rolling surf the riddim 2026

I'm stealing the rap thread's naming convention, so I can make a broad anglo- and francophone Caribbean music thread — post dancehall, reggae, soca, shatta, bouyon, etc. itt

(Spanish-language stuff should go in curmudgeon's thread, though one exciting development is how much collaboration the french and spanish artists are doing right now)

Don't worry too much about "2026." I plan to post stuff from last year or even earlier; for example, the thread namesake:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR4ujMOgxA4

Miimii ft Dj Skycee - Sé Miimii

I couldn't quite get into bouyon until I heard this. Fizzy, effortlessly charming, too short.

As much as I like "Sé Miimii," finally paying serious attention to shatta was the smartest decision I made in 2025. I love how it combines and updates the post-Sleng Teng rough minimal digital and early 90s ragga random-ass sound effects dancehall traditions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCRztEFJc50

BAMBY x KERCHAK - Pas Jalouse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIDiOzWS8GA

BAMBY x MAUREEN - Chic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiKsY6uSLQs

Meryl & DJ Tutuss - Jetski

Meryl, Maureen, and Bamby all put out albums last year, and while the first two go in a slightly boring-to-me album-oriented direction, they also all put out a bunch of fab singles

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcEFkqD9cx0

Vybz Kartel & Shenseea, "Panic"

how is this so delightful??

Thanks for thread . Plenty of good stuff already.

Cheers, curmudgeon!

Here's a great example of why I made this thread geographically non-specific:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7JiLfMSJ9I?

DJ Steri × Tii Alexandre × Meryl × TUKS - WOULÉ LA FESS

So this is francophone dembow from Mauritius featuring Meryl, who is Martinican. Not being familiar with any of the Mauritians involved sent me down an incredibly charming Mauritian dembow rabbit hole:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P02cUpQ3ziA

Tii Alexandre & Tipti - Freestyle ft. Wave Empire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0-bGqf2cng

Tii Alexandre & Tipti - C'est BMF ft. TUKS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGw2dq8nNJs

TIPTI ft. Jo’Ey - To Ti Pou Aster

and there's lots more where that came from, and I assume it's all as infectious and fun

I did intend this to be the Caribbean thread, but since I just posted 3 tracks from Mauritius, I'm posting this French banger that I can't figure out where else to post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2U4JiHPoPk

BILOUKI - TCHÉBÉ 2X

getting back on track here's a monster bouyon track from last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW8KrbpTXcI

1T1 ft Théomaa - Bouwery

the Bamby album is packed with gems:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFYXVcRLaDQ

"Telephone"

love that vybz kartel x shenseea song

bookmarked tyvm

yeah Panic is so fun, reminds me of how fresh Toast sounded back when

rob is this stuff mostly youtube-only? or can I actually buy digital files somewhere other than Bandcamp?

I haven't really looked into it tbh. I used to use iTunes to buy this kind of stuff, but I haven't done that in years. Some of this is on major labels (e.g., Meryl, Bamby) so...however you would normally do that should work. DJs must have a way to play this stuff, though idk they might just be streaming it!

oh and fwiw I think everything I've posted is on Qobuz. I'm not sure if you can buy the tracks from them as I've not done that yet

yeah all I've used is Bandcamp for years, and this stuff isn't showing up there mostly, any tips welcome!

xp ah will look into Qobuz, thanks

there's another service that I remember some people recommending for buying afropop tracks in good quality, but I'm blanking on the name...I think it had the number 7 in it?

ok it's called 7digital but in figuring that out I saw a reddit thread warning people not to use it, argh

lol yikes

I tried a few at random and it looks like you can buy files on Qobuz, but I'm not sure if you have to have a subscription

looks like you can

https://www.reddit.com/r/qobuz/comments/ta2zr4/can_i_buy_digital_music_on_qobuz_without_a_paid/

Ugh, I didn't realise this was the Afro-Caribbean thread till now. Hello!

7Digital is where I buy most of the tracks I need when I play out.

oh, is it bad and hated? shit...

hello! was hoping you'd notice this thread :)

I know absolutely nothing of 7digital, I just saw a few redditors saying they paid and then couldn't download, so I wanted to be circumspect in telling sleeve about it

Rob, thank you - the only thing I knew here was Bouwey!

Oh I haven't had a problem with 7Digital in that respect - but sometimes Google Chrome asks if I want to "Keep" the track before it downloads. It is literally the only place I've found that lets me download stuff in club-ready format (I don't trust m4a's) and they have so much on there

I don't trust m4a's

high five

ha dl, I was just about to tell you to listen to Bouwey in particular! def check out Sé Miimii too

this just came up on my shatta playlist, so infectious, WOO WOO, accordion is the secret weapon in a bunch of these tracks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7hy6bTdrVQ

Meryl - EDF Riddim Remix (feat. Danthology)

DenDen is France-French (though also Ivoirian), but this is a nice example of bouyon infecting the broader francophone music world (cf. Theodora's smash "Kongolese sous BBL"), translating it into dreamy pop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BixNB-r0Epo

DenDen - "Padtal"

https://exposedvocals.com/miimii-kds-ignites-bouyons-future-with-se-miimii/#:~:text=On%20her%20latest%20track%2C%20%E2%80%9CS%C3%A9,the%20beat%20slaps%20with%20an

This person is rightfully enthusiastic about Miimii ft Dj Skycee - Sé Miimii, that is in the lead post for this thread.

I am also now catching up on a Rob nominated 2025 dancehall track by Skippa called WYFL. Skippa is doing a late night gig Saturday March 7 in Jessup, Md which is halfway between DC and Baltimore and has a sizable Jamaican community it seems

The WYFL riddim got big and DJ Mac has released a bunch of versions now, including a run of vets like Kartel, Mavado, Mr Vegas, Anthony B, and Buju. Cool as a phenomenon though I think I still like the original best.

Not sure I recommend anything else I've heard from Skippa unfortunately -- that's not a comment on his talent, it's just almost all the riddims are dreary dark piano-led traphall that I've already complained about enough around here.

Ghanaian Shatta Wale I see has also used the WYFL riddim

Jetski is really good, as is a lot of the stuff in this thread already

yeah I love stripped-down minimalist shatta. You might already know these dl? They're all a bit older

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4ci1gCE4BQ

PLL - Maya

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0GWC5HdFWc

Kalash & Maureen - Laptop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUd0kaNF7s0

NATOXIE x BAMBY - BMW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As59PhBFrKQ

Maureen -Tic

I know you know Tic, but if anyone else hasn't heard it, it's a serious classic

Yeah I know Tic and Laptop, big faves. The others I don't. Loving this thread though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn-vwYUo13M

Kybba, J Balvin & Rytikal - I LOVE IT

more impossible to disentangle and fun as hell fusion, though I do think "dancehall" is the best descriptor here

I guess it figures that, like Mauritius, fellow Indian Ocean island La Réunion would also be putting out cool stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gku25G-MrNE

TKS 2G - Whine

Speaking of Mauritius, are you familiar with Joker Kartel?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY1giKiTZfI

I recommend the SEDJEM remix of that track, High Copy. It's really high energy

not until now, thanks! this bangs

happy new tunes friday!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFGVFrBqX0w

Meryl - Click (feat. BlackBoy)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R73WxrPM1YU

Shenseea, Vybz Kartel & Rvssian - Talk To Me Nuh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx7VXtxMdiQ

TKS 2G - Boucan Canot feat. P.L.L.

those are all great, but I remain in a state of happy shock at how rad these Kartel & Shenseea tracks are

I forgot to include this Ayetian track. he was my fave dancehall artist last year, despite sometimes defaulting to boring Tommy Lee Sparta cosplay. He's not doing that here, and the riddim is a breezy and bouncy 80s balearic thing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCJUGIiGxsc

"Whine Fi Mi"

and while I'm posting, here's an older shatta I only recently heard and love:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14GClBV33jQ

Kalash - So Coman

Nice! I put So Coman into one of my mixes a little while back and it is so fun. Love love love this thread. Hopefully I can contribute more at some point

really glad to hear it! and definitely post new or old stuff here, the francophone stuff is very new to me, and the Indian Ocean stuff was literally just youtube rec magic

In that case this is a few years old and another Meryl tune but it is such a banger. I wish the last part went on just a bit longer.

Bébé Conte

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Eehtz8NPQQ

hell yeah that rules, love the drums

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrRs3Gusj2k

Ayetian - Riddle Me Dis

another fantastic Nvttz riddim on this one

https://www.jonathanbogart.net/blog/2026/3/24/2025-favorites-martinique

Jonathan Bogart fave 2025 shatta and some bouyon from Martinique ( he’s also been posting fave African stuff. I think he’s mentioned in past using YouTube to research)

He’s got streaming links on his site to his playlists. He also posts on Bluesky

yeah I follow him on bluesky and was anticipating this. It's funny though, as sympatico as I should be with JB's project, our tastes diverge a lot and his women-only (more or less) approach is imo ultimately limiting; e.g., his Jamaican lists always look like they were beamed in from another planet to me. Still, I will check out the songs I don't know from this and the next one.

Is JA dancehall shaking off its morbid depressive streak?

This is a warm breeze:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLicBMCs6Gk

Armanii - NEW TINGZ

This is less summery but still super fun:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rywk5a0JWOo

Govana & Shakespeare - Mi Seh

The video has one uhhh very interesting vfx, though even more striking is that insane move at 1:40

https://www.jonathanbogart.net/blog/2026/3/31/50-songs-2025

Bogart posted his fave top 50 on his site & bluesky. He's got songs for this thread, dancehall, afropop/afrobeats, Latin etc.

It can be difficult tracking down information about a lot of these artists. And i'm new to a lot of it and still learning. I didn't really think much about Guadeloupe wheb putting this together. I know a bit of Zouk from the 80s and 90s but not much new stuff. Definitely going to need to do some better research if i' going to produce a proper studio mix

As well as a lot of the artists either living in France or identifying as French... as I say, I'm not terribly au fait with how it all works

I 100% sympathize with your last two posts. I am so grateful when people put flag emojis in their youtube descriptions for that reason. I have zero idea how to gain any concrete info about the franco scenes (the anglo ones too these days, though at least there I can rely on preexisting knowledge). Artist bios and the occasional wiki.fr article is about it.

On that note, I had basically forgotten that bouyon was originally from Dominica. But I can tell you that Miimii and 1T1 are from Guadeloupe, so you've been hearing at least some stuff from there.

Haiti is a whole thing I haven't tried to grapple with much. I think there's a lot of compas/kompa influence on shatta, bouyon, and the France-French stuff but I could really use an expert's guidance.

sleeve correctly chided me for not posting this here: ilxors <3 MOLIY

should be of strong interest to any thread residents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQKBr6s0SzQ

MOLIY ft. Yailin La Mas Viral & Theodora – JETSKI (FRIKI)

What is it with the number if songs out this year called Jetski? So far I count this, DJ Tutuss & Meryl, Pedro Sampaio, and Anthony B & Jazzward. Four songs with that title

haha I don't know two of those so I wasn't aware of the jetski-wave

Masicka has a new album out. I've never really totally vibed with him, the odd track here and there aside, but this song is ambitious enough I might have to give it a shot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL3qr5dF3hw

"Oak Tree"

TIL "Jet Ski" by DJ Tutuss & Meryl didn't even come out this year - it's from 2024. So dang, that's my EOY list all out of whack

sick bouyon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9TJcjd7zqc

Theomaa - Wouloo (feat. 1T1)

Yeeeeeahhh this is really cool

it's the Emancipation Day festival on the island, so far I've heard Moliy's "Shake It To The Max", that "lelelele" song, and the fake AI tune (twice already and it's not even 1 pm). plus a ton of other stuff I don't know. as usual

ok 3 times now for the AI song. people visibly love it, sing along, dance, etc

The other night played a 4 hr set of mostly dancehall, shatta, afrobeats, dembow etc to a bar courtyard, so most people were sat down just sitting down, chatting, vibing. But I did have the bouncer come up and fistbump me during WYFL and ask "What you know about this riddim!" which made me very happy for a while, I admit

<3 high five

I'm enjoying the current hype around bouyon. It's exciting, fun music. But I have to admit a lot of what I'm hearing all sounds kind of similar. Anyone out there got some exceptional tunes for me?

Not really tbh. I like the odd track a lot, but maybe a little like amapiano (sorry lol) it's functioning more as a virus infecting other pop scenes for me, and I can't listen to an entire hour of it or w/e. As much as I like, say, Miimii all her songs are def pretty much the same.

This is a little different though. Taking bouyon into a groovy soca direction, shockingly passing the 3-min mark:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCboJ35W9VQ

Shelly & Signal Band - Out Da Group Chat

I'm starting to realize there is some cool stuff going on in Trinidad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XW0Lv_UzwWY

Lady Lava - Matrix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9mfkLcPLGM

Kman 6ixx - Bring It

I posted his^ "Bend Ova" upthread. This one is from last year and is moody/dark but that riddim is weirder than expected.

this Lady Lava is a banger too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LO6E_QlKjg

"Happy Birthday"

Yep. And that video is uh something

Enjoying a lot of these. The Bouyon/Soca crossover of "Group Chat" is good fun. I like "Matrix" a lot ,

Not sure if this has been posted but this is ruling my world

From an EP called fujiBouyon

onoola-sama, DEELA - fêteRock

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HV62T2bs_wM

Unsure how I came across this, but it's also fun. Sounds like another soca/bouyon fusion to me, but no idea really

Suhrawh x Chow Minister - In The Water

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dorkOr3q3Tk

Also great. Again, apologies if I'm just reposting things that have already been posted.

Lejuh - Air Force 1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AUVlX-weVc

I really love this and would be playing it out a lot if not for feeling a bit reticent due to strong repetition of the N-word

Tii Alexandre, N’ken, Lion Fiah, Blaiz Fayah, Jozii, T'jy, Junior, Blackboy, TUKS - Thug Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uJnKet_T5U

I dig that Suh Raw tune, looks like they're from St Vincent, a scene I've never managed to keep up with. Following youtube recs, I like this one too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghGoXBR0T7U

if y'all ever find anything from San Andreas or the Corn Islands, please post!

all I see on YT is this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk66T8HYjok

I will definitely alert you sleeve

I did some searching and found a few things. I think the closest to this thread is a guy called Dirty El Bad Bway who seems to have been active a few years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk66T8HYjok

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVQyhLpZe7Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EBXzH5Ydeg

I couldn't find out anything about him though, so I can't even be that confident he's from the islands

lol sorry I only just saw your previous post lmao

since this is my stealth French music thread:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNLIrkYU8C4

(D)Juno - Don Junio

made a mix from this thread plus one ringer ;)

https://www.mixcloud.com/Forest_Of_No_Return/little-corn-mix/

Excited to hear this sleeve

nice one sleeve

mix is incred imo

<3

Oh gosh - sorry, been waiting for the right time to check this. Don't be afraid to nudge me!

(by "The right time", I mean when I'm not at work)

I’ve been working on a complicated and annoying presentation all day and this mix has been helping keep my spirits up

cool to see "Go!" on your mix sleeve, I like that one a lot too. Unfortunately I didn't like anything else from her ep

I have my big 2026 mega-playlist on shuffle right now and Meryl's "Y'a Blo" just came on, so so good

I like how softening bouyon pushes it toward drum n'bass:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5vLlqvfE8A

DJ SKYCEE & Kima - Caribbean love

also nice from Kima:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nx7DNLjYSs0

Kima x TKS 2G - Chipeur

I swore I already posted this one, but ctrl+f says no. Anyway, I love this riddim (Super Glue) from Weekday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZcL23IU_rI

450 - Bounce

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv9k1S-mLUU

Ding Dong - Arch Yuh Back

damn this goes hard:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOdlW0Jv5Q4

Ronisia - Cuenta ft. Meryl, Shay

sort of halfway between bouyon and shatta, I think you guys will really like this one

Xpost - yes to Meryl from Martinique

Ronisia is Cabo Verdean, based in France. Shay is Belgian but also Tabu Ley Rochereau's granddaughter

just heard in the wild
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgxGL56MdrM

new Shenseea too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGkoTeIQIy0

Both of those feel kind of sluggish to me—though I liked the cat in the Shenseea video—but that's probably because I listened to this right beforehand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UCl0dWwPp4

Skillibeng, Johnny Wonder, Adde Instrumentals - Inna Di Dance

Lyrics might cross my personal threshold into yuck, but I'd be very happy to hear other versions on that riddim

That led me to this year-old, super minimalist track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wd2z4SY3ZdA

Skillibeng, Johnny Wonder, Adde Instrumentals - Ivany

J Bogart just posted this shatta guy, Pusso, from the Seychelles on bsky, good stuff:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfYxUo9mXaQ

"Dans Norty"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXSUPaTi3Qg?

"Balance"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHrYqrrtzv0

Govana x Chronic Law - Feefa

on the secretly this is a French music thread front:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebTfBThtLww

(D)Juno - Tailleur Piranha