What with all the raga soca, afropop, tropicalia and whatever the Payola riddim is, it has been a minute and a half since there was a straight ahead 90 bpm woomp/woomp/clack dancehall blend in this space. The last might have been the Street Team riddim in fact. Good thing a couple more artists have jumped on it since then, about the same time two new riddims in the same mode dropped.
School Bell / G35 / Street Team blend:
Elephant Man, “You a di Wife” (School Bell - Leftside)
Leftside f Syon, “Nuh Other Gyal” (School Bell - Leftside)
Lisa Hype, “More Pon More” (School Bell - Leftside)
Vybz Kartel, “Gaza Ting a Ling” (School Bell – Leftside)
Skilli Bangs, “From Now On” (G35 – Full 100/Vybz Xpress)
Kiprich, “My Money” (G35 – Full 100/Vybz Xpress)
Tifa, “Dem Ting Nuh Good” (G35 – Full 100/Vybz Xpress))
Bugle, “Bubble Like Soup” (G35 – Full 100/Vybz Xpress)
Timberlee, “Bubble Like Soup” (Ward 21)
Ron Browz, “Give Me 20 Dollars” (DJ Obsession Street Team refix)
Beenie Man, “Money Nuff” (Street Team – Fire Links)
Cham, “Dem fi Gweh” (Street Team – Fire Links)
Download: School Bell / G35 / Street Team Blend
Possibly trying to recreate the ’90s throwback success of “Tuck In Your Belly,” Leftside just dropped the School Bell riddim, a subliminal reference to Shabba Ranks’ “Ting a Ling,” of which this is basically an edit. Mr. Parkes definitely knows just how to flip the compression and echo on the pocoman drums, though, and this possibly comes tougher than the original. Ele, Vybz and Portmore Empress Lisa Hype all touch it as well as Leftside himself in a “Action”-style combination.
The G35 on the other hand is strictly new school, all bass and menace. The snare sounds like the air displaced by a cleaver chop and the ominous chords could be sampled or replayed from Bill Withers’ “Aint No Sunshine.” There’s a mess of strong versions, but as usual my favorite is one of the girls from TNT. Bugle’s “Bubble Like Soup,” meanwhile, seemed like a tribute or answer record to the Timberlee track of the same name, the 45 that originally put her on the radar, so I included it as well.
Lastly, Beenie turns in an answer record of his own, countering Mavado’s “Mockingbird” with “Money Nuff” on the same Street Team beat. Cham also piled on since I debuted it here about 6 weeks ago, and in case those weren’t enough reasons for it to break wide open, DJ Obsession threw together the necessary Ron Browz refix. No wifing in the club.
