As one of the coolest and most innovative genres, dancehall basically invented the use of sampling and looping in music. The open use of “riddims”, however, was bewildering to me before I discovered what it was all about.
Playlist of songs in this video & more: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5Cr3h4tPlIpHo1ilzQFLeC
ALL SONGS IN THIS VIDEO (In order of appearance):
0:11 Yellowman – Zungguzungguguzungguzeng
0:32 Josey Wales – Let Go Mi Hand
0:37 Michigan & Smiley – Diseases
0:45 Tenor Saw – Ring The Alarm
0:51 Sister Nancy – Bam Bam
1:09 Eek-a-Mouse – Wa-Do-Dem
1:43 The Mighty Diamonds – Pass the Kouchie
2:20 The Skatalites – Guns of Navarone
2:24 Alton Ellis – Rock Steady
2:27 Toots & The Maytals – Do The Reggae
2:40 Toots & The Maytals – 54-46 Was My Number (live)
2:59 U-Roy – Wake The Town
3:54 Kool Herc – Break beat demonstration
4:42 Sugar Minott – Herbman Hustling
5:04 Sugar Minott – Good Thing Going
5:12 Sugar Minott – Unknown song (if anyone can ID please comment)
5:36 Yellowman – Life Story
5:53 Yellowman – Ooh We
6:35 Sister Nancy – Every Woman
7:27 King Tubby – Money Dub
7:50 Digital Mystkiz – Haunted
8:24 Eek-a-Mouse – Wa-Do-Dem 12” version
9:05 Yellowman – Zungguzungguguzungguzeng
9:12 Alton Ellis – Mad Mad
9:26 Yellowman – Sensemilla
9:34 Sound Dimension – Full Up
9:50 Sound Dimension – Real Rock
10:18 Wayne Smith – Under Mi Sleng Teng
10:34 Tenor Saw – Pumpkin Belly
10:40 Sublime – Caress Me Down
10:41 David Bowie – Hang Onto Yourself
11:49 Shabba Ranks – Mr Loverman
11:56 Sean Paul – Get Busy
12:24 Easy Star All Stars – Exit Music (For a Film)
12:52 Kanye West – Famous
12:56 Sister Nancy – Live at Boiler Room, NYC
13:32 Yellowman – Yellow Like Cheese (live)
A big special thanks to:
Beth Lesser, author of “Dancehall: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture”
Hit Me With Music (2011) Documentary
Beat This! A Hip-Hop History (1984) Documentary
Don Sinclair Reggae Vibes (YouTube Channel)
Riddimguide.com
The Red Bull Music Academy
Hot 97, New York City
source
I grew up for a while in central America and can tell you Dancehall was pretty popular there too, even if the locals didn't understand the language. It was mostly for the beats, bass tones, trebles from loud audio systems. But then in the mid 90's, what they call "Reggaeton", or Spanish Dancehall started making its way through. I was not really a fan of reggaeton.
Could you make a few more videos on how drum and bass, trance, ambient, chill electronic music, etc. came to be? That would be amazing. Love your narration.
I didn't know dancehall was weird the fuck??
Sadly, dancehall fell to the evils of auto-tune. Very few modern dancehall artist DON'T use auto-tune. Ruined it for me.
As a live sound engineer, in 1986, I did a tour with Michigan & Smiley. Good times.
I've also had the pleasure of mixing Sugar Minott , U-Roy,, Eek-A-Mouse, Yellow Man and several other dancehall artists at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival in Northern Cali. (I had to leave Sugar Minott in the middle of his set on the smaller stage to mix Toots & The Maytals on the larger "main stage in 2005 or 2006? Again, good times.)
Thank you for the great intro to dancehall!
Thanks for the video, Jamaica Is great, respect from Panamá??
This is the music I grew up on. From New York but as a baby I had a nanny that lived with us as my parents worked in the city. She was from Trinidad and was always jamming to dancehall and soca. It really made a lasting impression on me and dancehall will always have a special place in my heart because of it
I've heard a fair few of these songs just growing up in England.
Dude i had now idea this existed. This is so fuckin rad man. I've heard some of these songs and had no clue there where basicly like inprov/karaoke like freestyle rap.
Thank you for introducing me to yellowman .
Im from Toronto…dance hall was always apart of our music culture. Ppl Just bumping it in neighborhoods for along as i can remember .Plus the jungle drum and bass scene was at the time ,one of the biggest world wide.right up there with UK. Which is heavily influenced by danchall.
This is a great little docu, I just have one small correction/addition: Nowadays, and for the last decades, riddims have most often been released as riddims. A producer or soundsystem would produce the riddim without a song attached to it, invite artists to the studio to record songs on it (somtimes 5, sometimes 30), and you could then buy the different tracks on that new riddim as 7 inch records, distributed by the soundsystem or record label (or later as a riddim sampler CD, digitally nowadays) under the moniker of the specific riddim.
Oh… In these days, I was up in Vice. ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXXWF8tC3t8
I HATE WHEN I HEAR A WHITE VOICE TELLING ME ABOUT BLACK MUSIC.
It was the other way around. If dancehall inspired hip hop wouldn't we be doing dance hall. Dance hall artists tell you they were inspired by African American DJs and artists. stop with the cultural theft. African American Djs and Music was a direct influence on ska dancehall and reggae not the other way around. Uroy himself said he was inspired by African American DJs and Music. Herc didn't invent or originate hip hop. you need to pull this video and get your facts straight dude. this is the worst of cultural theft.
Jamaican – American Shaggy is one of the most well known dancehall artistes in the US
Bassnectar and the edm community got me into dancehall and the roots of edm.
Good knowledge and great understanding, very impressive. Not to mention the well deserved credits to some legendary sound systems. Big up King Yellow!!
So grateful that I grew up with this music playing loud from early morning to late at night, the spirit is wonderful and magically "infectious" ✨✌??❤️
Not pass the cootchie ?
The symbiotic relationship between riddims and the performers is beautiful. Is the beat the vessel for the performer, or is the performer the vessel to carry on the beat? Love that.
Yes.
Ain't this Mr. Boombastic?
That picture of yellowman in the blue outfit looks like a cross between david letterman and modern day hipster artist's.
Big thanks and many blessings
OMG I hear Sublime, The Aggrolites, The Slackers, Tim Armstrong, and other Dub versions of many songs I love … good job!
did you not include Vybz cuz he murdered a dude or are you just not into the newer stuff lol
ok so i didn't know saints row 3 and 4 had such an obsession with dance hall. i didn't know i knew the lyrics to like 98% of the songs you played but i did
I get ready to Sister Nancy's Bam Bam all the time
Such a badass song
didn't know charlie chaplin made dancehall ( 9:45 )
Love this channel very much! Thank you sir
Being from Toronto, I was exposed to a bit of 2000's dancehall on some top 40 stations and I LOVED it, still do. Growing up I'd visit family outside the city with a mainly white population, and would notice the stark contrast in cultural diversity even at a young age. <3
Very nice! I listen to riddims since i was a kid, i didnt know Sleng Teng was made on a preprogrammed baseline on a Casio, that is amazing info, big up to the maker of this video
This is a great historical video. Jamaican music also birthed reggaeton.
This video is so satisfying, listening to Alton Ellis here in this context is magical and nostalgic.
Spot on dude!!! Glad you made the discovery of arguably the most influential genre of modern music.
You did an AMAZING JOB!
Watch out
Watch out
The soldier's about !!!