Toppa Top ’15: The Best Dancehall Tracks of 2015

Words by LargeUp Crew
Photo by Martei Korley

Quietly, it was a great year for dancehall. Bashment sounds snuck into all sorts of places (beneath many people’s radar), from the “Murder She Wrote” drums deep within Major Lazer’s “Lean On,” to the riddim on Justin Bieber’s “Sorry,” the second biggest song in the world right now. Within dancehall itself, the usual suspects — Mavado, Aidonia, Busy Signal — gave us some big tunes, and Vybz Kartel gave the culture what could be its definitive anthem. The biggest new artists were Dexta Daps and Vershon. We lost J Capri, one of the most promising young artists around. Busta Rhymes, Whoopi Goldberg and Nick Cannon went to Kingston to make a movie called King of the Dancehall. Future Fambo came back, and brought some bloodclaute fun back with him. We won’t say the genre is in a better place than it was a year ago, but there were good things. Dancehall cyan stall.

This list features songs we felt had the biggest impact in dancehall, and some others we just love and want to acknowledge.

Run tune here.

15. Gyptian – All On Me

Producer Justus Arison (of JA Productions) is the man behind the High Life riddim, which plays host to “All On Me,” one of Gyptian’s biggest tracks since “Hold Yuh.” This Dancehall/EDM fusion reflects the current influence that the latter is having upon Jamaican popular music. While some might say it’s overshadowing more traditional island sounds, this hybrid is also propelling our music to the world—see also the remix of “All On Me” featuring Lady Leshurr, from Dutch dance producer Diztortion.

14. Alkaline – Fleek

This Alkaline dude works harder than the post office. Of the many singles he put out this year, “Fleek” was the most memorable. You just can’t get away from one of dancehall’s most buzzworthy artists using one of the year’s ubiquitous words. Alkaline uses a simple delivery and a “fleek hook to draw you in. His autotuned sound recalls Vybz Kartel, but also feels new, or a bit like Future if he was a dancehall artist. “Fleek” shows Alkaline’s versatility, while keeping true to the vibe and sound that he is famous for. —Kalifa Madden

13. Spice – Needle Eye

Spice enhanced her status as dancehall’s reigning queen this year, with two big singles. “Back Bend” kept Grace Hamilton in dancer’s good graces for most of the year, but our favorite tune from her in 2015 would have to be her latest. On “Needle Eye,” she samples from vintage classics “Position” by Terror Fabulous (1993) and Shabba Ranks’ original “Needle Eye” (1988), while bringing her own unique flavour to the mix as always, creating an explosive ode to the golden days of dancehall. The accompanying music video, featuring an array of colorful costumes, whinery and sound systems to boot, has already racked up over a million hits on YouTube. It’s really taken off on social media too, with “Needle Eye” dance competitions taking place all over. —Nadine White

12. Kranium – History

When Kranium followed his breakthrough cheaters’ anthem “Nobody Has to Know” with the aspirational “Lifestyle,” we weren’t sure what to make of him. This was clearly an artist who knew how to make infectious songs for the club, but he didn’t make you want to like him very much. With the underrated “History,” however, he tore down the facade, offering a more personal look into his mind. It was one of many strong tracks from the young New York artist’s debut album, Rumors, though our favorite was the Ricky Blaze-produced “Stamina.” We’re going to leave that one for next year, though, just cause we know it’s gonna buss big in 2016! —Jesse Serwer

11. Dexta Daps – 7Eleven/Shabba Madda Pot

Voiced on Troyton Music’s Intoxxicated riddim, “7Eleven” is a lusty anthem from Seaview Gardens ladies’ man Dexta Daps that deals with steadfast desire in spite of the opinions of naysayers. With its plucky riff, generally “rude” disposition and catchy chorus, you cannot help but bounce along to the track. Although “7Eleven” was initially released at the tail end of 2014, it blew up this year and became one of 2015’s biggest dancehall singles. The same can be said for his equally infectious “Shabba Madda Pot,” which is running the place at this very moment. —Nadine White

10. Mavado-Up Like 7/Boy Like Me

Mavado was at the top of his game again in 2015, bringing that straight-ahead dancehall we love him for (as opposed to the hip-hop crossover tracks he’s never really had much success with.) It’s tough to choose one track from him this year, but fortunately, he put two of our favorites together in one video. “Up Like 7,” on Yellow Moon Productions’ Wrangler riddim, taps into a similar vein to 2013’s “At The Top,” updating the slang for the times. In terms of freshness, it was hard to beat “Boy Like Me,” a catchy, sleeper track on DJ Frass’ sublime Jelly Wata riddim, featuring Mavado at his most charming. Honorable mention haffi go to “My League,” ‘Vado’s biggest tune of the last 12 months, and not a bad one, either. —Jesse Serwer

9. Busy Signal – What If

It’s unlikely to find a dancehall top 10 list without Busy Signal somewhere, as he’s been on top of his game for a many years now. “What If” finds Busy wondering what if things hadn’t gone so well and he hadn’t found the success he been enjoying for so long. He also brings up multiple different scenarios from his badman past and incorporates current events which add a much lighter side to the song. The production has that throw back 90’s dancehall appeal that always gets the spot jumping and with Busy Signal spitting fire, “What If” was a sure shot for 2015. —DJ Arems

8. Aidonia – Nuh Boring Gyal

Veteran dancehall artist Aidonia kept us vibing with his smash hit “Nuh Boring Gyal.” The single debuted in August 2015 with his EP, Project Sweat, soon to follow. Aidonia crafted his gyalbum with the ladies in mind. The singer wanted to create an album that would appeal to women with a love for dance. Project Sweat accomplishes that with its uptempo, throwback dancehall edge, backed with afro-synth riddims. “Nuh Boring Gyal” was the first single off the well-received EP. In 2016, there will be a lot more dance-inspired tracks to look forward to from Aidonia. —Kalifa Madden

7. Future Fambo – Bloodclaute Song

Bloodclaaaaaaht! Fambo came hard with this one but on a fresh new note not heard from dancehall artists in a minute. The production for Bloodclaute Song sounds like a current hip hop beat you might hear Tyga or 2 Chainz spitting on but instead we find the Drunken Master, Future Fambo and his raw voice, warning bwoys dem bloodclaute wrong. How Future Fambo linked up with producer Magnedo7 is unbeknownst to us but the combination was undeniable and had badman slapping walls all year long. The remix was released just this past October featuring Sean Paul, Demarco and Beenie Man making it all the more badd but the original is still toppa top. —DJ Arems

6. Popcaan – Rup Rup (Bad Inna Real Life)

It was another big year for Popcaan as he dropped tune after tune – most of them smooth and vibey with the exception of a few like “Rup Rup” which came out on the braggadocios badman tip. Here we find Popcaan calling out all fake gangstas and fassy dem, threatening to show dem who’s the real king of kings. Even though the subject matter is hard, Popcaan’s voice and the happy feeling production on Rup Rup gives it a lighter appeal allowing for prime time pull ups in the club. A lot of DJs chose to remix this single as well and you can find a variety of dope versions floating around on the internet. —DJ Arems

5. Vybz Kartel – Money Mi A Look

We could have filled out this whole list with just songs by Vybz Kartel, and we wouldn’t have been far off. (The same could be said for any given year in dancehall for the past decade, pretty much.) “Bicycle Ride,”  “Keystone” on the Voice Note riddim, the list goes on and on. “Money Me A Look” was perhaps the most quotable, starting with Kartel’s amusing list of Jamaican grocery items at the start of the track (“Mi know about sardines… bully beef… chicken foot…), helping to make True Loyal Records’ riddim by the same name one of the year’s most ubiquitous biggest dancehall soundtracks. —Jesse Serwer

4. Vershon – Inna Real Life

Vershon‘s career has been gaining steam after 2014’s Fuck Up the World caught much attention followed by the release of Inna Real Life which hit air waves earlier this year. What seemed like a single that might get passed up turned into one of the biggest chunes of the year with Vershon singing about life’s struggles and giving thanks for what we are blessed with. Songs about the reality of things are what keeps dancehall reggae fresh over many genres that gloss over life’s hard ships and Vershon struck a chord with the whole world with this must play track. —DJ Arems

3. Jamie XX featuring Popcaan and Young Thug – Good Times

British producer Jamie XX released the feelgood track of the summer with his soul sample-based “I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)” featuring the unlikely combination of Young Thug and Popcaan, on a laid-back mellow beat. The single didn’t quite gain crossover status but got a lot of attention on the dancehall scene (and with Young Thug fans). A Popcaan-only version was released later on a more uptempo version of the instrumental, with remixes from Take Dat and Jugglerz that garnered even more forwards for this huge chune. Jamie XX, with help from Dre Skull, also created a remix featuring Konshens, Assassin and Kranium alongside Popcaan which, until last week, could only be heard in Jamie’s DJ sets. Luckily this one and another remix by Skepta have just been made available for multiple pull ups in the club or your car. —DJ Arems

2. Busy Signal – Text Message

Busy Signal has the best ear in dancehall. It’s a landslide. No contest. As a deejay, he always seems to find new sounds outside of the norm to pull into dancehall. See how he singlehandedly introduced fused modern West African sounds into the genre’s vocabulary, from “Da Style Deh” to “Same Way,” a remake of Sarkodie’s Azonto banger “U Go Kill Me.” As a producer, he’s supremely underrated, too. His style could be described as ultra-minimalist—See “Cool It Baby” for an example of how he’s able to do the most, with the least. But “Text Message,” a dancehall song that plugged into modern communication like no other, might be his masterpiece, musically and lyrically. First off, the beat, based around the Whatsapp notification whistle, is ingenious in and of itself. But it’s how Busy builds upon the theme of the beat with his lyrics, telling an intricate story through popular Internet acronyms and such (WTF, BTW, KMRT — that’s Kiss my rassclart teeth, for you non-Jamaicans) that made us have to hit rewind day in and day out, all year long. —Jesse Serwer

1. Vybz Kartel – Dancehall

As stated above, we could have filled out this whole list with just songs by Vybz Kartel. But “Dancehall” was a cut above anything else by Kartel, or any other dancehall act, this year. Right from the song’s opening intro, a recorded phone conversation with Kartel about his influences which ends with the proclamation, I am dancehall, you could tell it had a special energy. And it delivered, becoming the definitive bashment anthem in Jamaica this year. Kartel’s always been a step ahead of every other dancehall act because he knows his music is bigger than him, that it speaks for others even more than it does for him. That’s never been plainer than on “Dancehall,” a rallying cry for an oft-demonized genre, dancehall’s own equivalent to “Hip Hop” by Dead Prez. Add what was easily the year’s sharpest-looking dancehall video into the equation, and there was really no way to select any song but this one for the toppa top spot. —Jesse Serwer

5. R City – Locked Away

You heard it, you rocked to it, and you’re still rocking to it. Make no mistake, one of the top urban pop songs of the year was also one of the top dancehall tunes. Employing the tried and tested blend of beautiful vocals with hard-hitting lyrics over a tough riddim, R.City‘s “Locked Away” was a dancehall combination tune disguised as pop, with vocals from Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine, and production from Dr. Luke and Cirkut. (If that didn’t already register, the official dancehall remix featuring the likes of Popcaan, Assassin, Bunji Garlin and Kardinal Offishall, which just dropped, should make that crystal clear)

In its original form, the song placed high on just about every urban music list around the world, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, helping drive R City’s debut album What Dream Are Made Of close to one million downloads. —Kaya.lah