After all the Tropical House hype dies down, where does reggae and dancehall go from here? Few people are better qualified to chart the music’s movements than Johnny Wonder, CEO of 21st Hapilos Digital, the leading digital distributor of new reggae and dancehall music from Jamaica. But here at Boomshots we’re all about the music’s progress forward into the future-and celebrating the innovators over the imitators. Yes that was hot in the streets ten years ago, and shout out to OVO for bringing it back. With Rihanna’s “Work” dominating mainstream airwaves all year, you might think Richie Stephens’ “Sail Away” riddim would take the top spot. Good times.Who Run The Place? Johnny Wonder, CEO of 21st Hapilos, Counts Down The Year’s Top Juggling During this era daily chores became choreographed dances that you did anywhere pon di replay, pon di river, and pon di bank. Now when I say greatest of all time I really mean from 2000-2005. It brought you many crossover hits like Sean Paul’s “Get Busy,” Lumidee’s “Never Leave You” and Rihanna’s “Pon De Replay.” This riddim was by far the most popular during this era. Now you know the basics let’s get to di chunes dem! 10) Buzz Riddim (I would name my first riddim Dora Di Explorer.)

I have no idea why this is the case, but it is my dream job to come up with the names. Rice and Peas, “Jet Lag” perfect for travelers, Tip Toe, Toppatop, Scarecrow, Final Warning, Playground, and Lost Angel are all colorfully-named riddims. So Sean Paul, Beenie Man and Shaggy are a DJs and whoever is “selecting” their records are the selectors.Īnother interesting thing about “riddims” are that they have really unique names. Note The “DJ” in reggae means the artist not the person with turntables, that person is called the selector.

How else can you tell who is really the best DJ? This is what I call an even playing field. It’s unheard of to share a beat in rap, whereas it’s the norm to perform on the same riddim in Dancehall Reggae. The system is a bit different than hip-hop. If you aren’t familiar with Caribbean dancehall culture, “riddims” is another word for rhythm or beat. It still remains the Jamaican staple for the best “riddims.” You probably heard this phrase if you went to the club in 2003.

2015 reggae riddims list