Best Dancehall Riddims of the 1990s
What’s a riddim, you ask? Well really it’s the Jamaican Patois pronunciation of the word “rhythm,” but in dancehall/reggae it refers to the instrumental of a song. Contrary to sampling wars in hip hop and copyright claims in po(o)p music, any given riddim, if popular, may be used in dozens of songs. Believe or not, if you listen to a Sean Paul song, the instrumental might be more famous than the song itself! And if you don’t know, now you know!
A lot of people feel the 90s brought forward a lot of timeless riddims that even 20 years later people still rock out to. On the following pages we want to revisit some of our favourites from this era.
The Bookshelf riddim was produced by Tony Kelly for K-Licious Music and saw the light of day in 1998. The cut you all know is probably Deport Them by Sean Paul! Banger!
Tracklist:
01 – Wayne Wonder – Watching You
02 – Tanto Metro & Devonte – Say Wooee
03 – Sasha – Dat Sexy Body
04 – Richie Stephens – That’s The Way
05 – Evette – Over & Over
06 – Lady Saw – No Matta Me
07 – Tanya Stephens – From You Hot
08 – Frisco Kid & Mr Easy – Bashment Time
09 – Mr. Vegas – Jack It Up
10 – Sean Paul – Deport Them
11 – Beenie Man — Bookshelf
The Up Close riddim is another late ’90s classic on the Penthouse label. This riddim includes the timeless crossover hit “Everyone Falls in Love” by Tanto Metro & Devonte. But there’s a lot more heat on here from artists like Sean Paul, Mr Vegas, Beenie Man, & Buju Banton.
Tracklist:
01 – General Degree – Sweet Cologne
02 – Alley Cat – Dirty Thoughts
03 – Hawkeye – A We
04 – Mr Vegas – Wuk Di Money
05 – Richie Stephens – Weakness For Sweetness
06 – Pinchers – I Feel Like
07 – Little Kirk – Holding On
08 – Goofy – Spotlight
09 – Buju Banton – Up Close & Personal
10 – Beenie Man – Do You Wanna Diss
11 – Sean Paul -Nah Give No Bligh
12 Tanto Metro & Devonte – Everyone Falls In Love
The Filthy riddim came out in 1997 on Main Street and was produced by Haldane ‘Danny’ Browne. Choice cuts are Mr Vegas – Heads High & General Degree – Traffic Blocking. Instant Classic!
Tracklist:
Mr Vegas – Heads High
Lady G – Breeze Off
Buccaneer – Tek it easy
Spragga Benz – She nuh ready yet
Crissy D – Big tymer
Red Rat – Ah fi who fa gal
Lady Saw – Don’t even stress dat
General Degree – Traffic Blocking
Tanya Stephens – Draw me finger
Beenie Man – Let him go
Goofy – Somebody just poop
Here is a sure shot riddim for the summer: Fever Pitch is sure to make sweaty clubs go nuts. In 1994, the Fever Pitch was heavily adopted for “girl tracks”, most notably Louchie Lou and Michie One’s huge hit ‘If I was a Rich Girl’. The riddim was late resurrected by Dr. Dre for Gwen Stefani and Eve’s single Rich Girl.
This one screams classic in so many ways… Produced by Sly & Robbie in 1992 for Taxi, you most definitely shook your ass to the Bam Bam riddim before. Murder She Wrote? Yeah that one!
Tracklist:
01 – Chaka Demus / Pliers – Murder She Wrote
02 – Pliers – Bam Bam
03 – Nardo Ranks – Dem A Bleach
04 – Mackie Ranks – We A Soldier
05 – Daddy Woody – Bangara
06 – Anthony Redrose – Run Them Out
07 – Brent Dowe – Rivers Of Babylon
08 – Fragga Ranks – Thanks & Praises
09 – Taxi Gang – Santa Barbara
The Black Widow is a bad ass spider. Naturally the Black Widow riddim is also badass. It doesn’t matter that it’s from 1998, up to this day we see people stroming the dancefloor when it blasts out of the speakers.
01 Scare Dem Crew – Nah Bow To Nuh Gal
02 Mad Cobra – No One Style
03 Zebra – Call Me Name
04 Mr Vegas – Big Things A Gwaan
05 Beenie Man – Gwaan So
06 Merciless – Gal Sheet
07 Terror fabulous – Dem A Watch Mi
The year 1998 also brought forth the Sail Away riddim and of course the usual suspects like Sean Paul, Richie Stephens, T.O.K., Beenie Man, etc all jumped on it. One the favourites is the Richie Stephens cut.
Tracklist:
01 Chico & Frisco Kid – Gal Teacher
02 Sean Paul – Fit & Ligit
03 T.O.K. – Gal Fi Get Loving
04 Richie Stephens – Take me away
05 Tony Curtis – Wish you were here
06 Beenie Man & Mr Vegas – Bad man nuh flee
07 Copper Cat – Wise up
08 Demo – Nuh worry we
09 Nitty Kutchie – Love me down
The no-fuss Showtime riddim from 1998 is so minimal, it really makes the artists shine. Hard to pick sides who goes hardest on this one, but Cham and Red Fox are definitely holding it down on this riddim.
Track List:
01 Baby Cham – Gallong Yah Gal
02 General Degree – Stand By
03 Professor Nuts – Mama Have Her Own
04 Goofy – Lef We Turf
05 Frisco Kid – Gal Pon Di Side
06 Red Fox & Rayvon – Bashment Party
07 Shaggy – Hot Gal
08 Mad Cobra – Gal Splurt
09 Bounty Killer – Eagle And Di Hawk
10 Beenie Man – Hypocrite
11 Alias – Slurp
Huuuuge riddim from 1999 with loads of hits. It even got picked up by Destiny Child for their Reggae Remix of “No No No”. Talk about mainstream appeal. But no one does it like Sean Paul and Beenie Man on this one. Essential!
Tracklist:
01 Destiny Child – “No No No” (Reggae Remix)
02 Cobra – Pet and Pamper
03 Spragga Benz – Strong Performer
04 Beenie Man – Sim Sima
05 Sean Paul – Infiltrate
The Joy Ride riddim from 1996 is a stomper! Wayne Wonder, Conroy Smith, Cham, Beenie, Spragga and many more have no trouble grooving over this riddim with ease.
Tracklist
01 Lady Saw – Sycamore Tree
02 Wayne Wonder & Baby Cham – Joyride
03 Wayne Wonder – Bashment Girl
04 Tanya Stephens – Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet
05 Alley Cat – Fresh Off The Block
06 Beenie Man – Silent Violence
07 Frisco Kid – Rubbers
