Spragga Benz and Friends: “Red Dot Special” x “More Life”

Words By Jesse Serwer

We’ve been telling you about Spragga Benz’s upcoming Shotta Culture for a minute; now the LP, Spragga’s first since 2000’s Fully Loaded, has a release date attached to it: Aug. 31. You had to figure with rap/reggae hybrid master Salaam Remi overseeing things that Shotta would have a heavy hip-hop influence, and the latest leaks from the album bear this out. Teased online for a minute ow, the epic (5:43), star-powered (Sizzla, Stephen Marley, Jah Cure and Queen Ifrica) “More Life” recently hit our inbox in full. While the Salaam-produced track has some classic dancehall vibes to it, it also has that New York bounce. In fact, it’s just the sort of rhythm that Nas and Damian should would have done well to seek out more of for their recent Distant Relatives project.

“Red Dot Special (“Rha-ta-ta-ta”) is way more expressly hip-hop, despite its Shabba-delivered hook, with both Kardinal Offishall and Swizz Beatz dropping verses. We’re fairly amazed that Swizz isn’t credited as the producer since the beat, apparently by someone named DJ J Buttah, is the most classically Swizz Beatz-sounding beat we’ve ever heard credited to someone other than Swizz Beatz.