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. It wasn't until the 1980s when the style was officially named when the two words Dance and Hall the common venue was joined to make one word DanceHall; for the first time staged and promoted on an international scale. In this time 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 Stalag riddim is a popular reggae riddim, which came to prominence in the 1980s. It was originally written and recorded as "Stalag 17" by Ansel Collins and released by Winston Riley's Techniques record label in 1973. The riddim has been used on hundreds of derivative records.
Vivienne Tanya Stephenson, known by her stage name Tanya Stephens, is a Jamaican reggae singer and deejay who emerged in the late 1990s. She is most known for her hits "Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet" — later featured on the Reggae Gold 1997 compilation album — and "It's a Pity", for which Stephens achieved international recognition. She and business partner Andrew Henton have together co-founded Tarantula Records.
Black Chiney is a Jamaican sound system based in Miami, Florida. It consists of four Chinese Jamaicans: Supa Dups, Bobby Chin, Willy Chin and Walshy Fire. The Caribbean slang "Black Chiney" refers to this racial mix.
Ward 21 are a group of dancehall musicians and producers from Kingston, Jamaica, named after the psychiatric ward at the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston. Comprising Ward 21 are renowned producers and have created hit dancehall riddims like "Badda badda", "Da Joint", "Bellyas", and "Volume" as well as hit singles like "Haters" and "Judgement Day".
Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. Australia has several bands and sound systems that play reggae music in a style faithful to its expression in Jamaica. Australia has a relatively small Jamaican community, but reggae penetrated local consciousness via the popularity of reggae among the non-Jamaican population of England in the 1960s and 1970s. Many indigenous musicians have embraced reggae, both for its musical qualities and its ethos of resistance. Examples include Mantaka, No Fixed Address, Zennith and Coloured Stone.
Greensleeves Rhythm Album #1: Bellyas is the first album in Greensleeves Records' rhythm album series. It was released in February 2000 on CD and LP. The album features various artists recorded over the "Bellyas" riddim, produced by reggae-dancehall artists and producers Ward 21.
Wallace Wilson, better known by the stage name Red Rat, is a Jamaican dancehall reggae recording and performing artist. He is known for his up-beat music, comical style, and signature catch phrase "Oh, no!"
Collin Demar Edwards, better known by his stage name Demarco, is a Jamaican dancehall and reggae musician.
Henry Buckley Jr. aka Sadiki previously known as Pancho Kryztal, is a Jamaican-American singer, songwriter and producer.
Adidja Azim Palmer, better known as Vybz Kartel, is a Jamaican dancehall recording artist. Among his various nicknames, he is referred to as Worl' Boss or Teacha. As summarized by Rolling Stone, he "attained folk-hero status in Jamaica with provocative lyrics, and a mischievous public persona", and "few have captivated [the dancehall] audience – or offended the sensibilities of its detractors – as consistently and thoroughly as Kartel."
Garfield Delano Spence, also known as Konshens, is a Jamaican dancehall recording artist, deejay, singer and businessman.
Stephen McGregor, known professionally as Di Genius, is a Jamaican record producer, singer, and songwriter. Di Genius comes from a musical family—his father is legendary veteran reggae artist Freddie McGregor and his siblings, Daniel "Chino" McGregor and Yeshemabeth "Shema" McGregor, are also singers. While Di Genius was primarily known for producing riddims out of his "Big Ship" recording studio, he has gone on to produce and write songs for international artists such as Sean Paul, Drake, Nelly Furtado, Lianne La Havas, Shakira, John Legend among others. The New York Times named him a "Reggae Veteran At The Age of 18."
Parris Renee Goebel, also known mononymously as Parris, is a New Zealand dancer and choreographer. She is the founder and main choreographer of the Palace Dance Studio, which has produced dance crews such as ReQuest, Sorority, Bubblegum, and the Royal Family. The last has won the World Hip Hop Dance Championship three times in a row, becoming the first dance crew in history to achieve it.
Desire Sibanda is a Zimbabwean reggae singer and songwriter, better known by his stage name Dizzy Dee. He moved to Australia in 2007 and currently resides in Melbourne where he performs and works as a disk jockey on a regular basis.
Riddim is a subgenre of dubstep known for its heavy use of repetitive and minimalist sub-bass and triplet percussion arrangements. It shares the same name as the Jamaican genre that influenced both it and dubstep, which originally derived from dub, reggae, and dancehall. Originating in the United Kingdom, specifically Croydon, in the early 2010s as a resurgence of the style used by early dubstep works, riddim started to gain mainstream presence in the electronic music scene around 2015.
Dancehall pop is a sub-genre of the Jamaican genre dancehall that originated in the early 2000s. Developing from the sounds of reggae, dancehall pop is characteristically different in its fusion with western pop music and digital music production. Dancehall pop is also different from dancehall in that most songs use lesser Jamaican Patois in lyrics––allowing it to be globally understood and consumed. It also incorporates the key pop music elements of having melodies, hooks, and the verse-chorus format. Additionally, the genre moves away from the reggae and roots reggae music origins in social and political protest, now lyrically centering on partying, dancing, and sexuality.
Pascalli is an American singer, songwriter and producer of the Bahamian and Dominican descent. She got started in music when dancehall musician Red Rat discovered her while working on a movie set in 2010. In 2020, she released her first music production project called the "Kwarantine" riddim featuring artists such as Red Rat, Ding Dong, Bay-C formerly of T.O.K. and many others.
Jahvillani, born Dujon Mario Edwards is a Jamaican and dancehall artist from Great Pond, St.Ann, a parish in Jamaica. He has two sisters and was raised by a single parent.
