Sugar Minott-Hi Hello
Much less well-known on the Revolution riddim than Dennis Brown’s “Revolution” or Barrington Levy’s “Black Roses” -— but almost as classic — is this combination tune, which is the perfect breaking-the-ice soundtrack for meeting someone new in the dance. Since the Wackies label and recording studio was located in the Bronx — which in 1983 was still the epicenter of a relatively new genre called hip-hop — it’s not surprising that Lover D does some rap-cadence toasting for a few bars in the middle. The cultural exchange that went on was likely more common in the other direction as Wackies had an undeniable influence on the burgeoning hip-hop movement. —Kieran Meadows
(Bonus: The B-side of this release features an instrumental by the in-house band Wackies Rhythm Force including Saxman Jerry Johnson playing a melody derived from the theme from the classic western The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.)