From THE VANITIES

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UNKNOWN NUMBER
Selector and commentary : FORGAKS, London, January 21st, 2008


1- Bad Man Story (Gear Box Rhythm) - Beenie Man
2- Click Mi Finger (Gear Box Rhythm) - Erup

Dancehall is, more than any other type of modern music, about the here and now, so it seems appropriate to start with the 2 biggest songs in Jamaica at the moment, both of them pieces on the same bright, snare-based rhythm from newcomers Truck Back Productions. 'Click Mi Finger' by relatively-unknown Erup has been topping the charts there since its release in November, and its popularity shows no signs of waning. The rhyme of "area" with "Montpellier" is, I think, particularly inspired. Beenie Man, meanwhile, has bounced back from his defeat by Tony Matterhorn at the final World Clash in November and a no-show at the colossal Sting bash on Boxing Day to have his biggest hit in a long while.

3- Jail (Jail Rhythm) - Busy Signal

Winner of the 'Sell Off Tune Of The Year' at the first ever Jamaican Teen Choice Awards ('sell off' being the highest of compliments), this is arguably the biggest dancehall song of the year. Has still not left the Jamaican top 5 since it came out in October.

4- Life Of A G (Shoot Out Rhythm) - Mavado

Mavado is the fastest rising star in Dancehall, adored by men and women alike, prone to scrapes with the law - a rough guy and a soulful performer. 'Weh Dem A Do', on Red Bull and Guinness, was the biggest crossover hit of the past couple of years, and while David Brooks released nothing this year of comparable popularity, his version of John John's Shoot Out rhythm seemed to me a textbook example of his famous 'fast singing' style.

5- Empire Army (Dark Again Rhythm) - Vybz Kartel
6- The Robbery (Dark Again Rhythm) - Aidonia
In terms of production, the year undeniably belonged to 17-year old Stephen 'Di Genius' MacGregor and his Big Ship studio. The son of reggae legend Freddie MacGregor, Stephen was the producer of last year's massive Red Bull & Guinness rhythm, and this year he produced hit after hit on a slew of dark, murky, almost gothic rhythms, all of which seemed to inspire his team of younger artists to write some of the fiercest and most violent lyrics ever heard in dancehall. Aidonia's 'The Robbery', on the appropriately-named Dark Again rhythm, is a particularly vicious tale of a bank raid filled with brutal gunplay. Vybz Kartel's 'Empire Army', meanwhile, was his biggest crossover hit of the year, popular with everyone from the leading UK garage DJ Logan Sama to Diplo and A-Trak. The incongruous-sounding chorus hook "bullets spray like Issey Miyake" is a reference to l'Eau D'Issey, an enduringly popular cologne. It's worth mentioning Aidonia's other version on the rhythm, the livewire 'Empty', a response to Munga (of rival studio Don Corleon) and his claim that 'when I bust my gun their Big Ship will sink'. Mavado's lament for a fallen friend, 'Dem Bwoy Deh Nuh Bad', is also essential.

7- Conscience (Silver Screen Rhythm) - Baby Cham
8- Sissy (Silver Screen Rhythm) - Assassin

Donovan 'Vendetta' Bennett's Don Corleon studio has been dancehall's most consistently inventive hit factory over the last few years. Famous for his love of synthesized strings and acoustic guitars, and a palpable lack of fatness to the bass, his rhythms have been as much admired by Pitchfork readers and record collectors as they have been with girls in the dance. Winner of 'Producer of The Year' at the last four International Reggae & World Music Awards, Corleon's first major rhythm, 2003's 'Mad Ants', gave the then-unknown Vybz Kartel his 2 breakthrough hits ('Why You Doing It?' and 'New Millenium'), and he has since gone on to have Billboard Chart success with T.O.K.'s 'Footprints', Elephant Man's 'Pon Di River, Pon Di Bank', and Sean Paul & Keyshia Cole's 'Give It Up To Me', working with everyone for Rhianna to Dipset. He is also notable for being one of the few dancehall producers to have had comparable success producing slower, more traditional Roots rhythms, crafting huge hits for singers such as Sizzla, Jah Cure, I Wayne, and his latest protegé, Pressure. On the dancehall front, 2007 was a relatively quiet year for the Don and his biggest rhythm of the year, 'Silver Screen', proved to be a slow-burning hit. Initially overlooked at the time of its summer release, Babycham's 'Conscience', which developed the more orthodox storytelling style and conscientious subject matter showcased on last year's international smash 'Ghetto Story', made a steady climb into the Top 5 in November and has remained there since. Assasin's more puerile 'Sissy' has been the rhythm's other big tune, although T.O.K.'s version, 'No Man', also comes very highly recommended.

9- Hula Hoop (Bellevue Rhythm) - Macka Diamond

Macka Diamond is dancehall's first lady. She often wears dresses fashioned out of stitched-together bank notes. Produced by the man behind many of Shaggy's hits, Christopher Birch, 'Hula Hoop' was one of the biggest, and definitely fastest, dance tunes of the year. You can probably imagine how the accompanying dance goes, but if not check the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCLTxWzO16o

10- Ting Dem Tall (Chiney K Rhythm) - Chino
11- Start It (Chiney K Rhythm) - Aidonia
The galloping Chiney K rhythm is Stephen MacGregor's latest. Still to be released on vinyl, it is dominating the airwaves and dances via word of mouth, advance CDs, and downloads. Chino, aka Daniel MacGregor, is Stephen's older brother and, perhaps for this reason, seems always to get the best out of his rhythms. Both his and Aidonia's version are classic Big Ship 'gunman' tunes.

12- The Crime (Bad Dog Rhythm) - Beenie Man
13- AA (Bad Dog Rhythm) - Cobra
Miami-based producer Troy 'Troyton' Rami was the man behind 2002's Buzz, the rhythm which spawned Sean Paul's 'Gimme The Light', arguably dancehall's biggest crossover hit of the decade. His Black Shadow studio created only one rhythm this year, 'Bad Dog', his first since last year's poorly-received Blink. With only a simple keyboard melody, this rhythm left room for a selection of dancehall's veteran DJs to give up some of their best voicings of the year. I could have picked almost any tune on it really, and Bounty Killer's 'Killa Talk' and Buju Banton's 'Crazy Talk', which have been omitted only for space reasons, are both completely and utterly necessary.

14- Tek Weh Yuhself (Dutchie Pot Rhythm) - Mr. Vegas
Tek weh yuself means, literally, to take yourself away from bad people, casting all negative thoughts ('bad mind') from your head. This ranks along 'Heads High' among Vegas' most infectious dance tunes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2gGiFoqcjs

15- Bad From Mi Born (Sativa Rhythm) - Munga
16- Do Make Me Hold You (Artillery Rhythm) - Assassin

Munga Honourable, the self-proclaimed 'Gangsta Rastafari', is Don Corleon's latest protegé and his 'Bad From Mi Born' was the biggest dancehall song of the summer. With its military marching band snare rolls, Artillery was my favourite Don Corleon rhythm of the year, and the rowdy singalong Assassin version easily the best piece on it.

17- Unknown Number (Private Call) (Pon Di Edge Rhythm) - Busy Signal
'Nah pick it up if it's a private caller/gangster no answer certain calls': caution as a badge of honor and necessary feature of standard day-to-day life. Busy is almost apologetic in the amount of detail he furnishes, explaining precisely what he needs to see on his cellphone display before picking up ("plus one then the area code then the digits - everything fe cool"), and that he doesn't even save some of his best friends' numbers to his phone. Naturally these friends, whom he proceeds to name, are some of the biggest DJs in dancehall. Intense paranoia and searing bravado are evidently opposite sides of the same coin.

18- Money Fi Spend (Bee Hive Rhythm) - Vybz Kartel
19- Change (Bee Hive Rhythm) - Chino
20- Amazing Grace (Tremor Rhythm) - Mavado
21- We Nuh Miss (Tremor Rhythm) - T.O.K.
2 more massive Stephen MacGregor rhythms. Audibly awed by the teenage MacGregor's promise, an avuncular Kartel delivers a thorough, detailed and, most importantly, optimistic inventory of what true high rolling is all about, from talk of the Forbes 500 list to having "cream like Haagen Dazs". A platitude like "every nigga is a rising star" sounds refreshing and real in this context. 'Amazing Grace' seems slowly to have become Mavado's most ubiquitous song to date - I was waiting at the bus stop earlier this week when a pre-teen boy whizzed by on a bike singing it full force.

22- Tek It To Dem (Rume Ram Rhythm) - QQ
At the age of 10 years old, singing sensation QQ set the record as the youngest person ever in Jamaica to have a hit song, with his conscience smash 'Poverty'. Now an established artist on the scene at the ripe old age of 12, this was perhaps the biggest dancing tune of the year. Check out the accompanying moves here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dalIU15uis

23- Dem Have It Hard (Overdrive Rhythm) - Blacker
This grinding, surprisingly unsplashy rhythm was the only output this year from legendary producer Dave Kelly's Mad House studio. Kelly can be credited among the primary architects of the millenial chart dancehall sound, with countless hits under his belt in the last 5 years, from Beenie Man's 'Dude' to Cham's 'Ghetto Story'. 2007 was a notable year for his near-total absence from the scene.

24- Pick It Up And Drop It (Madness Rhythm) - Sean Paul
Another lightning-fast rhythm from Christopher Birch's 'Birchill' studio, the shiny synth stabs giving it a whole different tempo from any other dancehall song released this year. With an equally shiny video apparently on the way, this first single from Sean Paul's new album looks like it might last well into 2008 and be his biggest hit in a while. The shaky hits in the chorus (nakedly copped from Timbaland productions of the last 12 months) are more than ready for the pop charts either side of the Atlantic.

25- Me And My Dogs (Gang War Rhythm) - Mavado

I love this rhythm by Trevor 'Baby G' James if only because it's the only one I have ever heard with the sound of flutes in it. Damian Marley's wonderful 'Something For You' was by far and away its biggest hit, but I prefer the Mavado if only because it seems to me, despite the latent promise of retribution, to be quite a sweet celebration of brotherhood and comradeship. There is an amazing video medley of the best songs on the rhythm here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mhVJREQXlc