2. Mavado’s “On the Rock (Remix) feat. Jay-Z (2008)
Jay-Z’s Jamaican moment: “On the Rock” features Jay on a remix to the hit single by dancehall star Mavado
Among his other titles, Jay-Z is most definitely rap’s king of the remix guest verse. Though he tends to mail it in these days, the CEO of the ROC has been gullying up pop and R&B hits and elevating underground rap songs with hot verses throughout his career. It’s surprising, however, given Jay-Z’s relevance in Brooklyn (a.k.a. the place where Jamaican music bubbles out to the rest of the world), that he got around to bhangra before dancehall. To this day, we’re baffled why Mavado’s “On the Rock” was the one dancehall track to make Jay-Z stop and go, “Woy!” (Though here’s one reasonable theory). “On the Rock” isn’t even our favorite Mavado track with a rapper-laced remix from this period. But, hey, we’ll take the love. I’m sure the Gully Gad would agree.