In Jamaican dancehall music, a riddim is the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section. Jamaican music genres that use the term consist of the riddim plus the voicing sung by the deejay. A given riddim, if popular, may be used in dozens—or even hundreds—of songs, not only in recordings but also in live performances.
Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s. In the mid-1980s, digital instrumentation became more prevalent, changing the sound considerably, with digital dancehall becoming increasingly characterized by faster rhythms. Key elements of dancehall music include its extensive use of Jamaican Patois rather than Jamaican standard English and a focus on the track instrumentals.
The music of Guadeloupe encompasses a large popular music industry, which gained in international renown after the success of zouk music in the later 20th century. Zouk's popularity was particularly intense in France, where the genre became an important symbol of identity for Guadeloupe and Martinique. Zouk's origins are in the folk music of Guadeloupe and Martinique, especially Guadeloupan gwo ka and Martinican chouval bwa, and the pan-Caribbean calypso tradition.
Kassav', also alternatively spelled Kassav, is a French Caribbean band that originated from Guadeloupe in 1979. The band's musical style is rooted in the Guadeloupean gwoka rhythm, as well as the Martinican tibwa and Mendé rhythms. Regarded as one of the most influential bands in 20th-century French West Indies music, Kassav is often credited with pioneering the zouk musical genre. Their musical evolution is a synthesis of cadence-lypso and compas traditions.
Housni M'Kouboi, better known as Rohff and at times stylized as Roh2f, is a French rapper.
Thierry Moutoussamy, better known as Lord Kossity, is a French musician. His family is originally from Martinique but he was born in Paris, France and moved back to the French West Indies with his family when he was 11 years old. He began his career in the 1990s with the group Contrast, with his cousin, Dr G-Kill. He started incorporating ragga music with the zouk style later in the 1990s, and has since recorded a number of albums and collaborated with Suprême N.T.M., Vybz Kartel, Shaggy, Bounty Killer, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and Elephant Man.
Les Aiglons was a 1970s Guadeloupean cadence band. Their single "Cuisse-la" was the greatest selling record of any Antillean band until Kassav's Zouk la sé sèl médikaman nou ni in 1985.
Ghislain Poirier, often known simply as Poirier, is a Canadian DJ/producer from Montreal who is signed to the Ninja Tune record label. He has, however, also worked with other labels such as Chocolate Industries, Rebondir, Shockout, Musique Large, Intr_version and 12k. His work mainly consists of original instrumental mixes and mixes featuring Montreal hip hop MCs including Omnikrom, Face-T and Séba. He also has collaborated with Beans, TTC, Lotek HiFi and Nik Myo. He is noted for popular remixes of tracks of rock and hip hop artists such as Les Georges Leningrad, Clipse, Editors, Bonde do Rolê, Kid Sister, Pierre Lapointe, DJ Champion and Lady Sovereign. Though he has worked in many different genres of electronic music, he is known for his eclectic taste in music and appreciation of tropical bass sounds.
Laouni Mouhid, commonly known by his stage name La Fouine, with additional aliases such as Fouiny Babe or just Fouiny, is a French rapper and singer. He is the owner of Banlieue Sale and the clothing line "Street Swagg".
Mafia & Fluxy are a British reggae rhythm section and production team, consisting of the brothers Leroy (bass) and David Heywood (drums), whose careers began with London reggae band The Instigators in 1977. They backed Jamaican artists on UK tours, and in 1987 visited Jamaica, building rhythm tracks for producers such as Bunny Lee, King Jammy,Mad Professor, Donovan Germain and Philip "Fatis" Burrell, becoming one of the most in-demand rhythm sections of the ragga age. They started their own label, producing for artists such as Sugar Minott, King Kong, Gregory Isaacs, Johnny Osbourne, Cornell Campbell and General Levy.
Irie Maffia is a Hungarian pop band formed in 2005. Their music is based on reggae and dancehall, which they blend with hip hop, funk and rock. The band also has a sound system formation, where András Kéri sings ragga lyrics on the reggae/dancehall riddims played by band leader Márton Élő and Gáspár Horváth from vinyl records.
Jeanette-Triniti Marilyn Bhaguandas, better known by her stage name Ms. Triniti, is a Soca - Ragga - fusion singer-songwriter who mixes the Soca, dancehall, reggae and pop genres.
Dwayne Chin-Quee, better known as Supa Dups, is a Jamaican record producer, a drummer, and selector based in Miami, Florida. He is a member of the Black Chiney sound system. His father is a second generation Chinese Jamaican, and his mother is of Hakka Chinese, German, and African descent.
Jocelyne Béroard is a Martinican singer and songwriter. She is one of the lead singers of the Zouk and Compas band Kassav'. As a solo artist, she helped create zoukBeton, a music genre originated by the seminal Martinican Creole band Kassav' from Paris, the main members of which are from Guadeloupe and Martinique.
Christian Gabriel Ledru Macari is a French music video director and producer from the French West Indies. Through his company, Tchimbé Raid Production, he has released more than 50 videos of Hip Hop, RnB, Reggae-Dancehall and Zouk since 2006. He was honoured in 2008 at the Paris Olympia for his production of Le Combat Continue 3 by Kery James. He is active on the French Hip Hop scene.
Rémy Ranguin better known by his stage name Colonel Reyel is a French singer. His 2011 album Au Rapport reached the top of the French Albums Chart and two singles from the album, "Celui..." and "Toutes les nuits" topped the French Singles Chart in two consecutive weeks in February–March 2011. In June 2011, Au Rapport went platinum. He is of Guadeloupe origin.
DelicaLandry, better known by his stage name Dry, is a French rapper of Congolese origin. He is also known by the aliases "L'Amiral" and "L'Intransférable".
Intouchable is a French rap band from Choisy-le-Roi, Val-de-Marne, founded in 1992 by rappers Dry and Demon One. They are also part of the rap/urban collective Mafia K-1 Fry.
Mafia K-1 Fry sometimes stylized as Mafia K'1 Fry is a French collective of hip hop artists, rappers, beatboxers, DJs, MCs and music producers mostly coming from the Val-de-Marne and the Orly-Choisy-Vitry-Joinville axis, suburbs located south of Paris.
D. Daly is a French singer-songwriter, composer, actor and music producer.
