Toppa Top 10: The Best Dancehall Singles of 2013

Words by LargeUp Crew, Photo by Damien “LoOkYah” Baddy—

It was an interesting and unusual year for dancehall. As the reggae revival led by Chronixx, Jesse Royal and others took hold, it appeared that dancehall was ceasing to be the dominant force in Jamaican music for the first time in many years. But it didn’t exactly lose creative steam. Vybz Kartel, Busy Signal and J Capri took things back to the ’90s with refreshing singles and videos inspired by dancehall’s greatest era (just as the inspiration for these tunes, Shabba Ranks, re-emerged thanks to a major hip-hop track that borrowed his name and eventually his presence and voice).

Dancehall continued to have a notable and surprising impact on hip-hop music—see Beenie Man, Capleton and Assassin’s cameos on Kanye West’s Yeezus, the year’s most talked about LP, period. At the same time hip-hop’s influence on dancehall actually diminished, as Jamaican artists looked to EDM and other international sounds like Azonto for rhythmic inspiration.

Here’s a look at our picks for the 10 best and most important dancehall tunes of the year (plus four “honorebel” mentions). Catch more of LargeUp’s 2013 Toppa Top 10 lists tackling the year’s best in reggae, soca, dancehall riddims, dance crossover tunes, mixtapes and more.

Start the Best Dancehall Singles of 2013 list here.

10. Busy Signal – “Same Way”

We started off 2013 by asking the question, “Will 2013 be Busy Signal’s year?” in our very first post in January. The deejay had just emerged from his short prison stay in the U.S. with an impressive appearance at Sting and an onslaught of wicked late-2012 tunes like “Mystery History,” and would soon kick off his own 2K13 with the wicked “Bad Up Who.”

Though he didn’t quite reach the Vybz-level cult hero status we’ve been expecting him to, Hott Ed had, arguably, his biggest year to date, reaching No. 1 in several countries (Denmark!) with his Major Lazer collaboration, “Watch Out For This (Bumaye)”; scoring another reggae hit with the late-blooming Reggae Music Again tune “Royal Night”; and effortlessly conjuring Shabba on the throwback tune “Bedroom Bully.”

But Busy’s most interesting maneuver might have been recognizing the dancehall-ness of Ghanian rapper Sarkodie’s azonto hit “U Go Kill Me,” a major hit in West Africa, and also the U.K. If the original didn’t already sound like dancehall to your ears, Busy—a master at straddling and combining Caribbean and African sounds—effortlessly turned it into something you could easily have thought originated in Jamaica. —Jesse Serwer

9. RDX – “Kotch”

At the top of the bruk out echelon this year was party duo RDX. Well known for maximum-energy daggering anthems and carnival essentials like last year’s “Jump”, RDX remained in full motion in 2013 with “Kotch.” This team is steadily blurring the lines of soca and dancehall and inviting everyone to the party to lose control and get low. Try this one on an unsuspecting girlfriend and get back to us with the results. — Deejay Theory

8. Konshens and Romain Virgo – “We Nuh Wory Bout Dem”

Having already established himself as one of reggae’s top singers at a young age, Romain Virgo has been wading further and further into dancehall waters, finally finding his stride alongside Konshens on “We Nuh Wory Bout Dem,” on Maximum Sound’s ’90s throwback riddim, Tin Mackerel. In keeping with the vintage vibes, the tune also sprouted a great video that, like quite a few other dancehall clips this year, tapped into nostalgia for the culture’s classic ’90s era.— Jesse Serwer

7. Mr. Vegas – “Give it to Har”/ “Party Tun Up”

So, yeah, we featured “Party Tun Up” in last year’s best singles roundup and first heard it back in 2011. But Mr. Vegas’ latest crossover hit gained new life late in the year when Sean Paul and party rocking king Fatman Scoop hopped on the tune. Considering Vegas’ history of dropping bangers late in the year that continue to pick up steam throughout the next one, we thought we’d include “Party Tun Up” alongside what’s sure to be his next big hit, “Give It To Har.” The EDM-influenced track is set to get a Latin-flavored remix featuring one of our favorite new artists, Dominican sensation Amara La Negra, so you know things are only gonna tun up from there. —Jesse Serwer

6. J Capri & Charly Black – “Whine and Kotch”

Huge crossover single from the laboratory of JA hitmaker RVSSIAN. The curveball here came from the out-of-nowhere talents of J Capri, who puts the perfect seasoning on what otherwise could’ve just been another dancehall single. After this song’s success she continued to keep it bubbling with Rvssian on the similarly produced, (and NSFW) duet with Konshens, “Pull Up To Mi Bumper,” which we premiered right here on LargeUp). The formula just works and immediately ignites any dancefloor it touches. —Deejay Theory

5. Vybz Kartel – “Hi/School/Business”

Locked away in jail for yet another year, far away from the comforts of a top-flight recording studio (or so it is said), dancehall legend/cult hero/accused murderer Vybz Kartel continued to show why he’s the Werl’ Boss by leaking out some of the most interesting music of his career. Our favorites all came with one-word names: there was the funny and ridiculously catchy Rvssian-produced “Hi,” which we premiered here on LargeUp back in September, the Shabba-esque, thought-provoking, double take-inspiring (“did he say don’t bleach your face?”) “School” and the raw (and funny, in its own crass way) club single “Business.” We couldn’t pick just one. —Jesse Serwer

4. Aidonia – “Fi Di Jockey”

What would our top 5 be without Aidonia’s “Fi Di Jockey.” This six thirty anthem is actually the radio edited version of “Pon di C*cky,” but we’ll six thirty all the same. The track calls for the ladies to “sidung fi di jockey” and the play on riding doesn’t end with the song. It only gets better with the video as Aidonia and friends hold up scorecards as “Ms. Jook So,” “Ms. Six Thirty,” and “Ms. Tip Pon Yuh Toe” each demonstrate their riding abilities on a mechanical bull. At the end, “Ms. Champion Jockey” is crowned as the best “rider” and we are left with girls covered in dirt and dust from competing. Check out some of Aidonia’s other hit singles from this year and watch the hilarious video for “Fi Di Jockey” below. –Michellee Nelson

3. QQ & Venomous – “One Drop”

This was arguably the largest party song in Jamaica in 2013, with nonstop radio play and constant forwards in the dance. Prior to this gigantic reinvention we hadn’t heard much QQ since his debut as a youth with “Poverty” over the Nyabhingi drums of the riddim from Gyptian’s “Serious Times,” and his catchy dance tune followup hit, “Stookie.” It’s strangely fitting to see QQ back nearly a decade later with an X-rated dancing tune that has given a whole new meaning to the term “One Drop.” —Deejay Theory

2. Ninjaman – “Ninja Mi Ninja”

Ninjaman has had more comebacks than most artists, but his latest reinvention has easily been his most successful and fascinating. After being released on bail, signing to Downsound Records and returning to the site of some of his greatest moments at Sting last year, the Original Front Tooth Gold Tooth Don Gorgon hit 2013 running with a string of name-reclaiming singles including “Ninja Mi Ninja.” One of his biggest hits to date, the track introduced him to a whole new generation of listeners as an elder, but without seeming stale or like too much of a throwback. Thanks to a decidedly Jr. Gong-style crossover sound provided by Scatta Burrell and a polished music video, “Ninja Mi Ninja” has Desmond Ballentine enjoying a higher profile than a lot of so-called current hype deejays.  — Spliffington

1. Major Lazer Feat. Busy Signal, FX Green, and Flexican – “Watch Out for This (Bumaye)” 

Major Lazer’s influence on dancehall (not to mention soca and reggae) this year was undeniable. Whatever your perspective on their legitimacy as regards the position, Diplo and crew (which currently includes long-time LargeUp contributors/family Walshy Fire and Jillionaire) have emerged as the primary force in bringing Caribbean music to the world, even as their sound has come to rely less on traditional Jamaican sounds and more on EDM fusions.

Take Busy Signal, for instance. “Hott Ed” has been making classics since he first came on the dancehall scene in 2005. But it wasn’t until the release of “Watch Out For This (Bumaye)” that we saw a Busy song touch all demographics—not just Jamaica, Brooklyn and Africa (where Busy’s been huge for years)—but Spanish clubs, hipster bars, etc.

Yes, we know that Major Lazer didn’t create the riddim—Dutch house producers FS Green and Flexican did. And, yes, we know that the music is not exactly dancehall in any pure sense—that’s a sample of a salsa track by Willie Colon and Ruben Blades. But the energy of the track was the best reflection of a year in which dancehall embraced a new set of outside influences. Throw in one of the year’s best music videos (shot by Jay Will, using all period costumes reflective of ’90s dancehall) and we can’t think of a tune that got us more consistently hype throughout the year.—Jesse Serwer

Click on for our “honorebel mentions”— our favorite dancehall tunes of the year that didn’t make the cut.

+1. Macka Diamond “Dye Dye” 

This year, few female dancehall artists expressed their love for the *cough* “touch” of a man quite like Macka Diamond did with “Dye Dye.” The explicit warning on the track might have been changed to plain “XXX” as the tune leaves very little to the imagination. If Macka was fooling us, we would have no idea because she goes into detail about just what exactly she prefers in the bedroom, and we don’t get the impression that anything is lacking. The video for “Dye Dye” follows the soft-core theme of the track as dancers skin out in different lingerie-inspired outfits outdoors, while Macka shares a steamy (to put it oh so lightly) bedroom scene with a male partner.  —Michellee Nelson

+2. Konshens – “Big People Ting”

Still riding high off 2012 hits like “So Mi Tan,” Konshens delivered another smash this year with “Big People Ting” off the Toasted riddim. “Big People Ting” warns that “dis a nuh nutn fi likkle gyal play wid” and, true to form, dancehall’s current club-tune king follows through. Konshens takes us on a “ol’ dutty dancehall excursion” with the 90’s style riddim, and the music video follows suit, showing dancehall in its natural element as girls whine up in skin-tight biker outfits while straddling any number of high-powered motorcycles. After watching the “Big People Ting” video, pay close attention to “Want Dem All,” Konshens’ new single with Sean Paul. It looks like this one could finally establish the deejay on a more mainstream level in the U.S. and other markets where he’s not yet reached his star potential.— Michellee Nelson

3. Mavado – “At the Top”


Mavado was definitely at the top of his game this year, dropping his most visible and most popular tune since signing to DJ Khaled’s We the Best in “Give It All To Me” with Nicki Minaj, and killing us quietly with one of the year’s most slept-on heartical reggae tunes, “Soldier.” The tune that hit the hardest in the dancehall, though, was the aptly titled “At the Top (Just Us),” on Armzhouse Records’ First Capital riddim. Though it may not have gotten the hype of his early hits or “Box of Money,” this is definitely another one to add to the Gully God’s collection of classic anthems. (PS, DJs, check out this edit by our own Deejay Theory). — Jesse Serwer

+4. Samantha J – “Tight Skirt”

Calling Samantha J‘s “Tight Skirt” dancehall might actually do it a disservice: the 17-year-old Ocho Rios native’s debut single is definitely a pop song that speaks to listeners too young or removed from Jamaica to even know what dancehall is. But the Washroom Entertainment-produced track is certainly bashment ready, sampling and borrowing its theme from the great Red Rat, while musically evoking King Tubby’s Tempo riddim. The video was also smartly done, updating Britney Spears’ “Baby One More Time” and bringing it to yaad, complete with current dancehall choreography like the aforementioned One Drop. This is a track communicating on two, very different wavelengths. Oh, and this girl can really sing, as our acoustic video shot at NYC’s Vanity Projects clearly illustrates. Watch it below. —Jesse Serwer