HAPPY NEW YEAR and blessings to you for the next 12 months that are about to follow.
Every January I like to look forward and predict how the world of Caribbean music will shape up and how we can build upon what was a good year in 2023.
Musically, Teejay and Byron Messiah scored two big goals with Drift and Talibans, but there were so many new names that were thrown into an already congested dancehall space.
Rajah Wild, Malie Don and Najeerii are just a few of the names that also created a buzz with hit songs that stacked impressive streaming numbers.
I’m keeping a close eye on Pablo YG, the “Bad Juvi” as he titles himself. He was introduced to me in February last year by Kingston-based selector Boom Boom.
During a freestyle in the garrison community of Grants Pen, he effortlessly impressed me with flows and lyrics far beyond his 18year old age. As I gazed on with a huge smile, Boom Boom looked on like a proud uncle.
A few days later he showed up at another session in Kingston, even more eager to impress while standing toe to toe with Jahvillani, Chi Ching and Voicemail.
This time I tested him with an assortment of riddims from different eras to see if he could be tripped up by classics riddims like The Answer from the 1980s. Again, he passed the test with a straight A+!
Recording songs is a whole different discipline to freestyles though, and he showed on his debut mixtape Bad Juvi that this is a skill that he has also honed.
Richer and Richer was one of the standout tracks form the set that became a street hit immediately
Another name to keep on your radar is much closer to home and hails from the city of Nottingham. Skeete should be called Stealth because you don’t hear people talk much about him, but his streaming numbers say otherwise, they are not to be played with.
Late last year he dropped his EP, Vibes Don’t Lie, that I didn’t see get any radio support, but he got support from his diehard female fanbase for his sexually charged dancehall soaked in RnB vibes which sent his Tek Buddy song up to 2.5 million views. This resulted in Jada Kingdom serving up on the remix.
Just recently named as “Hot for 2024” by 1Xtra, this very laid back artist better get ready for a year that I think will see his name make major moves.
Finally… are we seeing a return to what I believe firmly believe is “Dancehall Culture”? The naming of riddims (Instrumentals) has sadly been missing from the music as more artists moved to towards recording singles and shying away from being one of 20 artists on one instrumental.
From memory, I can fill this column with names of legendary riddims like Punnany, Showtime and Anger Management that created so many hits for so many of our favourite artists. We picked the song that we liked on our favourite beat and it worked.
The riddim of the last year was Zimi and Frank White’s Big Bunx riddim, that seemed like everyone of worth had a song on.
Rajah Wild was the lead song, But Roze Don, Kraff, Valiant and many more scored big on this riddim.
Then to close the year producer Rvssian revisited his 2009 classic Go Go riddim that created a viral moment of many artists submitting unauthorised version of their songs to him.
This is the kind of excitement I remember when riddim like Bruk Out from Dave Kelly was released – everyone wanted a piece of the heat.
With the announcement of so many shows for 2024, I hope you have been saving those pennies if you’re a live music fan.
I cannot wait for the return of City Splash with their headliner Capleton. It’s been 14 years since he’s performed in the UK and I cannot wait to see him light up the Brockwell Park stage in South London alongside Beenie Man, Shenseea and Busy Signal.
Reggae Land was something that I missed last year, but the reviews definitely put this in the list of must attend. I don’t think any of us need convincing with a line up consisting of Tarrus Riley, Morgan Heritage, UB40 and Burning Spear.
At the close of the year I was onboard the annual Welcome to Jamrock Cruise and this is when the captain of the ship, Damian Marley, told me of his show in August alongside Steel Pulse, Romain Virgo and Grammy-winning Kabaka Pyramid.
Something tells me that this is just phase one of that line up and if you have been saving those pennies and feel to stretch the pocket that little bit extra, then maybe is the time for you to look at the ninth Jamrock Cruise.
Take my word for it, they never Miss!
All in all, I am so looking to another trip around the sun to have some fun with music that comes from the West Indies
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