Last year we asked some of our favourite djs, producers, artists and bloggers to recommend their favourite Notting Hill Carnival soundsystems, food stalls and anthems, and started to compile the HDD Guide to Notting Hill Carnival. This year we have added the following carnival anthems to the list. You can check out last year’s anthems here.
Jillionaire (DJ/Mazor Lazer)
J.Bo Tapes (Southern Hospitality)
There are too many Carnival anthems to mention, but I especially love the fact that some tunes only seem to come out for this weekend and still always shut it down… saying that I have never seen anything quite like the reaction to Lethal B’s POW when it first came around, 2005 I think. Crazy.
Alex (Tumbleweave Blog)
Other than the recent ‘family favourites’ (Gyptian, Vybz Kartel, Major Lazer, etc etc) there are a couple of riddims that for one reason or another I love to hear when possible. For example the Money Tree Riddim (and specifically Beenie Man & TOK ‘Ms World‘) sends me loco! I am also a big soca fan, and one track that I would love to hear (but don’t necessarily expect to) is Superblue’s ‘Signal For Lara‘ – it’s an ode to Brian Lara out of Trinidad and Tobago, and it is guaranteed to make my day every time.
Moroka (Producer / Pollinate)
Just for sheer power and movement in recent memory got to be the PALAAAAANCE.
James Hamlin (Breaking Bread Podcast / North London 40)
A tough question but I’ll refer to one of my favourite Norman Jay moments of all time. As the clouds broke to amazing sunshine after an hour of solid horizontal rain. Norman dropped Bill Withers “Lovely day” – I’ll never forget that.
Poirier (Producer)
I think my favorite Carnival anthem for this year is Shal Marshall “Trouble“. Also, I have to big up Stylo G “Call Mi A Yardie” and I think the Deejay Theory Remix with a Bob Marley sample is an absolute killer for outdoor summer vibes!