The Heatwave Chart - February 2010

Busy Signal is getting ridiculous this year. For the second month in a row we're forced to have a Busy double header at number one. And you know the Busy tunes must be MAD to keep Gyptian's Hold Yuh off the top spot...

1. Busy Signal - Bare Gal / Jafrican Ting (Jafrican Riddim)
2. Gyptian - Hold Yuh
3. Ms Dynamite & DJ Zinc - Wile Out
4. Rubi Dan - Swagga Jacking (Pon De Floor Riddim)
5. Beenie Man - Good Inna (Style & Swagga Riddim)
6. Natalie Storm & Footsteps - Play Di Ting (The Heatwave Refix)
7. Bugle - Don't Need Yuh Friendship (DNA Riddim)
8. Busy Signal - Food Fi The Pot (Duck Riddim)
9. Sizzla - Money We A Make (Shaolin Temple Riddim)
10. So Shifty feat Ward 21 & Natalie Storm - Clap

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Thursday 25 February 2010 | Add a comment

The Heatwave Chart - January 2010

Just like pretty much the whole of last year, January belongs to Busy Signal.

We can't decide which we like more out of Gal Need A Man and Good Good for the top spot, so we just lobbed in both of them. Busy's soca tune with Fay-Ann Lyons is on here too, at the expense of the also-excellent Wooeeii Gal Wooeeii with Machel Montano.

And there was no space at all for Bed or Smoke, which in any other month could well take the number one.

Elsewhere on here there are funky bashment vocals from Ms Dynamite and Face-T, soca from Mr Vegas and Machel Montano plus electro dancehall from Beenie Man.

1. Busy Signal - Gal Need A Man / Good Good
2. Face-T & Poirier - Enemies (Sticky Remix)
3. Mr Vegas - Fresh (AMA Riddim)
4. Ms Dynamite & DJ Zinc - Wile Out
5. Timberlee - Pretty Pretty (Kamera Trick Riddim)
6. Beenie Man - Swagga Mi Flow
7. Fay-Ann Lyons & Busy Signal - Start Wining
8. Mr G - Healthy Body (Zero Tolerance Riddim)
9. Machel Montano - Bumper To Fender
10. Mavado - Starlight

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Wednesday 27 January 2010 | 1 comment

The Heatwave Chart - December 2009

The top ten tunes that are reverberating around the Heatwave towers in the lead-up to the festive season.

Doubtless many these will be getting a run out at Hot Wuk tonight and our Christmas Carnival next Thursday.

1. Keida – Hot It Up
2. Mad Dog – Tek De Floor
3. Natalie Storm & Sticky – Look Pon Me (Jumeirah riddim)
4. Busy Signal – Nuh Fraid of Them (Forever riddim)
5. RDX - Deliver Me (Style & Swagga riddim)
6. Elephant Man – Rubba Bounce
7. Vybz Kartel & Shebba – Do Me Dat (England Town riddim)
8. Sean Paul & Hard House Banton – Temperature vs Sirens (The Heatwave Refix)
9. Mr Lexx – Watch Me Transform Ya
10. Alborosie – Blue Movie Boo

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Thursday 10 December 2009 | Add a comment

The Heatwave October Charts Part 2

How do you know if a tune is big? You personally can feel it. You might also be told about it. But you can't look at any dancehall charts and trust that the tunes are genuinely popular.

So to complement Gabriel's personal top ten for this month here's an insight into what's doing it for dancehall artists, producers, DJs, singers, promoters and bloggers in Jamaica, the US and the UK: people who create and spread dancehall and reggae music worldwide.

There are a lot of huge riddims coming out weekly - in case you missed them you'll see that the likes of Go Go Club and Set Mi Free are dominating the airwaves and dances in Jamaica.

These are matched by one-off singles such as Ding Dong's big hit Holiday from Notice Productions:

As it stands, everything seems too hot to single out - Stephen 'Di Genius' McGregor (pictured below) told The Heatwave that he simply had "too many" favourites right now.

Have a look below and see what the likes of Ward 21 and Bounty Killer's manager have got to say.

Johnny Wonder (Music plugger)

• Demarco - True Friends
• G-Whizz - Life
• Mavado - House Cleaning (Set Mi Free Riddim)
• Chase Cross - Better Dayz (Clearance Riddim)
• Ding Dong - Holiday
• Bugle - Pearly Gates (Alter Ego Riddim)

Cecile (Artist - pictured below)

• Vybz Kartel - Slow Motion (Street Bullies Riddim)
• Mavado - Hope & Pray (Triple Bounce Riddim)

Max Glazer (New York DJ)

• Assassin - Hand Inna Di Air

Alaine (Singer)

• Ding Dong - Holiday

The Alliance (Bounty Killer's management)

• Mavado (pictured below) - House Cleaning (Set Mi Free Riddim)
• Bounty Killer - Chattabox (Vybz Kartel Diss)

Dancehall Mobi (Leading blog)

• Mavado - House Cleaning (Set Mi Free Riddim)
• Chino - Woman Pon your Head

Timberlee (Artist - pictured below)

• Merital & Vybz Kartel - My Money (Go Go Club Riddim)
• Ding Dong - Holiday

Fudgie Springer (Artist)

• Vybz Kartel - Nah Let Go

Ward 21 (Producers/artists - pictured below)

• Vybz Kartel - Love Dem (Set Mi Free Riddim)
• Assassin - Hand To Mouth (Set Mi Free Riddim)

Dylan Powe (Natalie Storm's manager)

• Vybz Kartel - Go Go Club

Prince Zimboo (Artist)

• Demarco - True Friends

YT (UK artist - pictured below)

• Mr Williamz - Be Yourself

Mr Lexx (Artist)

• Ding Dong - Holiday

Tony Kelly (Producer)

• Big Yard - Street Bullies riddim

Posted by Dan_Bean | Saturday 10 October 2009 | 1 comment

The Heatwave Chart - October 2009

After the popularity of the split dancehall/funky bashment charts that I did in July, I'm keeping the format this month. Assassin and Natalie Storm come out on top...

I've been very very busy recently - DJing, working on the XLR8R Funky Bashment podcast and finishing off a bunch of Heatwave productions - so I haven't found to do individual links to each of the tunes here, sorry.

But we featured pretty much all of these tunes on last week's Rinse FM show along with a Heatwave alternative take on the MOBO awards, so go and grab the mp3 if you want to hear this month's top twenty.

Dancehall

1. Assassin & Stephen McGregor- Hand Inna Di Air
2. Papa Levi & Curtis Lynch - Speed Rappin (Come Down Riddim)
3. Leftside & Syon - Nuh Other Gal (School Bell Riddim)
4. Busy Signal - Nuh Go Round Mi
5. Mr Vegas - Mix Up Peggie
6. Vybz Kartel & Dre Skull - Yuh Love
7. Alison Hinds - Rags Up (Street Bullies Riddim)
8. Assassin - Don't Give Loving (R6 Riddim)
9. Mavado - You A Mi Lover
10. Serani, Ding Dong, Razz & Biggy - Skip To Ma Luu

Funky bashment

1. Natalie Storm & Footsteps - Play Di Ting (The Heatwave Special - Worker Riddim)
2. Stush & Illmana - Ready Fi De War
3. Lady Chann & Warrior One - War (King Riddim)
4. Mirikal & El-B - We Don't Play
5. Maxwell D & Geeneus - Drunken Master (Crackish Riddim)
6. Mercurial Myrmidon - Hey Bongo
7. Footsteps - Dirty Rag
8. Lady Chann & Sticky - Lady Chann Run England (Jumeirah Riddim)
9. Ms Dynamite & Geeneus - Get Low (Crackish Riddim)
10. Brick & Lace - Love Is Wicked (Wideboys Afro Remix)

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Thursday 08 October 2009 | 1 comment

The Heatwave charts - Carnival 2009

These are my tips for the big tunes that will be running the Notting Hill Carnival this weekend.

You're sure to hear these on repeat from the soundsystems and floats pounding out the bass on the streets of West London...

Bashment

1. Vybz Kartel & Spice - Ramping Shop
2. Mr Vegas - I Am Blessed (Good Life riddim)
3. Busy Signal - Praise and Worship (Mercury Overdose riddim)
4. Serani - No Games (Unfinished Business riddim)
5. Mavado - Never Believe You

Soca

1. Bunji Garlin & Beenie Man - Plenty Gyal (Fix It Up riddim)
2. Lil Rick - One Juk For The Carnival (Patti Cake riddim)
3. Machel Montano & Busy Signal - Push Bumper
4. Fay-Ann Lyons - Heavy T Bumper
5. Peter Ram - Tight (Coconut Tree riddim)

Guest blogger Dan Bean has also selected his top five tips for the dancehall and reggae tunes that he thinks will be making the running...

These are not just the most popular...neither is this just a compilation of the heavyweights.

There is reason. Coming up with this list wasn't easy - it's like being asked to pick your favourite child, in this case Mavado or Vybz Kartel. In Trinidad and Tobago I was interrogated - "Gully or Gaza? Gully or Gaza?!!?"

Music is either good or bad, right? And to me the hypothetical dancehall sons have attained A*s this academic year. I was kept up at night with artists and track names appearing to me as if asking to make the cut.

Curtis Lynch and Necessary Mayhem have produced one of UK's biggest and baddest sounds this year with Dubplate and its jungle allstars remix. Soulforce reintroduced Shabba Ranks with their Tonight/Dukku Dukku remix. Emerging artists in JA caused a lot of fuss, like Black Ryno with Tell It To Dem, Laden with Time To Shine and Chino (below) with From Morning.

I eventually had to sit down, trawl through and justify to myself why these tunes will run Notting Hill Carnival this year.

Top 5 carnival dancehall tunes

1. Mavado - High Under
2. Busy Signal - My Money
3. Vybz Kartel & Spice - Ramping Shop
4. Busy Signal - Send It On
5. Vybz Kartel - Bicycle

Mavado, Mr Vegas and Kartel all had number one hits on the Good Life riddim, but when I hear the intro to High Unda, Mavado's haunting voice reminds me that I get a little over excited about this track.

The two tracks from Busy, Send it On and My Money, have no more right to feature here than any of his other recent tunes. In fact this compilation was very close to being just my favourite Busy Signal songs.

It's just that the bass on My Money will ruin the facepaint of this year's Carnival goers, and the crazy Caribbean hybrid sound of Send It On will surely see it getting play from both the floats and the soundsystems.

Ramping Shop generated one of biggest controversies this year and will doubtless get some of the biggest forwards too. It's much better than NeYo's version, nuff said.

Kartel also makes the case as to why 09 was his year, with his flow and versatility in Bicycle on the Triple Bounce riddim.

And to the reggae. Not as strong this year - there have been better periods for roots and culture.

Top 5 carnival reggae tunes

1. Jah Cure - Call On Me
2. P-Zed - Cassava
3. Busy Signal - Night Shift
4. Romain Virgo - Can't Sleep
5. Jah Cure - Never Find

Busy made it again. Big up The Commodores for giving him inspiration for Night Shift, a song you can guarantee you will sing to a girl and feel sincere about it. It was neck and neck between this and One More Night, a Phil Collins cover.

Romain Virgo's tune to me is the biggest of this year in the reggae fraternity. His singing voice could make Kartel, Busy and Mavado cry.

P-Zed's Cassava, made waves in JA. I'm yet to hear it here but watch out if you do, it's certainly a BIG tune.

Finally: Never Find and Call On Me by Jah Cure (above). Not the most roots and culture sound by any means. It's something that still retains credibility on the streets, but if your mum were to hear the tunes she would say, "Oh is this what you listen to...this is nice". The Changes and Good Love riddims are definitely two of the biggest reggae riddims this year.

Have a good Carnival!

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Saturday 29 August 2009 | 7 comments

The Heatwave Chart - July 2009

Too many big tunes this month so I've done separate charts for dancehall and funky bashment. Stush and Busy Signal take the top spots.

Dancehall

1. Busy Signal - Picante
2. Mavado - Sweetest Time (Fitness Riddim)
3. Alison Hinds - Wine To Deh Back (Patti Cake Riddim)
4. Vybz Kartel - Bicycle (Triple Bounce Riddim)
5. Beenie Man - Gaza Mi Seh
6. Gyptian - Life Hard (Coming In From The Cold Riddim)
7. Busy Signal - Like A Shaker
8. Pressure - Good Vibes (Good Ride Riddim)
9. Supa Hype - Weed Flex (Birthday Sex Riddim)
10. Busta Rhymes, Bounty Killer & Mavado - Kill Dem (Remix)

Don't miss our showcase at Fabric on 7th August with Sticky, Hard House Banton, Doctor and Lady Chann, or a two hour funky bashment special on next week's Rinse FM show...

Funky bashment

1. Stush & Hard House Banton - We Nah Run (Sirens Riddim)
2. Ms Dynamite & Geeneus - Crackish
3. Doctor - Go Down (Inflation Riddim)
4. Busy Signal & Sami Sanchez - Da Style Deh (The Heatwave Refix)
5. Serani - No Games (DJ Target Roll Deep Remix)
6. Garrison Hawk - Sweet Music (Crazy Cousinz Remix)
7. Tower T & JT Royal - Funky Swing
8. 321 feat Keflon & Rubi Dan - Bring It Back (Ill Blu Remix)
9. Maxwell D & Sticky - Uno Dos Tres Gotcha (Jack It Up Riddim)
10. Mavado - No More (Bless Beats Remix)

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Wednesday 22 July 2009 | Add a comment

The Heatwave Chart - June 2009

A second number one in a row for Sami Sanchez, who is making progress in his recovery but still has a long way to go. We continue to hope and pray...

This month it's all about a remix I did blending Busy Signal's brilliant Da Style Deh with the tropical, tribal sound of Sami's Dirty Salsa. I won't be giving this one away but you can hear it on our last Rinse FM show.

Two of my favourite producers of any genre, Cordell 'Skatta' Burrell (of Coolie Dance fame) and Richard 'Sticky' Forbes, have three songs between them in this top ten.

Skatta's come back hard with his first new production in a while, the eastern-flavoured handclaptastic Hindu riddim. Newcomer Tiki, fresh from winning the Magnum Kings and Queens of Dancehall talent competition, does well to come out on top given that Elephant Man and Natalie Storm have also voiced on the rhythm.

Sticky has followed up the all-conquering Fugitive riddim with two new riddims: Jumeirah, an ominous, string-laden stomper, plus Jack It Up which is based on his production for Ms Dynamite's Bad Gyal. There's no drop in quality here as Maxwell D (London) and Marvin Brown (Leeds) deliver explosive UK bashment vocals.

Away from the uptempo house/dancehall crossover, Baby Cham (above) and Vybz Kartel both kill it on 90s ragga-style rhythms produced by Fire Links and Jam II respectively. And Demarco's vocal on the dubstep-influenced Airwolf riddim by Austria's Bassrunner production team gives Ward 21's Bang Bang (on the same rhythm) a run for its money.

Finally - for sheer exuberance, Lovindeer's tongue in cheek parody of Ramping Shop and Doctor's blend of bashment/funky dance moves will take some beating this summer.

1. Busy Signal vs Sami Sanchez - Da Style Deh (The Heatwave Refix) listen to the original
2. Tiki - Tiki Wine (Hindu Riddim) listen on our Rinse show
3. Maxwell D & Sticky - Mad MD (Jumeirah Riddim) more from Maxwell D
4. Baby Cham - Dem Fi Gweh (Street Team Riddim) listen on our Rinse show
5. Demarco - All About The Money (Airwolf Riddim) listen
6. Marvin Brown & Sticky - Body Look Good (Jack It Up Riddim) listen on our Rinse show
7. Vybz Kartel - Gwaan Suh (Summer Bounce Riddim) listen
8. Lovindeer & Mama Tia - Dumpling Shop listen
9. Collie Buddz - Eyez listen
10. Doctor - UK Funky Dancehall watch video

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Wednesday 10 June 2009 | Add a comment

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

The Heatwave Chart - April 2009

The first lady of UK dancehall, Suncycle's Lady Chann, is on fire right now with her wicked vocal on Sticky's Fugitive riddim, a bashment/funky/garage stormer with an amazing piano hook.

There's more genre-blending niceness courtesy of the remix of YT's Dubplate featuring four drum'n'bass legends as well as Aidonia jumping on Inflation by Crazy Cousinz.

Plus brand new dancehall tracks by Cecile on Kirkledove's lovely Hot Peppa riddim, Busy Signal on a Bam Bam relick for 2009 and Stinking Rich by Gappy Ranks.

And on a more reggae/hip hop note: Laden's sweet serenade Really Like You, Erup & Nature's Trample Dem on a relick of the Death In The Arena riddim and a big new tune from Busta Rhymes.

1. Lady Chann & Sticky - Your Eye Too Fast (Fugitive Riddim)
2. Mavado - Neva Believe U - listen
3. YT, Shabba D, UK Apache, Tenor Fly & David Boomah - Dubplate (Remix) - listen
4. Aidonia & Crazy Cousinz - Bounce (Inflation Riddim) - listen
5. Cecile - How It Feels (Hot Peppa Riddim)
6. Gappy Ranks - Stinking Rich - listen
7. Laden - Really Like You - listen
8. Busy Signal - Tie and Dye Face (Bam Bam Riddim) - listen
9. Erup & Nature - Trample Dem - listen
10. Busta Rhymes & Pharrell Williams - G-Stro - listen

Posted by Gabriel_Heatwave | Wednesday 22 April 2009 | 5 comments