UK-Based Producer Reece Dry And Seanizzle Bat For ‘Trap Dancehall’

Coventry-born music producer Reece Dry, who is a principal of indie label El Gringo Records, has hailed the rise of trap-dancehall in the underground dancehall scene in the UK. He believes that the sub-genre is here to stay because its rise is driven by demand, and is already making international inroads.

“Trap dancehall is very catchy, it has dominated a lot of the dancehall-themed clubs in the UK. It has also brought so much more talent to our ears with this wave of ‘new generation artists’. While there are divided opinions, I think trap dancehall is here to stay. And while there is a demand for it, there will always be a supply,” he said.

Reece Dry recently produced a new track dubbed Rich Badness on a trap dancehall style beat with Tuggawar and Jah Tee.

“The song was well received both in the U.K. and Jamaica. We are witnessing the birth of a new sub-genre. The art of it is just an amazing thing to witness. From songs like Yahoo Boyz to Gunman Shift to even the dynamic Crocodile Teeth. All different but similar sounds, it’s becoming a force over here in the UK,” Reece Dry added.

Reece Dry first jumped into the spotlight as an actor who became known for his gangster roles in films such as Beverley (2015), The Hit and The Singing Bird Will Come (2015).

El Gringo Records was established in the UK in 2020 by producer Dry and his business partner Manny Samra. The principals have been experimenting with unique beats and a diverse range of artistes from all over the world to forge a completely new, authentic sound.

Dry has worked with Seanizzle Records, Blak Ryno and recently released ‘Rich Badness’ featuring Tuggawar and Jah Tee.

“This trap-dancehall is pure fire,” he said.

Jamaican trap-dancehall music is a sub-genre of music which has raised eyebrows because of its central focus on gun violence, obeah and the glorification of criminal lifestyles such as scamming. Some fans feel that labelling the music as “dancehall” is causing global confusion, and feel it ought to be called Jamaican drill music because it is primarily made for males and is actually UK drill-influenced.

Seanizzle said he liked the sub-genre.

“My take is it’s still new it’s still a work in progress, I like it. We all know that people tend to bash things they don’t understand, but if we be realistic and fair this is how it’s been with everything. even our own reggae and dancehall music, when it just arrived a lot of people use to curse using all types of adjectives to describe it until it worked, and now all the conversations changed,” Seanizzle said.

Seanizzle, whose given name is Sean Reid, is most known for his One Day Riddim on his Seanizzle Records label, which yielded several cross-over hits and cemented his national status as a formidable producer. He gave trap-dancehall a big thumbs up during a recent podcast interview with UK podcaster and producer Reece Dry.

He explained his interesting point of view to the Observer.

“We are now in the age where it’s technology-driven. We have social media, we have the internet, Apple Music, Spotify and etc at our leisure so it’s very easy to learn about various genres and so a lot of musicians have been fusing genres that they like more frequently now. To the producers I say, do what works for you, big up the culture, spread the love and the positivity equally the same as how we speak about everything else,” he added.