Charly Black - Buddy Buddy

Following in the footsteps of selectors-turned-artists like Tony Matterhorn, Fire Links and Richie Feelings is Charly Black of the Bass Odyssey soundsystem. He's scored a couple of hit singles in Jamaica recently with the high-energy hype of Backshot Time and this tune, Buddy Buddy:

MP3: Charly Black - Buddy Buddy

The joyful combination of soca-style bounce and fast chat slackness can't fail to light up any dancefloor. As is so often the case with bashment tunes currently, the song hasn't been released as a single, but it's featured (by 'Charlie Blacks') on the upcoming Greensleeves compilation, Ragga Ragga Ragga 2008.

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Tuesday 29 April 2008 | Add a comment

Sirkus & BassCulture - Sweet Potato Mix

Really enjoyable, well mixed 50 minute selection from Amsterdam's Sirkus Recordings and BassCulture crews which takes in 80s dancehall, jungle, dubstep and bashment and features our recent single with Warrior Queen, Things Change. Also included is a late 90s Rubi Dan drum'n'bass tune produced by Ray Keith that we came across in a record shop with Elected from Sirkus when we played in Amsterdam last year.

Zip File: Sirus & BassCulture - Sweet Potato 3

This mix was actually made to promote an appearance in Holland by German digital dancehall DJs/producers Jahtari, who have got a new tune out now on Scotch Bonnet Records with veteran Jamaican artist Mikey Murka.

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Tuesday 15 April 2008 | Add a comment

Dr Evil & Elephant Man - Wild Out

Fun party anthem from Leftside's comedy alter ego, Dr Evil aka Mr Evil, alongside the Energy God, Elephant Man. As well as being one of Jamaica's best modern dancehall producers, Leftside's an underrated singjay with hits like Tuck In Yu Belly, The Tribute, No STD and More Punaany under his belt, both as himself and as Dr Evil.

MP3: Dr Evil & Elephant Man - Wild Out

The rhythm track's got a retro, skanking feel not dissimilar to the Daseca production for Assassin's Pum Pum Surveillance. Should be a big tune for the summer that's hopefully only around the corner now.

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Sunday 13 April 2008 | 1 comment

Woofah Issue 2 - Dancehall Reviews

My dancehall reviews for the second issue of the excellent reggae, grime and dubstep fanzine Woofah, which came out last month. It also features excellent pieces on Ninjaman, Iration Steppas, Durrty Goodz and (the lack of) live grime events in London - buy it here.

Beenie Man - No No
Fambo - Happ'n
Vybz Kartel - Money Fi Spend
Big Ship - Bee Hive Riddim
Though still a teenager, Stephen McGregor (son of the reggae singer Freddie) has already earned the nickname 'Di Genius' thanks to his prodigious talents - he wrote his first song at five and played five instruments by the age of ten. Recently, his futuristic, uptempo productions like Tremor, Power Cut, Red Bull & Guinness and Ghetto Whiskey have been among the biggest riddims in the dancehall world. The Bee Hive riddim retains McGregor's trademark synths but here he changes up his style, looking back to the 90s with a slower-paced foundation ragga beat, ased around grinding, whirring percussion. Dancehall veteran Future Troubles continues his renaissance since renaming himself Fambo while big hitters Beenie Man and Vybz Kartel drop the stand-out vocals on the riddim.

Buju Banton - Flava
Elephant Man - Wife Material
Timberlee & Ward 21 - Bubble Like Soup
Ward 21 - Rae Riddim
The multi-talented and Ward 21 crew produce the goods once again with a hype, staccato rhythm punctuated by exuberant shouts of 'Rae', which also pays more than a cursory debt to 90s styles. Underrated female artist Timberlee teams up with riddim creators Ward 21 for my favourite vocal, though it's hard to choose between the others. Vybz Kartel and Mad Cobra deserve a mention, though ultimately it's got to be about Buju Banton and Elephant Man, their low-slung voices riding the riddim flawlessly in a rapid-fire style. Buju especially is perfectly at home; the cadences of foundation dancehall bring out a style of his that I prefer infinitely to his singing over one-drop reggae.

MP3: Timberlee & Ward 21 - Bubble Like Soup

Chukki Starr - Party Wid Me
Lady Chann - Ease Off
Starrdom - Party Time riddim
Brand new production from English dancehall veteran Chukki Starr, with vocals from himself and Suncycle's Lady Chann aka Baby Chann. The rhythm track isn't outstanding and lacks a certain gloss that the top level Jamaican productions have, but the beat bounces along nicely, propelled by congas and skipping hi-hats. Chukki Starr combines bubbling vocals with a plea to bring no trouble to the party and have a good time, but it's Chann who takes the riddim with her super-tight flow and engaging lyrics. Her clever, self-referential wordplay takes in slackness, tongue-in-cheek badgalisms like, "cap your knees off with my sweet talk" and even a call to revolution while her style and pattern never falters.

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Friday 11 April 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

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

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

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

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

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