Toppa Top 10: The Best Dancehall Riddims of 2013

Words by DJ Shirkhan and DJ Autograph—

Another year has passed with a ton of new riddims being released. As we continue with Toppa Top 10 week (see our dancehall and mixtapes countdowns here and here, respectively, and stay tuned for the year’s best in soca, reggae and more), DJ Shirkhan of Safari Sound and DJ Autograph give us their picks for the Toppa Top 10 riddims of 2013, in no particular order. Click here to launch the countdown.

Boom

In my humble opinion, this is one of the most underrated riddims of the year. I’ve played in various European countries and Japan in 2013, and I’ve heard hardly any selectors rinse out this riddim. But the Head Concussion production contains 11 solid cuts from some of the giants in the business as well as some fresh blood. Cham (who had a very great year, with lots of quality music) takes the riddim by far, but Spragga Benz, Chan Dizzy, Hollow Point and Cham’s wife Miss O also ride the riddim in very fine style. —DJ Shirkhan

First Capital

Safari Sound just did the ”top 10 dancehall songs of the year” for our weekly show on Swedish radio and two of the songs on the list are cuts from this riddim, by I-Octane and Mavado. There are other solid cuts on this Armz House production, such as ”Money” by Demarco and ”Kind To Dem” by Agent Sasco. Everywhere I’ve heard this riddim play in 2013, it’s resulted in lighters and gun fingers in the air, numerous pull-ups, and even ceiling destruction. Money pull-ups in some cases, although this isn’t a very common way of showing appreciation to the selector in Europe. —DJ Shirkhan

Decibels

One of the best ZJ Chrome productions this year, this 100+ bpm riddim contains some serious cuts from the likes of Mavado, Vybz Kartel, Konshens, I Octane and Tifa to name a few. My personal favorites are the cuts (“Lyrically Educated” and “Georgina,” respectively) from Tifa and Kartel, two lyrical geniuses who deliver some firm vocals on this naked and rough riddim. Konshens’s cut on the riddim, “God a Mi Don,” was one of the most played songs in my sets during this summer — Sweden loves that tune! —DJ Shirkhan

Animal Instinct

This riddim was released early January 2013, and I played it a lot in the beginning of the year. Somehow I forgot about it during the spring, and we found each other again sometime after the summer. Produced by Kurt Riley for Techniques Records, the riddim contains 20+ cuts from various artists. Not all songs on the riddim are of quality, but those that are really stand out. Gully Gaad definitely takes the riddim with “Can’t Happen” — other big tunes are Konshens’ “Thank God Fi Di Gal Dem” and “Protect Them Lord” by Popcaan. —DJ Shirkhan

Dutty Fowl

The last (but not least) of my picks is a riddim by the tuffest “boy band,” out of Jamaica and one of my favorite groups and producers, Ward 21. What I really rate about  Kunley and Suku—who by the way have a new album dropping early next year—is that they always push the young and upcoming artists in their Badda Badda Gang. This riddim contains lots of combinations with these  artists such as Marcy Chin, DeeWunn, Point O, Timberlee and of course a big tune from Ward 21 themselves. “Heavy naked bassline” is the best way to describe the riddim. —DJ Shirkhan

Toasted

Note for note, Toasted is one of the best, if not the best, riddims out this year. Produced by Teetimus for TJ Records, the all-star line up on this riddim covers everything from badness to positive messages with of course a little (or a lot) slackness mixed in. My personal favorites—and two of the biggest tunes—on Toasted are “Big People Ting” by Konshens, and of course, “School” by Vybz Kartel, each of which factor into LargeUp’s Toppa Top 10 dancehall singles countdown.—DJ Autograph

Popstyle

This hard-hitting riddim on DJ Frass Records is definitely one of my favorites this year. Big tunes come from Mavado, Spragga Benz, I-Octane, Mad Cobra, Agent Sasco and none other than Buju Banton (one of just a handful of tunes that have been released since his incarceration). Constant gun fingers in the air when this riddim gets played—no question about it —DJ Autograph

Block Party

Dancehall’s summer song of the year was undoubtedly Popcaan’s “Unruly Rave,” produced by Sweden’s Adde Instrumentals, who also produced Popcaan’s breakout single “Ravin” and Vybz Kartel’s “Summer Time” two years ago. Like “Summer Time” and “Ravin,” the Block Party riddim is destined to be a classic party starter played all year round and for years to come. —DJ Autograph

Sneak Preview

Sneak Preview is just a solid overall offering from the recently launched Claims Records, with the notable tunes being Mavado’s “Mr Tek Weh Yuh Gal,” and Sean Paul and Beenie Man’s “Greatest Gallis.” Whenever I do get to play this riddim, it’s guaranteed forwards for the tunes mentioned above. —DJ Autograph

Bad Bounce

This riddim contains one of my favorite tunes this year in Konshens’s “Icon.” Konshens pays homage to his predecessors on the track, naming all those singers and deejays that laid the foundation prior to him. Other notable tunes on the riddim’s very small artist/tune lineup include one from one of those very deejays named by Konshens, Bounty Killer, with “Entourage,” and Bling Dawg (or Bawse Dawg, as he calls himself these days) with “Bad Man.” —DJ Autograph