Mixtape Mondays: Spyda the DJ, Stone Love, DJ Maya

Words by Jesse Serwer—

The man DJ Theory is sidelined with some symptoms of late winter-itis (look out for him to make a full recovery in time for his gigs at South by Southwest next week, though) this week but no worries—like the Postal Service, Mixtape Mondays delivers in rain, hail and snow.

Spyda the DJ, 2012 Power Soca Mix and Groovy Soca Mix: Now that TnT Carnival 2012 (and Machel Montano’s sweep at the International Soca Monarch competition) is a wrap, Washington DC’s Spyda the DJ has pulled together most, if not all, of the favorites from the 2012 soca season into complementary Power and Groovy mixes. Surely Spyda, a native of Barbados, is not the only DJ out there to do the same but he does it in a fine style, giving us just under an hour of Power Soca (with everything from Patrice Roberts’ “Horn Pass” to my new favorite soca anthem, Lawlord’s “Constable Brown”) and about 80 minutes of Groovy (including a soca remix of Popcaan’s “Party Cup” and Bunji Garlin’s version of the dancehall classic “Bam Bam”). Stream Power Soca untracked here and download a tracked version here. Stream Groovy Soca here, download here.

Stone Love, Tribute to the Marley Movement: The annual 9 Mile Festival (formerly Marley Fest) went down this past Saturday in Miami, with performances from Damian, Stephen and Julian Marley along with Burning Spear, Capleton, Melanie Fiona and others. This stellar mix from the great Stone Love begins with a commercial for that event but once things get going, though, they get going, starting with a killer Damian Marley dubplate on his “Exodus”-sampling “Move!,” followed by a Jr. Gong x Nas dub of Distant Relatives‘ “As We Enter.” Stream below, and download here.

DJ Maya, Reggae Rush Part 3: Rice and Peas family member DJ Maya is pretty prolific with her mixes, which also run beyond reggae and dancehall to hip-hop and R&B. So prolific we somehow missed her latest one, Reggae Rush Part 3, for a few weeks before it caught our eyes, or better yet ear. Starting off with a Laza Morgan dubplate on “One by One,” the one-hour mix then runs through the gamut of recent dancehall hits from Popcaan’s “Clean” to Stylo G’s “Call Mi a Yardie” and a whole lot of Vybz Kartel. Stream and download here.