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.

I found out so much great music through his top 2025 songs. Really is a proper head

2024 songs, i should say

Super interesting comp of St. Lucia, Dominica & Guadeloupe riddims on Soundway: https://soundwayrecords.bandcamp.com/album/road-fever-new-generation-carnival-riddims-from-st-lucia-and-dominica

"Road Fever draws together instrumental Dennery Segment and Bouyon riddims originally made for vocalists, presented for the first time as stand alone pieces of music." Covers 2012-24 or so. As a non-DJ, instrumental riddim comps tend to be more educational than enjoyable, but this is definitely worth checking out.

Instrumental riddim comps tend to be divisive. I really like them, personally, because I'm as interested in the productions as I am the vocals (possibly even more!)

I absolutely had you in mind when I posted that :)

I can def get into the production as its own thing, but without vocals it feels...anti-social? I think I need the sense of a personality, a scene, or a culture to get really into it. Ideally the comps would give you both. Showcase style comps were pretty common in the golden age of reggae reissues.

I can't really hang w/this one but I very much welcome any/all Bandcamp links itt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3amqpWps7Ow

Miimii KDS - Coming

Absolutely no new ground being broken on this, but it's so fun