Riddim & Bashment: 5 Times R City Brought the Caribbean To Pop + R&B

“We always try our best to sprinkle some Caribbean culture and vibes on these records we’re writing for artists,” says Timothy Thomas, one half of the St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands duo R City. After years of crafting hits behind the scenes for artists from Jennifer Hudson to Justin Bieber, Timothy and brother Theron Thomas are having a moment of their own now with “Locked Away” (featuring Adam Levine), which has spent the past month inside the Billboard Top 10. Their major-label debut, What Dreams Are Made Of dropped last week, and it’s full of island pop anthems and Caribbean hip-hop bangers, with the brothers’ Virgin Islands upbringing coming through on every track.

As part of our recent sitdown with Theron and Timothy, we had the brothers break down for us how they’ve slipped Caribbean flavor into songs by Ciara and Miley Cyrus, to name a few

“We’re so proud to be from the Caribbean and, as writers, to push these artists we’re working with creatively, that’s one thing that we bring to the game,” Theron says. “There ain’t too many writers or producers from the Caribbean who are doing it on a big level.”

Click here to start the rundown.

Rihanna – “Man Down”

There was a writing camp we got invited to, to work on the Rihanna album [Rated R]. And everybody in the writing camp was writing dance records, because the label felt that was the direction they wanted to take her in, at that time. We just felt like we don’t want to compete with 100 writers and producers all making the same song. The only way we would stand out or have a shot at making Rihanna’s album is if we be different from everyone else. And then we were like she is a Caribbean woman, so why not do a Caribbean record. Something that is just authentic and has a good story to it. I love hearing women sing reggae records. There aren’t too much women out here in popular music singing reggae records. We were like, “Yo, let’s just make a reggae record for Rihanna.” It showed us how everybody around the world still has love and appreciation for quality reggae music.

Ciara- “I’m Out” featuring Nicki Minaj

On the last Ciara album, we did “I’m Out” featuring Nicki Minaj, and “Keep on Looking” and both of those records if you listen close, you can hear a Caribbean vibe. Especially on “I’m Out,” that is actually Theron talking on the intro.

Chris Brown — “Brown Skin Girl” feat. Sean Paul

We did the Chris Brown and Sean Paul record, “Brown Skin Girl” on the Graffiti album.

Keri Hilson — “Bahm Bahm”

We did a record on Keri Hilson’s last album, No Boys Allowed, called “Bam Bam” produced by Polow, and it was a dancehall type of vibe.

Miley Cyrus – “We Can’t Stop”

Even with Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop,” you hear “We run tings, tings don’t run we,” that is a Caribbean saying. We always try to incorporate things like that whether it is in our own music or somebody else’s song.