Beenie Man Laments The Loss Of Juggling Riddims In Contemporary Dancehall

King of the Dancehall Beenie Man, like many of his compatriots, is concerned that with the migration of many of Jamaica’s most prolific producers, juggling riddims, which are critical components of the genre, have all but disappeared from the musical landscape.

“Yuh memba one time when artiste used to deh pan one riddim?  Dat nuh gwaan again.  Yuh memba when Dave Kelly put out a riddim?  All 15, 20 artiste deh pan it, when Shocking Vibes a put out a riddim, when Penthouse a put outta riddim?  Dat nuh gwaan again because every man have dem own producer and dem producer naw voice you if you an’ dah man deh nuh talk.  Dat is what killing Dancehall because Dancehall artiste is not together,” the Girl Dem Sugar singer stated in a recent Onstage interview. 

“Dat (juggling riddims) a come from King Jammys dem, from Jack Scorpio dem.  Suh weh yuh think Echo Minott and Admiral Bailey dem and Shabba Rankin dem and all a dem come through? Pan di juggling riddim.   When yuh listen to a 80s jugglin riddim, yuh hear every man pan one riddim; yuh listen to a 90s jugglin yuh hear every man pan one riddim…,” he added.

In February last year, veteran Dancehall artist and music producer Red Rat had contended in an interview with DJ Kash, that some veteran producers should shoulder responsibility for the decline in the number of the genre’s juggling riddims, the production of which is now few and far between, as artists steer away towards solo beats.

Red Rat had argued that the music producers who were adept at the production of juggling riddims, ought not to have stopped churning out the compilations, particularly since they were still in high demand by disc jockeys.

“I blame the producers that used to do it.  Why dem stop?  A Shams and a Dave Kelly and Tony Kelly.  Why did you all stop?  You shouldn’t stop because something new started. It should continue; I still do it,” the former Main Street artist had said.

Red Rat had contended that juggling riddims helped artists to use up their creativity, and pointed out that back in the day, artists and producers would cooperate to ensure that no two songs on any beat sounded similar, as artists would not mind their compatriots listening to what they had already voiced.

He had also revealed that when he produced his Drop Top riddim, he had reached out to some of the younger artists to record on the beat and was told flatly that ‘dem don’t do jugglin’, because perhaps they did not “understand the power of what jugglin did”.

The Tight Up Skirt artist had said though, that he believed juggling riddims, which took root began in the early 1980s, could take back its once-dominant space as a feature of Dancehall.  

The pattern for juggling riddims was set in Jamaica with the Sleng Teng riddim, this after producer King Jammy, following the reception to Wayne Smith’s Under Mi Sleng Teng, recorded a slew of singers and deejays on the iconic beat, before other producers could make knock-off versions of the riddim, as was the trend then.  

Over the decades, juggling riddims became responsible for a slew of crossover hits, among them, Beenie Man’s Who Am I (Simma) and Girls Dem Sugar, Tanto Metro and Devonte’s Everyone falls in Love Sometime, Sean Paul’s Like Glue and Gimme Di Light, and Wayne Wonder’s No Letting Go.

As Beenie Man posited, over the last several years, concerns have been raised by producers and selectors, about the various ‘camps’ being formed by artists, who, as a consequence, refuse to voice on the same beats, or with producers they believe to be associated with their camp’s musical rivals.

Among the most outstanding juggling riddims over the last three decades were several from Dave Kelly’s Madhouse, among them Pepper Seed in 1994; Joy Ride and Buy Out also in 1996, Showtime in 1997 and Bruck Out in 1999. 

Don Corleon’s legendary Drop Leaf was also a massive hit in 2005, with hits such as T.O.K’s Footprints, Jah Cure’s Longing For, Tanya Stephens’ After You, Bounty Killer’s Its OK and Gentleman’s Intoxication.

Jeremy Harding’s Playground riddim, which was released in 1997, was also a scorcher, giving the world hits such as Sean Paul’s Infiltrate and Beenie Man’s own Who Am I (Sim Simma).

Steven “Lenky” Marsden’s Diwali also stormed to musical glory. Released in May 2002, Diwali shot up the charts with tracks such as Sean Paul’s Get Busy and Wayne Wonder’s No Letting Go.

One of the last explosive riddims, which attracted many of Dancehall’s hottest artists and had a slew of hits, was Overproof.  That beat, created by producers Justus Arison and the late Patrick ‘Roach’ Samuels of JA Productions, featured songs from 25 singers and deejays, among them Mavado with Settle Down, Konshens with Bad Gyal and Khago’s Tun Up Di Ting.

In 2020, Montego Bay-based producer Zum had managed to feature Dancehall stars including Vybz Kartel, Mavado, Dexta Daps, Elephant Man, Konshens, Shenseea, Jahmiel and I-Octane on his Good Good Productions’ Liquid Sunshine juggling riddim.

The riddim, which featured 19 tracks, had relative success with the top song being Dexta Daps’ Call Me If.   However, most of the songs contained sexually explicit material and expletives, which may have hampered its success, since they could not be played in all public spaces.

That riddim, nevertheless, erased barriers as it was the first time since 2015 that Vybz Kartel and Mavado were featured on the same production.

Prior to that, Zum had seen massive success his Money Mix juggling riddim in 2017, which gave Dancehall fans a string of hits, the biggest of which was Masicka’s hit track 10 Outta 10, followed by Yanique Curvy Diva’s Lifestyle and D’Angel and Spice’s No Worries.  It also featured Vybz Kartel’s Poco Man Skank, Mavado’s Fresh Cash and Shenseea’s Wine.