Toppa Top 10: The Baddest Caribbean Mixtapes of 2014

Words by Deejay Theory

As we head firmly into Christmas and New Year’s, Toppa Top 10 week is upon us and #MixtapeMondays is here to set things off with a roundup of our top-rated reggae/dancehall/soca/tropical/bass mixtapes from 2014. We’ve done the heavy lifting and sifted through the 150+ mixes featured this year so you’re left with nothing but boomshots in every direction. This would be a good time to free up some space on the hard drive—you’re gonna need to make room for these extra-large selections. Dig into the list here.

10. Jam Central, It’s a Carnival

Brooklyn’s Jam Central put a different spin on the soca mix this year, featuring the tunes running 2014’s (post-Trinidad) summer carnivals worldwide: Vincy Mas (St. Vincent), Lucian Carnival (St. Lucia), Crop Over (Barbados) and Spicemas (Grenada), Caribana in Toronto, etc. The mix highlighted summertime releases as well as Trinidad holdovers that continued to run d road. Featured artists included Machel Montano (Trinidad), Skinny Fabulous (St. Vincent), Lil Rick (Barbados), Bunji Garlin (Trinidad), Porgie and Murda aka Leadpipe and Saddis (Barbados), Busy Signal (Jamaica), RDX (Jamaica), Peter Ram (Barbados), Patrice Roberts (Trinidad), Kerwin Du Bois (Trinidad) and Tian Winter (Antigua). Stream and download below, tracklist here.

9. Ape Drums, The Bashment Mix

Houston’s Ape Drums has had one hell of a year. Rapidly rising from secret-weapon status, this dude’s original production has been gracing the playlists of some of the game’s top hitters, spearheaded by a push from industry veteran DJ Craze (who also dropped another insane electro-dancehall mix this year) and Slow Roast Records. With dancehall and dembow playing an undeniable influence on his sound, Ape cooks up dangerous blends for an often-unsuspecting dancefloor of eager young ravers. This tape helped introduce a lot of them to his particular breed of bashment (which remember we hipped you to from the jump)—and there’s even one from this guy in there as well. Stream and download below:

8. Faction Sound Crew, Tormenta Tropical

While we’re dealing with the subject of crossover mixes, let’s take a second to dig into this one from my team The Faction Sound Crew out of Vancouver, NYC, Miami and SF. This was a four-part mix we put together with members DJ Arems, Tanner, Iron Lyon and yours truly to represent how Caribbean and tropical music can find it’s way into a multitude of spaces from the beach to the club. As expected there’s some raw and unrated dancehall, some big bass and snares, and some melancholic and deeper tunes like the ’14 anthem Everything Nice remix to start things off. A nice combination of vibes if I do say so myself…

Stream below, download here, tracklist here.

7. So Shifty, Soca Run Town

The So Shifty fellas delivered yet another critical soca roundup this year, following up 2013’s Differentology mix, which clocked a cool 150,000 + plays and helped set the tone for a slew of soon-to-be anthems. Bringing that Eastern Caribbean sunshine to chilly Germany in the wintertime can be a tall order, but the Shifty crew of Jr. Blender and Bigga T manage to deliver year after year. Strategically shared right before T&T Carnival, the guys swiftly shelled the 2014 soca tunes running road at the year’s biggest Caribbean celebration with this masterful juggling. Stream and download below, full tracklist here

6. Wildlife!, #Dancehall101 Vol. 1 and 2

Swiss badman Wildlife! came through with two big dancehall mixes this year to compliment the previous wickedness from his Gold Rush International alias. His mixes are always sure to be nice and clean with just the right amount of extra shimmer while keeping the focus on uber-current tunes right when they drop.

#Dancehall 101 volumes 1 and 2 have a distinctly different tone, reactionary to dancehall’s constantly shifting moods and trends. It was a killer year for dancehall music and Wildlife put it all together on these two tapes, spanning 3.5 hours of music from the stars to the up-and-comers.

Stream and download both below, vol. 1 tracklist here, vol. 2 tracklist here.

5. Romain Virgo x Tek-9 Movements, Tribute to Foundation Riddims

One artist mix that raised the bar this year was this combination from one of Jamaica’s freshest (and most underrated) singers Romain Virgo and Brooklyn’s Tek 9 Movements. Romain has a natural sensibility when it comes to riding on foundation riddims, so this combination was a perfectly fitting match from start to finish. Leading off with solid renditions of his hits “Who Feels it Knows it“, “Love Doctor” and “Rich in Love,” Romain sounds more than comfortable voicing over these timeless instrumentals, channeling some of his clear influences with ease.

Stream and download below, and if you’re feeling it, run and grab Inna Rub A Dub Style, the similarly-scoped and impressive collaboration between Romain and Champion Squad, that we just premiered right here.

4. Screechy Dan x Safari Sound x Federation Sound x DJ Autograph, My Story

This year we had the distinct pleasure of releasing a monster of a project from some good friends — who also happen to be some serious hitters in reggae and dancehall from Sweden to Brooklyn. The My Story mixtape is what happens when you throw dancehall’s most underrated veteran Screechy Dan in a vocal booth with DJ Shirkhan from Safari Sound, Kenny Meez from Federation Sound and DJ Autograph, and press record. It would have been enough if the mix just brought together Screechy’s catalog of classics (“Pose Off,” “Skin Out”) together for the first time on a mix, but the team went way beyond. Screechy’s personality takes the lead here with a bag of freestyles and skits, unheard material and custom sound effects that the team cut up for the DJ’s out there. This tape definitely deserves a rewind as one of our top listens from 2014.

Stream and download below, tracklist here.

3. Yaadcore, Reggae Aroma Vol.3

Roots reggae music is standing as firm as ever in Jamaica, and Yaadcore is on the front lines of the movement, via his steady radio flow on Jamaica’s Hot 102 FM, weekly Dubwise Jamaica sessions, backing Protoje on world tours, and crucial mixes such as his Reggae Aroma series. I know for a fact that Yaadcore stands behind each tune he selects through and through, and this conscious approach is translated through the music every time.

Inspired (and starting off with) Horace Andy’s classic, #ItalisVital kicked off 2014 with all the necessary one drop and culture, while going heavy on the dubplates and specials from Protoje, Kabaka Pyramid, Keida, Jesse Royal, Tarrus Riley, Pressure, Jah Cure and many more. Pure mixtape food right here. Stream and download below, tracklist here, and get the latest edition of the series, brand-new for December, right here.

2. Willy Chin (Black Chiney), Uh Gosh!!!

It’s no secret that Black Chiney have been murdering the mixtape game for years. Anyone familiar with real dancehall music have rinsed or stumbled on one of their classics (if not, we’ve catalogued the best of the best here) and they continue to do damage with each and every mix. What they haven’t done prior to this year is release a pure soca mix, which they’ve of course now done in full Black Chiney fashion from top to bottom.

With remix heavyweight Willy Chin at the boards, this is an exclusive ting from start to finish, shelling off  original remixes + blends, specials and versions — basically applying the same Black Chiney formula you know and love from their dancehall mixtapes to soca, with a barrage of samples and vibes, megamix style. Nothing normal about it, and easily the most fun soca mix in a year full of brilliant ones.

Stream and download below, tracklist here.

1. Jesse Royal x Walshy Fire, Royally Speaking

Jamaican reggae singer Jesse Royal was our leading artist to watch in 2014 and no doubt made a huge impact across the board this year. A standout for Jesse was this collaboration with Walshy Fire who took the opportunity to shed some light on Jesse’s talent via the rather impactful Major Lazer stamp (and, more recently, his “Noisey Jamaica” series).

The Royally Speaking mixtape is laced with original tunes, dubplates and various remixes hip-hop and otherwise from Walshy plus sharp artwork from the one Marcus Burrowes, of Rockers NYC fame. In a similar vein to Major Lazer and Chronixx‘s wicked Start a Fyah mixtape, which we debuted last year, this one holds a big vibe that has us eagerly anticipating what’s next from both Jesse and Walshy.

Stream and download below, peep the tracklist here.

“Honorebel” Mention: Federation Sound, Gwaan Bad

When it comes to dancehall mixtapes, no one’s been more consistent than Federation Sound in terms of quality. 2014 being their 15th anniversary, you had to figure Max and Kenny would come strong this year, and that they did, releasing their impressive archives free to the masses via regular Soundcloud uploads. Inspired by the back-to-the-90s, bruk-out-era vibes of DJ Frass’ Gwaan Bad riddim, Max Glazer and Kenny Meez also dropped this new one, stocking di ting with dubplates and an arsenal of timeless dubs from the bruk out-era from Mr Easy, Wayne Wonder, TOK, Cham, Vybz Kartel and more. The rest of the tape features racks of new tunes, specials and remixes.

“Honorebel” Mention: Dubbel Dutch and Jus Now’s Fader Mixes

A valuable contributor to dancehall this year was Brooklyn-based DJ/producer Dubbel Dutch. As a creator who’s been exploring new and uncharted corners of club music for years, Dubbel Dutch put his stamp on dancehall with some key credits to Popcaan’s superb debut album, Where We Come From. For his mix for Fader, he gives you an inside look at an etheral side of dancehall, R&B and more from one of the best in the biz. Stream and download below, tracklist here.

One of the most exciting outfits in Caribbean music this past 12 months has been UK / Trini duo Jus’ Now. Responsible for an impressive round of hits including carnival staples like Bunji Garlin’s “Truck on D Road” and Machel Montano’s “Junction,”, the sound permeating from this team is one of pure energy and vibes, a feeling they wrapped up neatly for their own Fader mix. A heap of original material and exclusive pre-releases made this one extra large. Stream and download below, tracklist here.