JA bashment meets UK funky

The soca/dancehall drum patterns and relentless dancefloor energy of funky house have made it a perfect fit for my bashment-dominated DJ sets in the last couple of years - particularly the tunes and remixes featuring ragga MCs.

In the last few months, some of the biggest tunes in the London rave scene have featured bashment-influenced vocals: Donaeo's Party Hard, Lady Chann's Your Eye Too Fast and Ms Dynamite's Bad Gyal. Heatwave MC Rubi Dan has been busy too, dropping his distinctive London/Caribbean flow on funky house releases by Chinski and Grievous Angel.

And of course, the trend in funky for tunes calling out dance moves - Migraine Skank, Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes and the hilarious but excellent Stupid Skank - is a direct nod to Jamaican bashment dance songs like Dutty Wine, Gully Creepa or Row The Boat.

Two way traffic

Now it seems that rather than just absorbing and adapting Caribbean influences, the sound of UK funky is crossing the Atlantic and starting to cause waves in Jamaica.

Almost every time I've tuned into to London bashment station Mystic FM recently, I hear funky house played by Jamaican radio hosts who are clearly loving it, sometimes rhyming in patois over instrumentals.

Last week, Jamaican dancer turned MC Chi Ching Ching (above) was on Robbo Ranx's BBC 1Xtra dancehall show talking about hearing funky at London bashment night Uptown Splurt. "Da song deh a go hard", he said about Donaeo's Party Hard , and told Robbo, "trust me I'm gonna do two funky house songs," before doing an acapella variation of the Donaeo tune.

MP3: Chi Ching Ching and Robbo Ranx on BBC 1Xtra

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Also last week, I heard bashment artist Aidonia's vocal version of the funky house hit Inflation by Crazy Cousinz. This is the development I've been waiting for since the Afro-Caribbean rhythms of UK funky first first made me reach for the airhorn.

Listen: Aidonia & Crazy Cousinz - Bounce

As well as these clear-cut examples of Jamaicans listening to and engaging with UK funky, artists and producers in Kingston and London are moving in remarkably similar ways.

Lil Joe's vocal style in his cut on the Swagga Dagga bashment riddim is reminiscent of Donaeo's, and his use of 'jeez!' to punctuate his flow echoes London MCs' use of the same phrase.

MP3: Lil Joe - Hey Yo (Excerpt)

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The ravey synths, orchestral hits and snappy snares of Mr Lexx's uptempo dancehall tune Everyday bear a striking resemblance to the polished production of UK funky, though the beat itself is pure bashment and lacks the four to the floor of house music.

It's unclear whether these similarities are conscious or unconscious, but the lack of clarity as to exactly who is influenced by who is perhaps what's most interesting. The increased musical connectedness between Kingston and London thanks to digitial music and online networks means that musicians don't need to operate within small geographical scenes any more. Ideas and influence can spread rapidly, being shared and shaped by anyone who's feeling them.

Haven't we been here before?

Of course, similar interactions between London-centric dance music and Jamaica have happened before. Jungle, garage, grime and dubstep all borrowed much from dancehall reggae, both sonically and culturally e.g. heavy bass, clashes, dubplate culture and rewinds. However, they haven't had so much influence or impact in Jamaica, though there have been meeting points: the Greensleeves ragga jungle projects, Beenie Man alongside So Solid Crew, Harry Toddler on the Pum Pum grime riddim or Sizzla voicing MRK1's dubstep production.

One barrier has been the difference in tempos: jungle worked as it was twice the speed of much dancehall reggae, but until very recently Jamaican artists have not regularly recorded in the 130-140bpm range which garage and its offshoots inhabit.

Another barrier has been the difference in production values. I've heard Jamaicans dismiss UK dance music as 'techno' or 'Ecstasy music', while Starkey Banton famously called jungle, "one bag a noise and a whole heap a sample". But in the past few years these barriers have diminished. Since the groundbreaking Coolie Dance riddim in 2003, there has been an explosion of uptempo bashment productions at 120bpm and above - traditional house/dance music tempo. Sometimes speeds have risen further, with more recent riddims like Global (128), Higher Altitude (134) or Tremor (144).

Dancehall production styles have also become closer to dance music in recent years, with ravey synths and four to the floor beats featuring more and more, such as in riddims like Mad Rave and Inevitable. As producers on both sides of the Atlantic use the same software to programme their beats, the sonic connections between the different genres are becoming easier to make.

Consequently, many contemporary bashment tracks are closer to funky house than any previous strain of dancehall has been to UK rave music. When the Jamaican blog Dancehall Mobi featured Aidonia's tune with Crazy Cousinz, it was simply described as his new "soca/dance-flavoured single" - not something a million miles removed from his normal dancehall output.

Moreover, the rhythms of funky house drum beats draw on Afro-Caribbean rhythms which have long formed the backdrop for dancehall, soca and reggaeton. So for Jamaican artists to rhyme over funky house tracks requires no great leap or shift in approach.

Not enough MCs, too many gripes?

In fact, perhaps the main opposition to the meeting of bashment and funky will come from the UK rather than Jamaica. The political wrangling in the London scene at the moment is often characterised as a split between soulful, vocal house and grimey, bashy MC-dominated tracks.

Indeed it's the latter style which lends itself so well to a dancehall crossover. Gappy Ranks, Maxwell D and Lady Chann (below) all have big tunes out with their Jamaican-influenced flows over UK productions blurring the line between bashment and funky.

MP3: Lady Chann & Sticky - Your Eye Too Fast

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Any 'controversy' surrounding MCs in funky could well be killed off with the arrival of Jamaican vocals on house instrumentals. I can understand people's frustration that relatively unskilled MCs might dominate funky, but who is going to argue when Mavado, Beenie Man or Busy Signal spits on their productions? They make most other MCs look like children.

It's also worth noting that the melodic, dancehall style of MCing suits funky so much better than the more full-on approach that some English MCs favour. Donaeo, perhaps the most successful vocalist the UK scene, has a half-MC, half-singer style which strikes me as a UK take on the Jamaican 'singjay' style of artists like Mr Vegas or Mavado.

What next?

It's going to be exciting to see how all this develops. The explosion of UK dance music in the early 90s somewhat eclipsed the growing English dancehall scene, so it's only right that London bass might be kickstarting a new chapter of JA/UK musical connectivity and creativity.

To catch some of the heat, come down to FWD>> this Sunday. I'll be playing a bashment vs funky set, rattling the bass bins and shaking your hips.

Then catch me on Rinse FM next Thursday alongside London city warlord Riko Dan (above). I'll be in the mix, rolling back to back bashment/funky riddims, with Riko doing his Cockney/Yardie thing and drawing the links live.

Plus I've nearly finished my bashment refix of Party Hard featuring vocals from Vybz Kartel, Capleton, Rubi Dan and Danny English. This should be available to download on our website in the next week or so - keep your eyes peeled.

And there's much more soon to come. Watch this space.

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Saturday 02 May 2009 | 27 comments

Video: Play Ents & Rubi Dan - Bring It Back

Big summer funky house tune featuring vocals from Rubi Dan calling out some old time dances that are due a revival: Bogle, Butterfly, Running Man and Robot Dance.

This is a preview to the official video, which will be filmed soon...

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Wednesday 06 May 2009 | 2 comments

Riko alongside The Heatwave on Rinse tonight

On tonight's Heatwave show on Rinse FM (1-3am), I'll be joined by peerless badman MC Riko Dan. Riko will be dropping his distinctive Cockney/Yardie flow over all manner of riddims, from foundation dancehall and up to the time bashment to UK funky and even classic jungle.

In the meantime, you can hear the English dancehall special I did on our last Rinse show a couple of weeks back. The show happened to fall on St George's Day, which is often associated with somewhat old fashioned, even racist ideas about what it means to be English.

So I thought it'd be nice to celebrate an alternative, more multicultural Englishness by featuring music from the likes of Tippa Irie, YT, Maxwell D, Gappy Ranks and of course, Riko himself:

MP3: Gabriel Heatwave - St George's Day Special

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Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Thursday 07 May 2009 | 2 comments

Bristol on Friday, London boat party on Saturday

On Friday night me and Rubi Dan are heading over to Bristol to play alongside Rusko, Rye Rye and Blazey on board the good ship Thekla.

Then on Saturday we're on another riverboat, this time at the Albert Embankment on the Thames for Tropical City. I'm playing a two hour set after a live performance from De Tropix (below), which should be wicked.

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Thursday 07 May 2009 | Add a comment

Our bashment remix of Donaeo’s Party Hard

When I first heard Donaeo's UK funky anthem Party Hard back in January, I knew I had to put together a bashment refix.

I've been playing out draft versions for a few months now, but it took me a while to polish off the mix and get it ready for public consumption. That gave Rubi Dan time to contribute some lyrics as well, adding some tailor-made Heatwave flavour:

MP3: Donaeo, Rubi Dan, Capleton, Vybz Kartel & Danny English - Party Harder (The Heatwave Refix)

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Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Thursday 07 May 2009 | 5 comments

The Heatwave Chart - May 2009

This month's number one comes from an unlikely source: reggaeton/drum'n'bass DJ turned funky house producer Sami Sanchez.

I first met Sami when he played at our dancehall/reggaeton night Heatwave vs Mas Fuego a few years ago. Last year he started making funky house and quickly got an arsenal of big tunes under his belt, the biggest of which is undoubtedly Dirty Trumpet.

We linked up late last year with a view to getting some Jamaican vocalists to record on his productions and I've also been playing out my own live blends with dancehall acapellas, to great effect.

In an incredibly sad twist, Sami was recently attacked outside a club he was playing at and is currently in hospital in a critical condition. My most positive thoughts and prayers are with him...

Dirty Trumpet is an energetic, electronic stormer that despite being unreleased and little known, was noticeably one of the biggest tunes I played out in Bristol and London last weekend. The crowds loved it, with the breakdowns, drops and powerful horns ramping up the hype even without the Vybz Kartel vocals I blended over the instrumental.

The rest of my top ten for May is dominated by the fruits of the bashment/UK funky crossover which I wrote about recently. Aidonia's autotuned vocal of Inflation by Crazy Cousinz is paving the way for Jamaican MCs on funky house productions. Meanwhile, Grievous Angel and Ill Blu's remixes of grime/bassline tracks by Riko and Shystie (pictured) respectively are bringing London patois flows to UK funky in an entirely pleasing way.

Lady Chann & Sticky's follow up to the incredible Your Eye Too Fast, Sticky Situation, has more of a garagey swing to it than Sticky's recent productions, while Chann's rhymes give it bashment bounce. Our dancehall remix of Donaeo's Party Hard is still one of the biggest tunes in any dance we play, so it sneaks back into the top ten this month as I've just made it available for download.

Some further UK influence on Jamaican music can be seen in Ward 21's take on dubstep, Bang Bang. On last week's Rinse FM show I featured a bunch of experimental dubstep/electro productions from them along with some classic grimey bashment from this talented crew of producers and MCs (pictured below). You can download the podcast if you missed it.

Straight up dancehall is represented by Sean Paul, Baby Cham and a Beenie Man collaboration with Busta Rhymes. So Fine, produced by Stephen McGregor, is the first single from Sean Paul's new album Imperial Blaze, which is due out this summer. Baby Cham's Recession is a socially and financially conscious vocal on a fairly uptempo but brooding production, while Beenie and Busta get together in style on Black Shadow's minimal Swagg riddim.

1. Sami Sanchez - Dirty Trumpet listen
2. Aidonia & Crazy Cousinz - Bounce (Inflation Riddim) download
3. Shystie & Sub Zero - Pull It/Bad Gal Bass (Ill Blu Remix) listen
4. Riko Dan & Grievous Angel - Ice Rink Refix listen on our Rinse show
5. Lady Chann & Sticky - Sticky Situation listen
6. Baby Cham - Recession listen
7. Ward 21 - Bang Bang listen on our Rinse show
8. Beenie Man & Busta Rhymes - Giggle (Swagg Riddim) listen
9. Sean Paul - So Fine listen
10. Donaeo, Danny English, Rubi Dan, Capleton & Vybz Kartel - Party Harder (The Heatwave Refix) download

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Tuesday 12 May 2009 | 2 comments

Two gigs at the Big Chill House this weekend

On Thursday night I'm playing at Hot Wuk, the free weekly dancehall reggae night where we're residents along with J Star, Upstate Rockers and Shimmy Shimmy:

Then on Saturday it's Nice Up's sixth birthday bash at the same venue, where we'll be playing alongside Rodney P, Massive Attack's Daddy G, Mr Benn and DJ Shepdog:

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Wednesday 13 May 2009 | Add a comment

Video: In The Dance on Jamaica’s CVM Television

A promising promo video for a forthcoming TV show that will showcase dancehall reggae dance moves and dancers (via Dancehall Mobi). The tune that soundtracks the video is pretty good too.

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Friday 15 May 2009 | 1 comment

Lovindeer & Mama Tia - Dumpling Shop

Big tune! The first time I heard this I had to rewind it three times before letting the song play out.

I love the way veteran deejay comedian Lovindeer flips the uncensored raunch of Spice and Kartel's R'n'B-flavoured Ramping Shop into a cheeky, innuendo-laden Caribbean bouncer.

The lyrics have attracted a certain amount of negative attention. All I've got to say that is: listen to Cecile's Do It To Me, Fudgie Springer's Mouth Pon Di Buddy or Mr Versatile & Toddla T's Fill Up Mi Portion.

Sing it to them Tia:

Mi vegetable fresh
Mi salad a di best
Mi juicy tomato fatter dan di rest

MP3: Lovindeer & Mama Tia - Dumpling Shop

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Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Saturday 16 May 2009 | 6 comments

Mixing and blending

Three album-length DJ mixes I've been enjoying recently, each of which explores a different and perhaps unusual side of dancehall.

Say Something, a vocal dubstep mix by south London DJ Mr Rigsby, features bass heavy UK productions peppered with original and sampled vocals from Jamaican and Jamaican-influenced MCs like Super Cat, Kano, Courtney Melody, Lil Wayne and Michael Prophet.

Mr Rigsby - Say Something (Direct link)

Tracklist

• Chase & Status feat Kano - Against All Odds
• La Roux - In For The Kill (Skream's Let's Get Ravey Remix)
• Mr Cain - Vext
• Dub & Run feat Super Cat - Ghetto 119
• Mungo's Hi Fi - Dubplate Fi Dem
• Chase & Status - Saxon
• Sukh Knight - Knightlife
• Lil Wayne - A Milli (Trenchman Mix)
• Luke Envoy - M.U.G.E.N.
• White Label - Ninja
• LD - Green Ranger
• Mr Rigsby - Lionseed
• Radikal Guru vs The Scientist - No Good
• Rob Sparx - Unknown White Label
• Rogue State - Judgement
• Chase & Status - Eastern Jam
• S.Y.N.K.R.O - Dub Specialist
• Likhan' - Redlight
• Kromestar - Devil
• EVS - Let It Go

Bullet Bullet Bullet, by Unknown Soulja of the Bruk/U Dun Know camp, blends uptempo bashment with UK funky, bassline house and electro. Last month me and Rubi Dan played at U Dun Know, the bimonthly night he runs with Mosca in Dalston, and the mix echoes the sound and hypeness of the party.

Unknown Soulja features a couple of sneaky Mosca remixes including his Busy Signal/Frontline blend and a Baltimore version of Tempa T's Next Hype. You can download a high quality mp3 of the latter from the Bruk magazine blog.

Unknown Soulja - Bullet Bullet Bullet (Sendspace)

Tracklist

• Rogue State – Hype Ting
• Buraka Som Sistema – Work It
• Gully Gang – Music Money
• Baobinga – Ghetto State of Jacking (TRG remix)
• Martyn – Yet
• D1 – Ongie Bongie
• Piddy Py – Prickly Rose
• Wiley – Gangsters
• Guido – Orchestral Lab
• Witty Boy – Murder Charge
• Tempa T – Next Hype (Mosca’s Baltimore remix)
• Tempa T – Next Hype (Brackles Vocal mix)
• Joker – Digi Design
• Lewi & Bigga – Chiney Chin riddim
• Kingdom & Shyvonne – Mind Reader
• Demarco – She Can't Wait
• Uncle Bakongo – Makonde
• Secret Agent Gel & Coppa Kid – Crew (Bok Bok remix)
• Mosca – Square One
• Mavado – Gangsta Nuh Play
• Erup – Click Mi Fingers
• Demarco – Spend Pon Dem
• Bling Dawg – Nah Violate
• Baby Cham – Nah Fraid a Dem
• Rod Lee – Who Sent Chew Nigga?
• Crazy Cousinz – Inflation
• Funky Underground – Dub Boy
• Busy Signal – Step Out (Mosca’s Step on the Frontline Refix)
• Lil Silva – Flex
• Rubi Dan & Chinski – Big Boi Spitta
• Madera Limpia – La Lenta (Schlactofbronx remix)
• Crazy Cousinz – Bongo Jam (L-Vis and Bok Bok’s Bongo Ram remix)
• DJ Tameil - Money
• Bitch Ass Darius - Ride
• La Roux – Going in 4 the Kill (L-Vis 1990’s Hyberbass remix)
• Mavado & Busy Signal – Badman Place (Douster Remix)

Finally, a fully leftfield remix project by Dale Cooper, featuring Sizzla acapellas blended with cut up spaghetti western soundtracks. In the words of Large over at Shimmy Shimmy:

Reggae has, for some reason, always had an intimate relation with cowboys, from The Lone Ranger and Clint Eastwood to The Upsetters' Return of Django.

The Good, The Bad & The Remixed I think, takes the cowboy biscuit. It's quite an acquired taste, that's for sure, but a taste worth acquiring.

It just works SO well, even the harder Sizzla numbers like 'Karate' turn out to fit swimmingly with the whistles, spanish guitar and gunshots (yeah who'd have thought gunshots would work next to ragga?).

Dale Cooper - The Good, The Bad and The Remixed (Megaupload)

Tracklist

• I Was Born (Death Rides Mix)
• To The Point (Fistful Of Sartana Mix)
• Come On (Almeria Flex Mix)
• Karate (Lo Mein Marinara Mix)
• Represent (Cathouse Mix)
• Only Takes Love (Wild Palmas Mix)
• Somehow (Nyabinghi Morricone Mix)
• Be Strong (Moderate Silence Mix)
• That's OK (High Noon Sound Clash Mix)
• Heard Of Dem (Death Of Silence Mix)
• Mexican Standoff (Instrumental)
• Rise To The Occasion (Cuchillo Mix)

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Monday 18 May 2009 | 1 comment

Video: Doctor - UK Funky Dancehall

Doctor, a London MC whose previous hits have blended soca with grime and reggae with dubstep, comes with the next development in the UK funky/JA bashment crossover.

In this video for his latest tune, the Fresh Az Ice dancers put Doctor's dance instructions into action, mixing everything from Head Shoulders Knees and Toes and Willie Bounce to Migraine Skank and Gully Creepa.

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Tuesday 19 May 2009 | 7 comments

Donaeo - Party Hard album sampler

The dominant vocalist in the UK funky scene is dropping his debut album early next month.

Last week he leaked a sneak preview on his Facebook page, featuring snippets of five previously unreleased tunes: Riot Music, Watching Her Move, Because I'm Strong, Love My Music and Girlfriend.

MP3: Donaeo - Party Hard album sampler

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All the tracks sound live - though I'm not entirely sure about the credit crunch anthem - and there's a nice variation of both production and vocal styles which bodes well for a full length album.

Donaeo's smash hits Party Hard, African Warrior and Devil In A Blue Dress will all be included as well so it's gonna be a must-have. You can pre-order the CD now from UK Record Shop.

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Wednesday 20 May 2009 | Add a comment

Busy Signal - Da Style Deh

The latest greatness from Busy Signal. There's a few other new tunes of his which I'm going to feature in my upcoming Beenie Man/Busy Signal post, but I had to pick this one out for special treatment.

Shane Brown's percussion-laden production echoes the sparse, African-style beats which underpinned last year's Mr Vegas hits Daggering and Round of Applause. And Busy's call and response chorus reminds me of the songs my dad's band used to play with Ghanaian musicians back in the 80s.

The tempo and drum patterns make Da Style Deh ripe for a UK funky refix as well...

MP3: Busy Signal - Da Style Deh

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Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Wednesday 20 May 2009 | 21 comments

Riko joins us on Rinse tonight

Riko was unable to make it to our last radio show due to illness, but he'll be joining us tonight, spitting over bashment and UK funky riddims alongside Rubi Dan.

Londoners can tune in on 100.4FM from 1-3am, and the online stream is available at www.rinse.fm.

Yesterday I uploaded the half hour segment from the last show which focuses on genius musical scientists Ward 21. You can download the whole show from zShare or Mediafire.

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Thursday 21 May 2009 | 1 comment

King’s Cross on Thursday, Brixton on Friday

Our regular midweek dance, Hot Wuk at Big Chill House, has been building up quite a following recently. Where else can you get four hours of the finest brand new and classic bashment, reggae, funky house and more for free on a Thursday night? I'm playing again this week:

And on Friday night I'm down in Brixton for a charity night to raise money for Crossworld FC, a football team for young refugees and asylum seekers. Felix Martin from Hot Chip, Hard House Banton and Tighten Up will also playing on the night...

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Tuesday 26 May 2009 | 1 comment