Kush Arora teamed up with Gappy Ranks to add some UK dancehall flavour to his Indian influenced Delhi Cowboy Riddim and the results are great. The remix package of Anything A Anything is out today and features remixes from Deejay Theory, Secret Agent Gel, Robzilla and Swing Ting. Stream the remixes below and go support the package here.
Gappy Ranks is one of those great versatile dancehall artists who sounds just as good on a concious reggae tune as he does on a slack dancehall riddim. Generation for us is the stand out cut on Old Fasion Riddim and reminds us of Gappy’s Put the Stereo on. The video is a nice ode to his area Harlesden and the people and sounds he grew up with. Support the tune here.
As 2013 comes to a close, it’s time for our Top 20 tunes of the year. This year more than others we feel that there is a growing scene with various radio shows, labels and DJ’s playing more and more of the music we love. There has been a lot more attention payed towards Africa, Soca finally getting more shine and Dancehall moving more and more into the mainstream. There may have not been a big crossover song but instead there has been many a song which has caught the imagination of the public. We have certainly seen a shift in our raves where people are demanding we play stuff that a few years ago they would have looked a bit lost at. Let’s hope that this momentum continues with more and more exposure to the World Carnival sound. This list has been based on the tunes that we have been playing out at our numerous raves, listening to at HDD Headquarters and generally being the best ones out this year.
Toddla T is at his best when he is making something big, bashy and ‘Dutt-eh’! Salute was added to his soundcloud about a month ago and it seriously bangs. Produced for Gappy Ranks with a guest vocal from Sheffield’s K-Dot (who you may recognise from Walter Ego’s Calm Down), this one is sure to be a banger when it officially drops. Salute to all involved!
Gappy Ranks is back with another dancehall version of a Hip Hop song. He really is good at these and doesn’t get the credit he deserves, have you heard his version of Shot Caller? Or Man Down? The guy is good, this time he takes on Drake’s new anthem to making it in the music business. The best thing is that he named the track Gary Lineker, a run of the mill Sports Tv presenter and former England footballer. As a massive fan of sports and music this made me incredibly happy. It also allowed me to post a video of Gary Lineker realised that he had an accident on the field during World Cup 1990 and had to hide it.
As 2012 comes into its last few days we decided to repeat last year’s near- impossible task of picking our top 20 tunes of the year. Based on the tunes we have been playing out and the tunes we have been listening to at HDD Headquarters, in no particular order, here are our top hip hop, dancehall and tropical tunes of 2012.
Picking just 20 tunes that summed up the year in music for us was extremely difficult so here are the tunes that came close but did not quite make the top 20.