Jamaican Slang EditorialTHE Blog for Jamaican Slang, Patois, Reggae, Rastafari, Real T’ing dem and Jamaica

With so many riddims coming out every week, it can get hard to put things in perspective. Anyways, we thought we would look at the top 5 most successful riddims to come out. Now, these are not the best riddims or our favorites, but these are the riddims that you can hear at almost any party. The list is not in any special order and let us know if you disagree or have a different top 5:

1- Playground (Beenie Man is definitely the one who made this riddim “sell off” with Who Am I.)

2- Diwali (This might be the most successful riddim outside of Jamaica and it is rddim where Sean Paul really blew up abroad. This riddim showed the world the fun dances coming out of Jamaica. Stand out artists are T.O.K., Sean Paul, Wayne Wonder, Elephant Man…and should I add Lumidee? Uh No!)

3- Bookshelf (Every single song on this riddim is pretty much classic, but the people that stand out are Sean Paul, Beenie Manand T.O.K. This is also the riddim where Sean Paul dropped Dutty Yo on Deport Dem.)

4- Buy Out ( Sean Paul and Elephant Man did their thing on this riddim. This was a fun riddim and people were signalin’ di plane all the time.)

5- Showtime (This might be the best riddim of all time because nuff artist use parts of this riddim or the riddim to launch their career. Beenie and Bounty Killer definitely murdered this riddim.)

Even before finishing this post, I have people on my case that these riddims could be replaced by others. Leave some feedback of what you think should be on this list.

Jamaican music as a whole has influenced so many genres and cultures around the world. You can find reggae in Israel, South Africa, Brazil, Holland, Germany and many other countries.  We can certainly thank Bob Marley and his legendary music for being the ambassador of reggae music around the world, but the story of Reggaeton has its own twist.

The origin of reggaeton is always a matter of debate between people that believe it originated in Panama versus people that believe that it originated in Puerto Rico. Both places are valid candidates for being the birthplace of reggaeton. Puerto Rico is a logical birth place due to its  proximity to Jamaica and Panama could also be the spot due to its large West Indian population who went to Panama in the early 20th Century to work on the canal.  Many afro-Panamanians can trace their roots back to Jamaica and other islands in the Carribean. Often, they speak English as well as Spanish, some even speak old school Jamaican Slang!

So here is the thing, if you listen to the Panamanian Reggaeton from back in the day (like in the 1970s), it sounds like people rapping in Spanish or English over merengue and bachata. There are a few songs like El General’s Pu Tun Tun that are in Spanish with a traditional dancehall riddim, but for the most part the original reggaeton was really different from what we hear now. Early on, in Panama, artists would hear Jamaican reggae and dancehall tracks and translate them into Spanish. Some of the pioneers include El General, Nando Boom, Chico Man and several other Panamanian artists. Once the music started to become successful in Panama, it spread across the Caribbean and Spanish speaking world. Simultaneously, hip-hop and reggae were being introduced in Puerto Rico.

I remember a few years back I went to Puerto Rico and when we jumped into the cab, I thought I was going to hear Sean Paul over the bookshelf riddim, but no, it was some local artist “chatting” in Spanish over the bookshelf riddim. It was fyah! In the late 80s and 90s, Puerto Ricans were producing their own riddims with  influences from hip hop and other styles of music such as salsa, reggae, dancehall. These riddims became the foundation for the modern day reggaeton track. Unfortunately, the larger Puerto Rican society was not ready for reggaeton or Reggae Rap in Spanish. The police aka Babylon, often raided underground rap events, defaming artists on the radio and the distribution of reggaeton tapes.  By trying to hold back the underground reggae/rap movement in Puerto Rico, the police helped fuel the fire that would result in what we know today as reggaeton. It was in the underground music scene that famous artists like Daddy Yankee and Don Omar.

In recent years, reggaeton has become bigger than life. Reggaeton albums continue to outsell other genres of music at a time when album sales are down overall. The success of reggaeton can be directly linked the Spanish speaking immigrants and their children in the United States and the internet. Reggaeton artists tour all over the Americas, often selling out stadiums.

Although, reggaeton has influences from various styles of music, there are still some similarities to reggae and more specifically dancehall. Lyrically, most reggaeton songs are about slackness. The beats are different, but there is a certain rhythm to a reggaeton track just like in dancehall. Don’t expect to learn any jamaican patois when listening to most reggaeton, but please feel free to shake your bottom!

Here are some reggaeton tracks to help you get familiar:

El General - Te Quiero Mucho

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Tego Calderon - Cuando Baila Reggaeton

Daddy Yankee - Lo Que Paso, Paso

Everyone’s mother holds a special place in this world and it might not be even really a comparison, but we are going to do it. Over the past few years, a handful of classic reggae tracks have come out that are dedicated to all the mothers out there.  Each one is great in its own special way, but I always think…who really made the best and most classic song! So here are the contenders:  Sizzla Kolanji, Gyptian and Vybz Kartel.

Each one of the songs has a video associated with it because without a doubt, each artist put their heart into the song, but who made the best song???? Watch the videos and then see what we think!

Sizzla - Thank You Mama

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=5760489

Gyptian - Mama

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=3867413

Vybz Kartel - Mamma

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=52789253

Okay, so hopefully you listened to each one of these special tracks, now let’s break this down to get to a #1!

Riddim/Beat Selection:

1) Sizzla (One to One Riddim)

2) Gyptian (Triumphant Riddim)

3) Vybz Kartel (Story Tella Riddim)

This might be the hardest part of the competition because every riddim used is great, but the credit goes to the producers. Basically, everyone who made a song on the One to One Riddim and Triumphant Riddims made classic. Don’t get me wrong, Story Tella is great too, but it is hard to top One to One or Triumphant.

Emotion:

1) Gyptian

2) Sizzla

3) Vybz Kartel

Gyptain wins in this category by a few steps because it just seems so authentic and divine when singing this song. And for Vybz Kartel to make a track dedicated to his Mamma when at the same time he has alot of tracks dedicated to punnani damages the credibility. It might be a ploy to clean up his image of constant slackness.

Lyrics:

1) Sizzla

2) Vybz

3) Gyptian

“Work so hard to see us go to school, blista on ya finga so dey won’t take us fi fool”. I think Sizzla just did an amazing job with this song.  Vybz didn’t do a bad job either  and neither did Gyptian, but as far as lyrical content, Sizzla is the man in this competition.

Jamaican Slang Factor:

1) Vybz Kartel

2) Sizzla

3) Gyptian

The results of this category were destined to lean in favor of Vybz. Vybz Kartel is a dancehall artist while Sizzla might moonlight as a dancehall artist, he is also a roots artist and Gyptian is certainly a roots artist. Since dancehall is the breeding ground of Jamaican Slang, Vybz has this category on lock.

So who is the winner? Sizzla, but really the listener is the winner. All of these tracks are great and although each one represents something different for each artist in their career, all are worth having in your collection.

More Time!

I think the header/title of this post says it all. Every now and then, there are some riddims that reggae artists get to record over and EVERY track is classic. Without a doubt, the Dem Gone Riddim is one of those. Every song on the riddim is special even though the beat is about the same. The riddim was so good that it went beyond reggae when Akon decided to record Mama Africa over the riddim for his 2007 album, Konvicted.

If you haven’t heard these songs before, you are in for a treat. If you have heard them…think back to the first time you heard them. I was on a bus in the Caribbean when I first heard the songs. Sizzla (this is some of Sizzla’s best work to date) was first and then Gentleman (the song that put Gentleman on the map). A moment I will never forget, the perfect soundtrack to the Caribbean! I am sure you will enjoy these songs as much as I do.

Akon - Mama Africa

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Gentleman - Dem Gone

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Reggae music is so vital in one’s journey to speak Jamaican Patois and Jamaican Slang that it might be the number one way to learn the language. Although, all forms of reggae present vital information about Jamaican Culture, Jamaican Slang is usually found in dancehall reggae, also known as ragga. Ragga is basically digitally produced reggae music. Ragga is the most commercially successful Jamaican music since Bob Marley and it also the most popular form of music among all Jamaicans. (By the way, I use dancehall and ragga interchangeably as well as rhythm and riddim interchangeably. Riddim is the patois version

The fact that most rhythms are digitally produced allows producers to create an unlimited amount of rhythms for very little cost has opened the doors to many Jamaican and International producers. Just to give you an idea, since the 1990s, at least 5,000 new rhythms have been produced…annually. Similar to hip-hop beats, ragga rhythms (dancehall riddims) can be created on the fly, but they can also be created using samples. For example, a few years ago there was a popular rhythm called the Mission Impossible Riddim and as the name implies, the rhythm took the sound sample from the theme song to the film, Mission Impossible. What is interesting about rhythms in danchall riddims is the number of artists that make songs over them. This would never be allowed in hip-hop in the same way, it would be deemed ‘bitting’. When 15 or more artists make songs over one riddim, its called a ‘One Rhythm’ album. This is something that is unusually found in dancehall, but places a key role in an industry that often relies more on singles sales as opposed to album sales. It is also on these rhythms where new artists get a chance to shine and talk about everything from politics, Jamaica, family and more often than not, sex!

I would say, that if you listen to some of the more popular riddims, you are very likely to learn a great deal of Jamaican slang. For example, here are the lyrics to Sean Paul’s “Punkie”, a song that was popular before it was released into the mainstream:

Hot sexy punkie, me punkie
Gal me see say that you want me, you want me
And it no matter wa you man a say, man a say
Cause you know say that we haffi link up one day
Hot sexy punkie, me lady
Gal me see say that you want me, me baby
And it no matter wa you man a say, man a say
Cause you know say that we haffi link up one day

Just checking out the lyrics in this verse of the song, you can learn several patois phrases, pronunciation and words. With ragga tracks being the most popular form of Jamaican music in recent times, artists from all socio-economic classes have made songs. Usually, people from the lower end of the socio-economic ladder speak more patois and slang than people from the upper end. Jamaican Slang and Patois are not seen as proper by some members of society, even though this is changing as Jamaicans learn to embrace patois for national identity. So, the deeper into the masses you look, the more authentic the slang becomes in dancehall. If you listen to a Vybz Kartel track, you are certain to hear many new Jamaican Slang words and Vybz is an artist that makes all of his songs over riddims. For example, check out the lyrics to Vybz’ ‘Tek Buddy’:

Tek buddy gal, yuh think me easy?
Who you ramp wid? Yuh wha live easy
Tek me things and yuh tek me money too
So tek buddy too, tek buddy too
Tek buddy gal, yuh think me easy?
Who you ramp wid? Yuh wha live easy
Yuh, tek me things and tek me money too
So tek buddy too, tek buddy too

Vybz Kartel - Tek Buddy

I hope this helps explain a few things about dancehall and where you can learn Jamaican Slang…besides getting the definitive source on Jamaican Slang…the Rastaman Vibration at www.jamaican-slang.com

Here are two bonus songs to help you learn some Jamaican Slang! More Time!:

Busy Signal - Nah Ansa

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Timberlee - Backdoor Delivery (Ole Geezer Riddim)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.