Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner: Reggae’s Toppa Top Food Tunes

Words by Richard “Treats” Dryden, Kieran Meadows and Jesse Serwer

Reggae has been called the most socially responsible artform on the planet. From its inception through today, reggae acts have touted healthy living in their lyrics, promoting the vitality-enhancing ital diet associated with the Rastafari lifestyle, and referencing Jamaica’s bounty of fresh vegetables and fruits. Dancehall has proven to be similarly food-obsessed—see riddims with names like Pepperseed, Bully Beef, Rice and Peas—although this has just as often manifested itself in comical tracks warning listeners what not to eat. With a spate of recent tunes adding to this canon, we thought we’d run down some of our favorite Jamaican songs about food. And since there’s an almost endless assortment of tracks to choose from, we narrowed this down to songs with lyrics that actually discuss food in literal terms (as opposed to the metaphorical terms of say Johnny Osbourne’s “No Ice Cream Love” or Bob Marley’s Guava Jelly”).

The hearty musical meal begins here.

10. Admiral Bailey – “Healthy Body”

The “Big Belly Man” Admiral Bailey had numerous dancehall hits during the 1980s, but three decades later he’s still best known for “Gimme Punany,” the massive King Jammy’s-produced hit from ’87, which elevated slackness to a whole new level (and gave dancehall one of its most ubiquitous and classic riddims). The track sent shockwaves through Jamaica despite its unfit-for-airplay lyrics, so naturally there was demand for a clean version. Bailey wisely recast “Punanny” into “Healthy Body”, allowing him to get his original point through double entendres, amidst references to Jamaican food staples like yams and bananas. —Jesse Serwer

9. Lexxus (aka Mr. Lexx) – “Cook”

Everyone’s been in a relationship where one partner notices that the other is just too damn comfortable, and not holding up their end of the romantic bargain. On “Cook,” Lexxus expresses his displeasure with a girlfriend who’d rather spend his dough at a restaurant then bake in the kitchen at home. Lexx—back before the official name change—wasn’t having it, dropping some hilarious lines about his food preferences. This line that captures the hilarious song’s essence in a nutshell: Yuh better caan cook, tink yuh deya for yuh pretty look?—Jesse Serwer

8. Jah9 – “Avocado”

Self-proclaimed “foodie” Jah9 released the video for her Rory StoneLove-produced single “Avocado” just last month. It features Jah9 serenading the ultra-healthy green fruit (or her muse, the youth Orlando who picks and brings it to her) with the catchy hook: “Avocado, mi love di avocado.” The song and video are both lighthearted and leave you with a feeling of tenderness, similar in fact, to how it feels to press into that perfectly ripe avocado. Check our recent interview with reggae’s strongest new female voice here. –Kieran Meadows

7. General Trees – “Eye No See”

Not knowing where meat is sourced is an ongoing problem in Jamaica. There’s been cases where horse, or donkey is passed off as beef; sometimes, even dog meat sneaks through! General Trees raised awareness about this epidemic back in the late ’80s with “Eye No See,” as did Major Mackerel on 1988’s Steely & Clevie-produced “Donkey Meat.” The difference is General Trees’ full-investigative approach to how people could be swindled either in a store or through buying street meat. The track also has a classic video, in which dramatized inspection ensures beef quality over equine, as Trees spies on a butcher to show the extent of his suspicion.

The lo-fi video, featuring red pants, red shoes, and slick dance moves from Trees, might look like an eyesore to some, but turning a blind eye to the underhanded meat smuggling would leave a far bigger scar in Jamaica, where the term farm-to-table doesn’t have the same connotations as it does in luxury markets like New York. – Richard “Treats” Dryden

6. Early B – “Sunday Dish”

Early B continues our claim that Jamaican reggae music is the most health-conscious music genre. On “Sunday Dish,” the deejay pioneer rattles off every ingredient of his recipe, then states, “to eat it every Sunday is the doctor’s wish.” These three minutes are a guide to sustenance, listing natural ingredients—garlic, scallion, coconut, rice and peas, and red snapper fish. If Early B did in fact have this dish every Sunday of his adult life, making it would be as effortless as explaining it in rhyme. Memorizing the recipe, or rather the lyrics, is easy because the mouth-watering verse is so nice, Early B repeats it twice. —Richard “Treats” Dryden

5. Roman Stewart – “Rice and Peas”

“Rice and Peas” was a type of homecoming record for Roman Stewart, who returned to Jamaica in 1979 after migrating to New York in 1976, linking up with producer Linval Thompson in his homeland. The result was more than a banner anthem for the international dish that serves all economic classes of Jamaica, and its tourists. Stewart also shares the personal meaning of rice and peas, describing how it fed him and his family of four in the ghetto. The dish’s nourishment is stretched to multiple servings because it is cooked with coconut milk. It can fill an empty stomach on its own, or supplement a dish as a side. As DJ Gravy, co-founder of the famed Rice and Peas party series (and LargeUp) says: “Roman was definitely right that it’s the perfect poor people food and that people all over the world love it.” —Richard “Treats” Dryden

4. Super Cat “Ital Stew (Favorite Menu)”

The teacher-apprentice relationship between Early B and Super Cat, respectively, is akin to the chef and sous chef. Early B’s “Sunday Dish” preceded “Ital Stew,” but overall Super Cat was influenced by B’s penchant for storytelling. ‘Cat’s accute attention to detail on “Ital Stew” is reflective in the garden of ingredients in the vegetable mish-mash. He is most honest about the benefits of fresh vegetables helping him pass gas, as opposed to the congested feeling of drinking processed boxed juice and sweet buns on an empty stomach. And because eating is a communal event between Jamaicans, like a bashment party, Super Cat shouts out Early B and Burro Banton to help him cook his favorite menu. – Richard “Treats” Dryden

3. Horace Andy “Ital is Vital”

There’s such an earnest quality to Horace Andy’s voice—as if he’s singing from some higher plane—that makes it tough to disagree with anything the man says. It’s likely then that he was successful with his mission on 1974’s “Ital is Vital” (also known simply as “Ital Vital,” and also released in a deejay version with Jah Bull). The track finds the gentle-voiced crooner urging his woman to follow an Ital diet, over the ethreal Rock a Bye Woman riddim. It’s a song about the livity gained from going ital, not the food that brings it to you, but we can think of no more convincing endorsement of a dietary regimen in reggae, or any genre. The track continues to bear fruit, most recently appearing on and lending its name to a recent mixtape from Jamaican selector Yaadcore’s Reggae Aroma series). —Jesse Serwer

2. Super Cat “Vineyard Party”

There’s an entire subset of reggae and dancehall songs in which food is employed as a sustained metaphor in a way that it actually becomes, in essence, a tribute to Jamaican cuisine, even if that’s not really what the song is about. (See almost anything by Lovindeer). Such is the case with Super Cat’s “Vineyard Party.” The tune is a masterful parable for Jamaican society from dancehall’s Don Dada, but his literal rundown of the island’s homegrown vegetables is so thoroughly mouthwatering that it’s almost impossible to resist the urge to eat—or garden–after listening. —Jesse Serwer

1. Lee “Scratch” Perry — “Roast Fish and Cornbread” (b/w “Favorite Dish”)

With Lee “Scratch” Perry, it’s always tough to tell where the literal ends and the metaphysical begins. The tracks “Roast Fish and Cornbread” (not to be confused with the album’s title, which adds “Collie Weed” to the equation) and “Favourite Dish,” from 1976’s classic/brilliant LP Roast Fish, Collie Weed & Corn Bread, clearly express his preference for an Ital diet. Chatting over an ethereal riddim (and through samples of a moo-cow toy), Scratch lists key ingredients in his diet on “Roast Fish and Cornbread.” The catchy, working-man anthem “Favourite Dish’ is a bit more direct in its approach, with Perry offering the following insight: “I’m a well fed man, so I’ll grow up strong, I hope you overstand… Strictly collie weed and a bunch of ital feed.” —Jesse Serwer

BONUS TREAT: Chronixx — “Spirulina”

Chronixx mixes sugar with medicine as he drops knowledge on “Spirulina,” sweetly delivering his health-oriented message without the heavy handedness that often goes along with such material. Chronixx “goes green” on the track, touting spirulina, a form of algae that grows in freshwater lakes and ponds around the world from Africa to South America and the US, and has become increasingly popular among the health conscious in both pill and powder form. Chronixx’s endorsement of spirulina attests that the natural superfood builds his confidence, is good for his nerves, and builds healthy skin. Reggae’s man-of-the-moment is living proof of its benefits, as if he was the president of the Spirulina club, but also a client. – Richard “Treats” Dryden

BONUS TREAT: Tony Rebel “Fresh Vegetable”

Though not necessarily about food, Tony Rebel created something of a vegetarian anthem (“Love you like a fresh vege-table!”) with this 1991 lovers hit on Penthouse Records’ A Love I Can Feel riddim. Years later he continues to ride for veggies at his annual Rebel Salute reggae festival. The positive music gathering (coming up soon, on Jan. 16 and 17th) adheres to strict vegetarian rules (and alcohol too is not served), with food provided by some of Jamaica’s toppa top ital vendors. Check out our photos from last year’s show here—and some of the food on offer here. —Kieran Meadows

BONUS TREAT: Musical Youth “Pass the Dutchie”

A Dutch pot isn’t something you buy in a coffee shop in Amsterdam but a cast-iron cookware found in most any Caribbean (or Dutch) household. (Yankees may know it as a “casserole dish”). When kiddie group Musical Youth decided to put their spin on the Mighty Diamonds’ classic ganja tune “Pass the Kutchie” —a maneuver that resulted in their biggest hit and, in fact, one of the most widely recognizable reggae tunes of all-time—they had to change the lyrics. (It not exactly being OK at the time—or now, for that matter—for likkle pickney dem to sing about weed). The result was “Pass the Dutchie,” a song that turned the Diamonds’ ganja anthem into an unlikely tribute to a household staple. —Jesse Serwer

BONUS TREAT: Capleton “Mi Food”

Food is the “staff of life,” as Capleton proclaims at the opening of this Goldfinga-produced track from 2000. Unlike the other tracks in our smorgasbord of tunes, this record is not a linear tribute to Jamaican cuisine because Capleton’s food is ganja (though he does make numerous references to food of an edible variety as well, leaving the track open for interpretation). The desire for weed gnaws away at Capleton on “Mi Food,” revealing an individual you wouldn’t want to cross, similar to the hunger-pained actors on Snickers commercials who turn into an angry Joe Pesci from Goodfellas, or a fired up Robin Williams coaching a football team. – Richard “Treats” Dryden

BONUS HOLIDAY TREAT: Yellowman – “Breadfruit Roasting on an Open Fire”

Yellowman flipped the script. He sang the Grace Jamaican Ketchup jingle on his big tune, “Mad Over Me.” But he took his remix skills to the next level when he covered Nat King Cole’s “Christmas Song.” Yellowman started with breadfruit roasting on an open fire—instead of chestnuts—which opened the floodgates for him to shout out almost all of the best-tasting dishes in Jamaica. The song is an invitation for kids to visit his home for year-round delights from cornmeal porridge, to mackerel and rundown, because these Jamaican foods are good for your body and they make you feel irie. Compared to Santa Claus, he does more to feed others, instead of dropping off gifts in exchange for filling his stomach with cookies and milk. – Richard “Treats” Dryden