Dancehall fire from the UK and around the world

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La Ola De Calor

Originally recorded for the Blogariddims podcast series.

Like Ini Kamoze sings in the opening track, there's a world of music on La Ola De Calor: sung, rapped and MC'd almost entirely in Spanish, with a considerable Jamaican/Caribbean influence. The mix showcases mainly styles derived from and related to reggae music: dancehall/ragga/bashment, reggaeton (essentially Latin dancehall), Caribbean soca and cumbia (with its offbeat skank and, as interpreted here by Celso Piña, heavy basslines, sounding not dissimilar to foundation reggae). The Hispanic hip hop featured also owes a sizeable debt to the Caribbean's musical history. Notch (formerly of the group Born Jamericans) versions the Lean Back instrumental Jamaican-style while other tracks are more rooted in Latino traditions: Cuban-American Pitbull's Toma features a crunked-out take on the clave rhythm, Tego Calderón's rapping is underpinned by salsa piano riffs and the haunting Get To Poppin' instrumental samples a classic cumbia (Toto La Momposina by La Verdolaga).

The relationship between Jamaica and the Hispanic Caribbean is clear in the number of reggae and dancehall hits that are translated into Spanish. The wholesale reproduction of lyrics and melodies in another language suggests that the original songs have firmly established themselves in Latino culture. La Ola De Calor features versions of reggae/dancehall songs like Night Nurse (Amor), Nuttin' Nuh Go So (Movimiento Sabroso), Retreat (El Desorden) and King Of The Dancehall (El Rey De Dancehall), as well as new cuts on or new versions of Jamaican riddims such as Filthy (Música Reggae), Bam Bam (El Pru), African Beat (Caramelo), World A Music, Higher Higher (Pásame La Botella) and Buy Out (Papi Te Quiero).

This is not to say that Spanish language or Caribbean dancehall is always derivative of Jamaica, though at heart it seems at least to be largely dependent on it. The roots of the movement can be traced back to the late 70s, when Panamanian vocalist Renato started performing and recording reggae in Spanish. Alongside his contemporaries Nando Boom, Gaby and others, Renato helped popularise dancehall reggae in Panama in the 80s while El General is seen as spearheading the movement of Spanish language dancehall and (proto) reggaeton in the Caribbean from the 90s onwards. Notably, often by versioning Jamaican hits like Gal You Good (Te Ves Buena), Dem Bow (Son Bow) and Punaany Tegereg (Tu Pun Pun). El General isn't actually featured on La Ola De Calor, but his compatriots Nando Boom, Rude Girl aka La Atrevida and Gaby are, delivering late 80s/early 90s dancehall/ragga styles in a mixture of Panamanian Spanish and Jamaican patois.

The significant Jamaican community in Panama, many of whom first migrated to the isthmus to work on the construction of the canal in the early 20th century, are responsible for the popularity of their island's music on the Caribbean coast of central America. This pattern of immigration and assimilation, followed by a localised re-interpretation of dancehall reggae's heavy bass and intricate lyrics also took place across the Atlantic in from the 1970s onwards among England's Jamaican population.

The influence of migrant routes and reggae roots throughout Caribbean Latin America is audible in the bashment/reggaeton blend of Banton, who chats both in patois and Spanish. The Caribbean coast of Banton's native Costa Rica is also home to Jamaican emigrants who, despite having been born and brought up in a Spanish-speaking country, continue to speak English/patois as their first language.

But this influence flows both ways: Jamaican artists have often been moved to record songs in Spanish or collaborate with big name Latin artists, presumably in recognition of the large potential audience among Spanish speakers. Some of the artists' language skills are shaky, but here Sasha and Cutty Ranks both deliver Spanish lyrics over Jamaican rhythms with aplomb, and Beenie Man combines with Puerto Rican superstar Don Omar over a beat full of bashment bounce.

Anglophone artists like Nelly Furtado (Canadian Portuguese) and Yungun & Viceman (Nigerian/Scottish/English) are also getting in on the act here with Spanish lyrics: Yungun & Viceman ride the Red Alert riddim, a reggaetonesque slice of bashment produced by Miami's South Rakkas Crew. The wide appeal of rapping in Spanish indicates how much Latino culture has grown in global influence, especially in the United States.

While Panama made all the early runnings in the 'reggae en español' movement from the late 1980s, by the mid 90s Puerto Rico began to take over, and today almost all major reggaeton artists hail from the island. Vico C's mid 90s classic Bomba Para Afincar is closer sonically to the Panamanian dancehall of El General, Nando Boom et al, but by the time of his collaboration with Tony Touch, Para Mi Barrio, he sounds more like a Latin rapper than a Jamaican MC/deejay.

The rise and rise of reggaeton [Puerto Rico/Latino] over Spanish language dancehall [Panama/Jamaican] over the last ten years has seen the influence of Jamaica on Spanish-speaking MCs and Latino producers wane somewhat. Reggaeton artists, although their distinctive style of MCing owes so much to dancehall, now look more to American and Latino music and it is a blend of these influences that currently characterises reggaeton. The bachata melody of En La Disco Bailoteo, the cumbia accordion of Kumbiaton and the salsa piano in Julito Maraña, Para Mi Barrio and the allstar posse cut Quítate Tú Pa' Ponerme Yo all nod much more firmly to Latin American musical history than Jamaican/Panamanian.

New York and its immigrant communities were crucial in incubating a style (reggaeton/Latin hip hop) which combines elements of hip hop with foundation Latin and Jamaican sounds. Tego Calderón, who switches with ease between reggaeton, hip hop, salsa and much more, seems to outsiders like us to be head and shoulders above the reggaeton crowd thanks to his broad musical tastes and conscious lyrics. Although he has become established in New York and signed a major label deal, he draws inspiration from across the Caribbean, Latin America and the US. His astonishing versatility became clear when we realised that he was the one artist who had tracks which would have fitted in with almost every section of the mix.

For all that the tunes on La Ola de Calor are often called 'Spanish dancehall' (or reggae or hip hop) in the USA, Spain's own contribution to this sphere of music has rarely matched that of Latin America or the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. The rise of dancehall and reggae in Spain over the past few years owes more to its increased popularity throughout continental Europe than to any influence from Spain's ex-colonies. In fact, the sole Spanish artist featured here, Daddy Maza, is riding a bashment riddim produced in Germany by the Kingstone label, and delivering his lyrics very much in a Jamaican style.

In Spain there is often seen to be a divide between Jamaican dancehall/reggae and Latin American reggaeton/dancehall: the latter yields a number of mainstream pop hits while the Jamaican music scene is more of an alternative, underground movement. From our point of view, Puerto Rican and Panamanian music is clearly equivalent to what is produced in Jamaica, sharing much of the same history and tradition and continuing to version similar riddims.

But given that reggaeton hits like Daddy Yankee's Gasolina are heard all over Spain on the radio, in discos and in supermarkets while most Jamaican bashment releases remain unknown, it's not hard to see how differently the two are perceived. Of course, that the tunes are sung or MC'd in Spanish rather than hard-to-understand Jamaican patois also contributes to the perceived differences.

A good example of how much a song's context can define it for better or for worse is Pásame La Botella by Panamanian duo Match & Daddy. Their song uses the Tabernacle riddim, which was originally a hit for Jamaican gospel singer Marvia Providence and later reversioned by Stone Love (for Elephant Man's Bun Bad Mind) and in this production, South Block (for Mr Vegas's Higher Higher).

Match & Daddy offer another take on the instrumental, in the classic Jamaican combination style: one singer and one MC. But while this is a Jamaican riddim featuring dancehall-style MCing, its ubiquity in Latin American discos and its pop/Latin melodic hook could easily make it seem many times removed from its Jamaican origins and place it beyond the pale for many dedicated dancehall/reggae fans.

It is precisely the foreignness of reggae as much as the appeal of its rhythms and rhymes which has shaped its cult success in Spain and the rest of Europe. We hope to show with La Ola De Calor how deep the sonic connections run between Caribbean cultures regardless of wider divisions of language and identity.

Thanks to Rhythm & Flow (Barcelona), Kinky Music (Madrid), King-Der (Badalona, Spain) and Topa Top Productions (Costa Rica) for their music and to those who have written eloquently about this kind of Latin music especially Wayne Marshall (Wayne&Wax) and DJ /Rupture (Mudd Up!)

Tracklist

1. Capital D & Ini Kamoze - World A Music
2. Alika - Ejército Despierta
3. Arzu - Amor
4. Tego Calderón - Slow Mo
5. Vico C - Bomba Para Afincar - Watch Video
6. Punaman - Música Reggae
7. Candyman - El Pru
8. Rude Girl aka La Atrevida - Si El Hombre Quiere
9. Sasha - Poppy
10. Jimmy Bad Boy - Movimiento Sabroso
11. Ivy Queen - Papi Te Quiero
12. Brian Kidd - Get To Poppin'
13. Notch - Ay Qué Bueno
14. Ozomatli - Cumbia
15. Candyman y La Familia - Caramelo
16. Tony Touch & Vico C - Para Mi Barrio
17. Tego Calderón - Las Gatas Gozen
18. Voltio & Tego Calderón - Julito Maraña
19. Wisin & Yandel - En La Disco Bailoteo
20. Alexis & Fido - Kumbiatón
21. Celso Piña feat Control Machete & Blanquito Man - Cumbia Sobre El Rio (Sueña)
22. Los 12 Discípulos - Quítate Tú Pa' Ponerme Yo
23. Voltio & Notch - Bad Mothers From P.R.
24. Ras Mario, Timedo Flow & Filastine - Quémalo Ya
25. Daddy Maza - El Tic
26. Renato - Soy El Más Sensual - Watch Video
27. Gaby - El Meneaito - Watch Video
28. Cutty Ranks - Hot Girls
29. Principal - El Rey De Dancehall
30. Banton - Sextyle
31. Yungun & Viceman - Gringo Lingo
32. Nelly Furtado & Calle 13 - No Hay Igual
33. Don Omar & Beenie Man - Belly Danza
34. Kali - Mi Droga
35. Match & Daddy - Pásame La Botella
36. Pitbull - Toma

Feedback

• "Dope mix - a must listen!" - Mr Blentwell
• "Real hotness" - DJ /Rupture
• "Bringing the picante" - Wayne Marshall
• "This shit runs the gamut of urban Latino music" - Thick Magazine
• "Another immensely tight mix - a really fresh selection of old and new joints" - DJ Vamanos
• "This mix blew my mind - Heatwave came correct here" - Looj
• "A scorcher" - Paul Nomos (Deep Time)
• "Blinding" - Stinky Jim
• "One of the best reggaeton mixes I've heard" - Droid
• "Another hot mix" - Kid Cue
• "Está cañerísimo" - Evaristo
• "Shit's hot" - Crazy Tom
• "Aces" - URL Monro