Toppa Top 10: The Best Dancehall Riddims of 2012

Words by DJ Shirkhan—

Nothing is more integral to dancehall than the riddim. A single riddim can be the basis for as many as a half-dozen hits and 20 or 30 tunes. If it’s truly great, it will be re-built, re-upped and re-licked for generations. On the other hand, some of the best ones are kept close to the vest, with only the toppa top deejays and singers voicing official tunes. This was definitely the case this year, as some of the year’s most explosive sounds were voiced by a select few.

To rundown the year in riddim, we tapped top-ranking selector DJ Shirkhan of Sweden’s Safari Sound to name his picks for the best of the best. Shirkhan and partner Sammy K might reside far away from the epicenter of dancehall culture but they consistently keep their finger on the music’s pulse with some of the most consistent mixtapes in the business. Read on for Shirkhan’s blow-by-blow breakdown of the year’s ruffest and tuffest bashment soundbeds.

10. BACK WAY

Lets kick of the list with one of the most bounce-friendly riddims this year that had the ladies bubble from Kingston to Stockholm. This is a co-operation between Cashflow Records and Madhouse Records and the riddim is produced by the big, bad Dave Kelly himself. This crazy jugglin actually only contains two songs but they were two of this year’s best male/female combos. Cham collaborated once again with his wife O on the title track, while Bounty Killer teamed with Cecile for “Ride,” which also happened to make No. 10 on LargeUp’s Top 10 singles of 2012.

9. SUMMER WAVE

Produced by Sweden’s own Adde Instrumental for TJ Records, this riddim was released just before the summer and it is sort of the “follow up” to last year’s Summertime Riddim, also produced by Adde. With cuts from big names like Beenie Man, Lady Saw, Ricky Blaze, Tommy Lee, Popcaan and Vybz Kartel, the riddim has created a serious buzz this year. However the two Kartel songs on the riddim sound sort of… misplaced.

8. NAUGHTY WIFEY

This riddim was released by top German sound DeeBuzz on their DeeBuzz Muzik Records and the production is by DJ Hard2Def, one of the top DJ’s in Germany. The riddim is kind of 50/50 voiced by Jamaican and European artists. Swedish dancehall star Million Stylez has what many people refer to as the next “Miss Fatty” on the riddim: a very bubbling-friendly song that invites the females to shake their Coca Cola-shaped bodies to 84 beats per minute.

7. TEKK ON

Another European production, this time from D&H from France, in co-operation with Konshens’ label, Subkonshus Music. D&H, who are known worldwide for their professional remixing skills and productions, are responsible for two of Konshens’ biggest hits, on other riddims produced by D&H and Subkonshus together. Namely “Gal Dem A Talk” and “Diss We Yet”. On this riddim, Konshens represents with two bangers while other big names such as Beenie Man, Tarrus Riley and Million Stylez deliver monster scorchers as well. Another retro, yet modern-sounding riddim which had a huge impact on dancefloors worldwide in 2012.

6. JUICY

I was in Jamaica this summer and this riddim was literally flattening every dance I attended, every radio station I listened to and every restaurant I entered to eat my grilled red snapper. It is produced by 007 Records and contains nearly 20 songs from some of the top names in the game. My personal favorite cut on the riddim is definitely Munga’s song called “Tun Up.”

5. COOLIE GAL

UIM Records, which was launched late 2010, is the creator of this monster. With lots of big riddims under their belts as well as several big bangers from the likes of Vybz Kartel, Tommy Lee and Popcaan, UIM Records has been nominated in the category “Producer Of The Year” by the Jamaica Star. In my opinion, this is their best riddim so far and I must say that every dance that I have attended this year, weather in Sweden, Germany or Jamaica, it has been receiving great forwards.

4. TNS

TNS stands for “Team No Sleep” and that has been the slogan for my team and me this year. Naturally the riddim has been getting nuff beating in dances played by Safari Sound. The riddim was released by ZJ Chrome late spring in two different series. The full riddim contains some 20 songs from some of the biggest artists at the moment. When the riddim was released a “feud” was going on between Demarco and Popcaan. They both are aiming shots at one and other on this riddim, without really mentioning any names. And one of Mavado’s biggest songs this year, “All Faces,” was voiced on TNS.

3. ANTIBIOTIC

From 19howlong the Five Star General is my number one deejay and when I heard how he was riding this riddim, I nearly broke a window in the studio since I was banging it so hard. I dare to say that Bounty Killer’s song, “No Long Talking,” is one of the ruffest and tuffest Killa songs this decade. Another veteran that really delivers 110% on the riddim is Spragga Benz. Although the riddim contains nearly 25 songs, only a handful make it in to my sets. However, I consider this Jah Snowcone production to be one of the most solid riddims this year.

2. MONEY BOX

We are living in a time that does not allow any excluding of Chimney Records when it comes to the top songs of the moment. Their latest masterpiece was released this summer and contains some of my top songs for 2012. Aidonia talks to the herbalists, Mavado speaks about stacking up the papers, Stein gives a detailed description of what could happen if you violate his girl and Supa Hype teams up with Munga, Chi Ching and Gyptian to deliver another immortal party anthem. Definitely top three!

1. LAWLESS

This list started with a Dave Kelly production and it ends with a Dave Kelly production. Although the riddim itself is officially credited to JA Productions, the team behind last year’s No. 1 riddim, Overproof, Kelly clearly had a hand in building the riddim and is credited with producing two of the tunes on it.

Lawless only contains three songs, from only one artist, but it was still the best thing going in dancehall this year. The first song on the riddim was “Lawless” with Cham and it was followed up by “Portmore Anthem” and “Stripper Pose”… by Cham. The first and last songs mentioned were also blessed with crazy videos that you should definitely check out. This is a retro sounding-riddim with a modern flavor and a bassline that most certainly will get your landlord pissed off. But play it very loud still!