11/10. Busy Signal, “Hold a Medi”/Romain Virgo and Christopher Martin, “Leave People Business”

Photo by Martei Korley

Nosy neighbors must have reached crisis levels in Jamaica, because they were the topic of two great reggae tracks we couldn’t get enough of this year. “Hold a Medi” chronicles Busy Signal’s attempts to smoke a spliff in peace, delivered with the lyrical panache we’ve come to expect from the Turf Boss. Meanwhile, Jamaica’s most successful former reality show stars Christopher Martin and Romain Virgo (both were ‘discovered’ on Digicel Rising Stars, Jamaica’s “American Idol”) unite on “Leave People Business,” a track firmly in the spirit of Jacob Miller and Inner Circle’s “Tenement Yard,” perhaps the greatest ‘mind-your-own-business’ anthem ever. Gwaan, mind your own and leave people business alone! — Desmond Alphonso