Toppa Top 10: The Best Reggae Tunes of 2013

Words by LargeUp Crew, Photo by Martei Korley—

Reggae returned in a big way in 2013, dominating the musical conversation out of Jamaica right from the first week of the year. That was when we named Chronixx our artist to watch for 2013, and the youthful singer didn’t disappoint, adding hits like “Smile” and “Here Comes Trouble” to his name while continuing to build hype with 2012 holdovers “Odd Ras” and “Behind Curtain.”

While headlines regarding the reggae revival tended to focus on Chronixx, colleagues Jesse Royal and Protoje had big years, too, energizing dances, radio and stageshows with tunes like “Wadada” and “Hail, Rastafari,” respectively. Just as notably, some of dancehall’s biggest names—Shaggy, Mavado, Wayne Marshall —returned to their reggae roots with one-drop and cultural tunes that blew their other 2013 work out of the water. Click here to see our picks for the year’s biggest reggae singles.

10. Gappy Ranks – “Carpenter”

U.K. sensation Gappy Ranks has spent a great deal of time in the trenches of dancehall and bashment, but shifted his efforts back largely to one drop and conscious tunes in 2013, as evident by his recent LP, Shining Hope. Another massive single from King I-Vier’s Royal Order Music label, “Carpenter” is modern one drop at its finest with Gappy riding the riddim like a boss, with a hint of warning to drum pan soundbwoys in there for good measure. —Deejay Theory

9. Sizzla – “Good Love”

It was no second coming of Da Real Thing, but this year’s The Messiah was a return to form for Sizzla, his best album in close to a decade. “Good Love,” a tune we premiered right here on LargeUp (as well as the video), was definitely one of the standouts on the album, Sizzla’s 70th (!).  Sizzla’s falsetto vocals can be hit or miss, but he definitely hit all of the right notes on this old-school R&B influenced tune, delivering one of his biggest singles in a minute.  —Jesse Serwer

8. Chronixx – “Smile Jamaica”

“Smile Jamaica” officially established Chronixx as reggae’s golden-boy for 2013. Our 2013 artist to watch did not disappoint with this tribute to his home island, one of many popular reggae tunes the artist added to his name this past year. With a year’s worth of successful performances under his belt, the 22-year-old singer is showing no signs of letting up. This uptempo, feel-good, track suggests that, with this kind of range as an artist, he’s likely to take 2014 by storm as well. Check out our exclusive LargeUp interview with Chronixx here, and don’t forget where you heard him first! –Michellee Nelson 

7. Protoje/ Kabaka Pyramid/ Sizzla/ Chronixx – “Selassie Souljahz”

What a monumental tune this was for reggae in 2013, a single that fully solidified that the new “roots revival” was armed and ready for a global takeover. The project was conceived by Bay Area-based King I-Vier and his Royal Order Music camp, and co-produced by veteran DJ/Producer Jah Yzer; it was also later remixed with melodica wizard Addis Pablo and his Sons of Dub. You knew from the roster the vibes would be large, but it exceeded all expectations right from jump, with immediate spins on David Rodigan’s first show on BBC Radio 1, before blessing the crates of nearly every reggae selector across the globe. The tune itself is a call to all conscious soldiers worldwide and is sweet to the ear from start to finish. —Deejay Theory

6. Wayne Marshall – “I Know”

As seen on our Top 10 Dancehall Singles list, 2013 was all about a return to earlier eras in Jamaican music, specifically the early ’90s. Wayne Marshall and “I Know” producer Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley took things back even earlier on this ’80s reggae-inspired tune with a heavy Sly and Robbie feel. Wayne’s lyrics aren’t exactly cultural—they’re kind of nasty, actually—but his delivery was just too on point to disagree with his declarations.—Jesse Serwer

5. Jesse Royal – “Wadada/ Modern Day Judas”

If Chronixx was reggae’s breakout artist for 2013, his friend Jesse Royal looks well positioned to attain that status for 2014. The singer, a discovery of the late Phillip “Fattis” Burrell, dropped several big anthems in 2013, in addition to his mixtape, In Comes the Small Axe. Most notable were “Wadada,” a big anthem produced by female beatmaker The Wizard (a/k/a Beres Hammond’s daughter Natassja) with a big ’80s dubwise sound, and the Winta Gordon-produced “Modern Day Judas,” a track sure to only get bigger thanks to its sharp new video. For more on the artist and his outlook, read Chenee Daley’s LargeUp interview with Jesse here.—Jesse Serwer

4. Mavado – “Soldier”

Right from jump “Soldier” doesn’t sound like your typical Gully Gawd tune, but Mavado really fits well on this, delivering a perfectly executed, heartfelt tribute to the late producer Patrick “Roach” Samuels. Coming a year after the equally surprising “Cyaa Hold We Again,” we hope to hear Mavado over more heartical riddims like this one soon. He did say he would do a full one drop album so, if this is any indication of how it’ll sound, we hope 2014 sees that promise through. —DJ Gravy

3. Shy FX feat. Liam Bailey – “Soon Come”

Now, here’s one that really took us by surprise. Just as drum and bass music was starting to bubble back up, U.K. jungle‘s original nuttah Shy FX turned back up, but with a vintage reggae cut that could be passed off convincingly as a Studio One cut from decades past. Driven by superb vocals from Liam Bailey—a singer once signed by Amy Winehouse, now recording with her mentor/producer Salaam Remi—”Soon Come” is effortless in its evoking of summertime reggae of a certain vintage. D Brown/Gregory fans take note. The U.K. scorcher never quite made a splash on this side of the Atlantic but…soon come. —Jesse Serwer

2. Chronixx – “Here Comes Trouble”

A funny thing about Chronixx’s ascension to reggae royalty in 2013 is that nearly all of the songs that got him there were already a year or two old by the time the calendar struck January. (Well, not so funny since this chronology is fairly typical in reggae, as, even in the Internet-era, the music takes its time to disperse from Jamaica to the rest of the world). One tune that gave Chronixx a fresh energy this year was “Here Comes Trouble” on the Rootsman riddim produced by keyboard wizard Winta James‘ Overstand Entertainment. Perhaps his biggest-sounding anthem to date, the single (and its attendant video) bottles the energy of the much-hyped reggae revival, distilling it into a neat 3 minutes and 55 seconds.

1. Shaggy + Beres Hammond – “Fight This Feeling”

Reggae and dancehall trends can change quick—new slang, new styles of production, rhythmic cadences and various instrumentation variables are a constant. But certain riddims are always ready to be brought back: Sly & Robbie’s Taxi Riddim, Bangarang (Murder She Wrote) and plenty more are always getting re-voiced, sampled and reinterpreted.

Beres and Shaggy deliver flawlessly over this D Brown version with a delicate balance of authenticity and a dose of pop appeal, while exemplifying the distinct, classic styles that have kept each still relevant to listeners of all ages. In a year where young artists made things like reggae, musicianship and culture lyrics the biggest they’ve been in almost a decade, it’s equally refreshing to see the veterans keeping the bar as high as ever, making music that feels instantly classic. Surely that’s a feeling you can’t easily fight. —DJ Gravy

Honorable Mention: Mr. Easy – “The Don”

Mr. Easy has appeared on some of the biggest dancehall riddims (Bruk Out, Buy Out, Showtime) over the years, yet even die-hard dancehall fanatics remain vaguely aware of him, if at all. From winning Showtime at the Apollo to joining the Ruff Entry Crew (with Shaggy, Red Fox, Screechy Dan, Rayvon, etc.) to voicing for the Kelly brothers Dave and Tony, he’s done a lot over the years, but it seems his time may finally be approaching.

“The Don,” from an upcoming project with Brooklyn’s Ricky Blaze (look out for more from the pair on LargeUp after the New Year), is undeniably fun, retro, futuristic and crazy lyrical all at the same time (note his slang references for every part of the body starting from top to bottom in the first verse). The late-year release is still a “sleeper,” but this one’s so good, the word has to get out soon. —DJ Gravy

Protoje’s “Hail Rastafari” is possibly the best example of a vintage dubstyle being created in Jamaica right now. Replete with 80’s-sounding samples, it seems to attempt the creation of some great hit off a circa 1984 record which never existed. Firehouse Crew bassist Donald “Danny Bassie” Dennis’ superb performance on the track makes it all the more believable. —Martei Korley