority message is given extra weight by the fact he's referring to the Jamaican security forces' raid on his birthday bash last December, which I mentioned in the Heatwave column for Shook magazine. As Mavado puts it:

"Helicopter inna di air, bright light a shine a ground. Them say 'nobody move, nobody run - from the river to the bank locked down."

"Tell them nah stop the fun. Cos if them stop the fun them must prepare fi stop the gun. The youts dem blood a run down there in di slum. Them mek a bag a promise and nah fulfil none."

The Jay-Z remix got its world premiere on New York's Hot 97 radio station only last Friday but the hype around it's already massive. Moving with a speed remiscent of Wiley's Wearing My Rolex, which seemed to get signed to Atlantic like a week after it was made, Mavado's management have already got plans to shoot a video for the remix and include it on his second album, due on VP Records in May.

Presumably a track with the massive crossover potential that this has will be a perfect lead single and could ensure Mavado's position as one of the dancehall elite. I don't know though, the original is a great tune and the addition of verses by Jay-Z is rarely a bad thing, but this sounds a bit unfinished still. Especially the way Jay-Z burbles over the intro and first chorus and how Mavado's hook abruptly cuts off as the verse drops in. I like the way Jay-Z plays up the Rock/Roc and Jehovah/Hova links though.

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Tuesday 04 March 2008 | 5 comments

Playing at Cargo and Fabric this week

First up on Thursday is RWD In Stereo featuring Wiley, Ghetto, Dexplicit and more - then on Friday we make our Fabric debut at Switch and Sinden's Get Familiar night alongside Boy Better Know, Sany Pitbull and too many other names to mention...

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Wednesday 05 March 2008 | Add a comment

The Heatwave Chart - March 2008

Including a bunch of new English dancehall/reggae productions by ourselves, Mr Benn, Sunship/Sinden and Pama International and vocalists like Warrior Queen, Blak Twang, Estelle and Blackout JA. Plus big Jamaican hits from Timberlee, Charly Black and Beenie Man and a wicked refix of a Shabba Ranks classic by Alborosie.

1. Warrior Queen & The Heatwave - Things Change (Piano Riddim)
2. Blak Twang, Blackout JA & Mr Benn - Long Time
3. Cheeksta & Sizzla - Baby (T2 Remix)
4. Timberlee & Ward 21 - Bubble Like Soup (Rae Riddim)
5. Warrior Queen & Sunship - Quits (Sinden Remix)
6. Charly Black - Backshot Time (Set Up Riddim)
7. Michie One & Pama International - High Rise (Cherry Oh Baby Riddim)
8. Beenie Man - Wine Gal
9. Alborosie, Queen Latifah & Shabba Ranks - Ting A Ling (Refix)
10. Estelle - Come Over

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Wednesday 05 March 2008 | Add a comment

Beenie Man - Wine Gal (TJ Records)

Big big big tune from Beenie Man on an irresistible pocomania/dem bow-style production by Lloyd 'King Jammy' James's brother, Trevor:

MP3: Beenie Man - Wine Gal

The Jammy's clan is on fire right now with the King's sons Baby G, John John and Jam II behind recent hits like Mavado's I'm On The Rock, Mykal/Michael Rose's Shoot Out and Busy Signal's Nah Go Jail Again respectively. Their uncle Trevor can still kick it though: he was also responsible for Show Off, the 2006 relick of Dave Kelly's classic riddim Showtime, which provided a platform for Beenie Man and Bounty Killer to continue their long-running war as well as giving hits to Mavado and Mr Easy. His other recent riddims include Bill Back and Skandal Bag plus one-away productions for Vybz Kartel and Autotune-king Munga, but Wine Gal is by far his best tune of late in my eyes and ears.

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Thursday 06 March 2008 | 2 comments

Riko Tells The Truth

Roll Deep MC Riko Dan's The Truth Vol 1 is out this week - an essential double CD set featuring the London city warlord spitting over grime, bashment and reggae instrumentals, always with the same devastating flow. I just ordered my copy from HMV where it's only £5.99 including shipping costs - and it's also available from UK Record Shop. Watch out for his wicked vocal on our Piano riddim, which you can now hear on our MySpace and will be out on 7" vinyl in early April. In the meantime, watch the man himself in action:

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Tuesday 11 March 2008 | 1 comment

West End tonight, Edinburgh tomorrow

I'll be playing reggae and dancehall at West End DJ bar The Social tonight alongside Ben Kreeger of Fidgit/Plan B, and then tomorrow night in Edinburgh, hosted by Big Toe's Hi Fi:

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Thursday 13 March 2008 | Add a comment

Elephant Man’s Dancehall Gym

Elephant Man's long-awaited project for P Diddy's Bad Boy Records is finally coming to fruition with the release of his Let's Get Physical album on 8th April. The album features collaborations with the likes of Swizz Beats, Assassin, Yung Joc, Wyclef Jean, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Kat Deluna, Shaggy and Busta Rhymes, which rather unsurprisingly hints at it being very much aimed at the American hip hop/R'n'B crossover market. Hopefully it'll still showcase Elephant Man at his straight up dancehall best - certainly the title implies that it's going to be a high energy jump up affair and this promotional video of Ele in his dancehall gym underlines the 'let's get physical' message:

The Energy God demonstrates some of the biggest Jamaican dances of the last few years including Row Di Boat, Scoobay, Summer Bounce, Ova Di Wall, Willie Bounce, Signal Di Plane, Gangsta Rock, Tek Wey Yu Self And Badman Forward Badman Pull Up. It's pretty hilarious when he hits himself in the face with his chain while doing the Out and Bad. The Jamaican Dance blog is also a good place for videos of the latest dance crazes sweeping dancehalls and bedrooms worldwide.

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Monday 17 March 2008 | 1 comment

Video of Ghetto at RWD In Stereo, Cargo

Video that Rubi Dan made of Ghetto performing live at the RWD In Stereo event we played earlier this month. There's a longer video of the 'grime allstars' onstage - Skepta, Jammer, Chipmunk, Wiley and others with Roll Deep's DJ Maximum on the decks - but we haven't worked out how to get it off Rubi's phone yet...

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Wednesday 19 March 2008 | Add a comment

Things Change - Out Now

So our tune with Warrior Queen, Things Change, has been out on Soul Jazz Records for a couple of weeks now - you can pick up the 12" or mp3 from Juno, Boomkat or Soul Jazz themselves. It's also included on our compilation for Soul Jazz, An England Story. Things Change has already got glowing reviews in DJ Mag and FACT, while The Guardian featured it as one of their songs of the week:

We've been getting great reactions from club and radio DJs alike: it's been played on Radio 1, Kiss and other stations around the world by the likes of Rob Da Bank, DJ Yoda, Sinden, Joe Ransom and Solid Steel and the song has spent the last six weeks on the DMC UK Urban Chart, peaking so far at number fifteen:

Check out the feedback in full and listen to the original and DJ C remix in our releases section. DJ C's also done a couple of blends on his remix instrumental with vocals from 17 year old M.I.A. protégé Rye Rye and none other than Britney Spears!

And there's still more to come on the Piano riddim, with a 7" featuring cuts by Roll Deep's Riko and Heatwave MC Rubi Dan coming out on our own label next month. In the brilliant Mind How You A Talk, Riko spits fire on the riddim, warning against getting involved in badness while cleverly maintaining his badman-style delivery, while Rubi's Higher Heights completes the trilogy of conscious, uplifting and positive lyrics on the summery, piano-driven rhythm track.

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Monday 24 March 2008 | Add a comment

Back at Salmon & Compass this Friday

We're back at Salmon & Compass this Friday for our monthly party featuring the best in brand new and classic dancehall reggae, bashment, hip hop/R'n'B and more. Special guest this month is Erik Smoke - check the events section for more info:

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Thursday 27 March 2008 | 1 comment

DJ Cheeksta & Sizzla - Baby (T2 Remix)

This Sizzla refix from the end of last year is still cutting a swathe through numerous bassline house mixes in 2008:

MP3: DJ Cheeksta & Sizzla - Baby (T2 Remix)

Leicester based grime/bassline producer DJ Cheeksta works some bass-heavy magic with that keening Sizzla falsetto. The snippet of acapella is taken from this track on Sizzla's excellent Rise To The Occasion album:

MP3: Sizzla - Give Me A Try

Rise To The Occasion saw Sizzla Kalonji team up with Donovan Bennett aka Don Corleon - Jamaica's most prolific vocalist meeting its one of its most prolific producers - to put together his most forward-thinking album of recent years.

From sinuous bashment to melancholic R'n'B, Rise To The Occasion's super-synthetic production style and catchy melodies made it ripe for the bassline reinterpretation and Sizzla might now be the genre's most unlikely rent-a-diva. Jodie Aysha watch out! Get the rest of the album at the revamped Greensleeves Records online shop.

Posted by Master G | Friday 28 March 2008 | Add a comment

Assassin - Pum Pum Surveillance

Brand new tune from one of my favourite bashment MCs, Assassin, over a riddim built by the Daseca production trio. You've got to love the fat bassline, echoed keyboard stabs and stuttering drums harking back to the foundation days of dancehall.

MP3: Assassin - Pum Pum Surveillance

As is so often the case with Assassin, his lyrical innovation and excellence is very much in evidence as he cleverly relates a funny story about men's futile attempts to keep tabs on their girlfiends:

De bwoy pussy watcher just a follow back a
A hitch up back a di gal like how Blacker follow Macka
Him just a trail and a follow like a tail
But a next man still a prevail

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Monday 31 March 2008 | Add a comment