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.
Thomas Wesley Pentz, known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is a co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer; a member of the supergroup LSD, with Labrinth and Sia; a member of electronic duo Jack Ü, with producer and DJ Skrillex; and a member of Silk City, with Mark Ronson. He founded the record company Mad Decent in 2006, as well as the non-profit organization Heaps Decent the following year. His 2013 extended play (EP), Revolution, debuted at number 68 on the US Billboard 200. The EP's title track was later featured in a commercial for Hyundai and is featured on the WWE 2K16 soundtrack.
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.
Clifford Smith, better known as Mr. Vegas, is a Jamaican dancehall singjay.
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.
Major Lazer is an American electronic dance music and DJ trio, which includes record producer Diplo, and DJs Walshy Fire and Ape Drums. They were founded in 2008 by Diplo and Switch, with Switch leaving after three years in 2011. He was then replaced by both Jillionaire and Walshy Fire. In June 2019, Jillionaire left the group and was replaced by Ape Drums. Their music spans numerous genres, mixing reggae with dancehall, reggaeton, soca, house and moombahton.
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."
"Jah No Partial" is a song by musical project Major Lazer from their second studio album Free the Universe. The song was published worldwide on October 22, 2012, and released digitally in 2013. The song features English dubstep producer and DJ Flux Pavilion.
Jamar Rolando McNaughton, popularly known as Chronixx, is a Jamaican reggae artist. His stage name replaced the name "Little Chronicle" which he was given because of his father, the singer "Chronicle". Chronixx and his music has been branded as a "Reggae Revival", alongside other reggae musicians including Alborosie, Dre Island, Jah Bouks, Jah9, Protoje, Kelissa, Jesse Royal, Keznamdi and Kabaka Pyramid. His lyrical content revolves around themes of anti-war, romantic declarations and resiliency.
Christopher Leacock, better known by his stage name Jillionaire, is a Trinidadian DJ and music producer. He is best known for being a former member of the American electronic music group Major Lazer, along with Diplo and Walshy Fire. In 2014 he released then EP Fresh along with Salvatore Ganacci on the Universal Music label.
Jesse David Royal is a Jamaican reggae musician.
Ricardo Lloyd Johnson Jr., also known as Ricky Blaze, is an American DJ, producer, singer, and songwriter. He has done production work in the dancehall music space and the trancehall subgenre. He has produced and collaborated with Shaggy and Sean Paul, and has also worked with Vybz Kartel, Jim Jones, Maino, Kardinal Offishall, Jasmine Sullivan, Nicki Minaj, and Santigold.
Eric Alberto-Lopez, known professionally as Ape Drums, is a Mexican-American DJ and record producer. Ape Drums is known for fusing electronic dance music with Caribbean sounds, described by Thump as "Modern Dancehall Music." He is also one third of the DJ/production trio Major Lazer, replacing Jillionaire in the summer of 2019.
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.
Nordia Coco Witter, also known as Coco, is a Jamaican singer and songwriter. She is known for popular songs in the Reggae style of music including "Be Alone Tonight" and "I'm a Player in the Band." She has been featured in Rolling Stone.
Philip Meckseper, known professionally as Jr Blender, is a German record producer and songwriter from Hamburg.
Mikayla Victoria Simpson, better known as Koffee, is a Jamaican singer, songwriter, rapper, and guitarist from Spanish Town, Jamaica. She released her debut single "Burning" in 2017, and after releasing another single the following year, she signed with Columbia Records. Her 2019 debut EP Rapture -- a five-track release in which only two Reggae tracks were included -- won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards, making Koffee the youngest person and only woman to be awarded in the Best Reggae Album category. Her most recent album Gifted was released on March 25, 2022.
Andrew Moon Bain is a visual artist, record producer, musician, songwriter, and designer. He grew up in Seattle, Washington, where he was very active in the arts as a youth. He was a young cellist in the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras from ages 8–12. He also formed a hip-hop group in high school and later an original rock band with his younger brother. He relocated to Providence, Rhode Island as a young adult and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design. Bain remained in New England after earning his degree, subsequently becoming an active and integral member of Providence's exploding art community. His visual art is represented in numerous private collections, museums and at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. In the summer of 2019, Bain did a large-scale wall installation at the Brown University Perry and Marty Granoff Center for the Creative Arts entitled “We Are All Carbon Beings”.
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.
Kabaka Pyramid is a reggae artist from Kingston, Jamaica, who combines elements of roots reggae, dancehall and rap. His musical role models include hip-hop artists such as Raekwon of the Wu-Tang Clan as well as roots singers such as Peter Tosh.
