My pan-tropicalist sympathies are well established at this point, so y’all knew I wasn’t going to pass up any dancehall riddim with the negritude to call itself “Jafrican.” Urban Dictionary defines this neologism as "half Japanese and black," but in this case it is clearly a dedication to the African spirit in afro-Jamaican culture—and the track delivers on any claims made by the title. So what if Ding Dong equates "African" with "bootleg" and the version pulls out more elephant-trumpets and other assorted sonic stereotypes than the Jungle Brothers’ "Sounds of Safari" 12” dub—the beat itself is a wicked talking drum and highlife guitar rhythm section that makes a perfect fast-chat vehicle.
GP89 Jafrican riddim blend:
Banana Clipz, “War Dem Want”
Ding Dong f. Flippa Mafia and Cutty, “Knock Off”
Chedda, “Hill and Gully”
Charly Black, “So Mi Like It”
Star Sniper, “Jacket”
Tony Matterhorn, “Make It Rain”
Busy Signal, “Jafrican Ting”
Busy Signal, “Bare Gal”
Download: GP89 Jafrican riddim blend
It also meshes so perfectly with the coupe/dancehall hybrid of Banana Clipz’ sublime fight song “War Dem Want” that in the middle of the blend I lost track of which drums and basses were which. (and The Banana Clipz’ ethos is so in tune with what Ghetto Palms is all about that it’s become kind of traditional to set off every blend with either a BC original or a Boima selection of some description as an intro.) Busy Signal, it goes without saying, owns the track with the same ethnically ambiguous ululation-flow that made “Da Style Deh” such a cargo cult classic. But several lesser-knowns like Charly Black and Star Sniper kill it also and let’s face it, dead is dead.
