Dancehall - where to start?

i wanna know what the best things to get are too. i have some albums - some buju ones which i love, as well as some beenie man ones, and some mid 90s ragga comps, but ive only recently (i dont know why its only now) really started to love dancehall as a genre beyond a few select artists/songs. any other suggestions?

also what is the diff between ragga ragga ragga and Biggest Ragga Dancehall Anthems? should i get both comps?

The difference is basically the time of year they are released (RRR mid-year, BRDA end-of-year.) I generally prefer the latter (2 discs, just about the same price) but there are some great discs in the former series (16 and 2003 are both excellent.)

Start with Dancehall 101 on VP.

Yes Ragga Ragga Ragga 16 (from 2002) is great and underrated - I listen to it more than 2003 now. "Drive By", Empty The Clip" and "Dem Running Out" are like an awesome trilogy of chilly evil dancehall madness.

so there isnt much overlap between the two comps im guessing?

is there a list or canon of 'essential' or plain great dancehall albums?

not typically a genre for albums but cham's "ghetto story" is a great recent one. also super cat "don dada", shabba ranks "as raw as ever", yellowman "nobody move nobody get hurt"

thanks amon.

id add til shiloh to that list too...

"so there isnt much overlap between the two comps im guessing?"

Not really.

Amon OTM basically about albums, but these are all good:

Cutty Ranks The Stopper and Six Million Ways To Die
Bounty Killer Down In The Ghetto
The first Elephant Man record
The second Ward 21 record
Capleton More Fire
Sizzla Rise To The Occassion, Black Women & Child, Real Life
That double disc Beenie Man collection on VP is pure fire
Tony Rebel If Jah

There's a bunch more, but that should start you off well.

vybz kartel and lady saw have decent albums

Hey Alex,

That Beenie is this one??

http://www.amazon.com/Best-Beenie-Man-Collectors/dp/B0000508EW/ref=pd_bbs_7/105-7571552-3226825?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1185916119&sr=8-7

shabba ranks "as raw as ever"

^^ great record

Confounded, yes it is. There are similar 40 track Bounty Killer and Shabba on VP btw. Those are completely worthwhile as well obv.

Alex I'm glad someone else checks for Rise to the Occasion.

Yeah I really like the sequel Soul Deep too. Don Corleon productions are always alright by me.

Sizzla's release schedule is practically Muslimgauze-esque heh.

yeah that's why i've kinda avoided him

Well that's crazy. He's probably the greatest dancehall singer/singjay/deejay of the last decade or so.

acid mothers sizzla

There's a new Sizzla album on Greensleeves with production by In Tha Streetz - I'm intrigued to hear it, could be pretty party-flavoured I'd think?

i got the last two vybz albums but they seem really really hit and miss. im not actually sure whats the good stuff. i like tight pussy gal though.

Tim I haven't heard that one, but the previous Greensleeves one over Jammy riddims is quite good.

The Vybz records are consistent, but I find them (or him) pretty one note so after 80 minutes I get kind of exhausted. He works better on one-riddim/mixes/comps for me.

Hmm Allmusic makes I-Space sound a bit too worthy actually:

"If you know a little something about Sizzla, it's probably that he clogs the reggae pipeline with an excessive amount of releases, even by dancehall's standards. Good news, then, that I-Space is top-shelf with plenty of righteous music from the studios of In the Streetz and Big Yard and none of the slack, cash-in tracks where the falsetto warrior freely drops the "F" bomb. Instead, the massive Jamaican hit "Really and Truly" sets the tone right from the beginning with positive lyrics that praise Jah Rastafari while nyahbinghi drums thump out the slow roots riddim. "Irresistible" is the more modern-sounding roots highlight of the album, with the empowering "Chant Dem Down" running a very close second. The quality doesn't drop as songs of revolution give way to ballads of devotion, all with a full band and the sweet harmonies of Sizzla's backup singers. The exception to the rule, "Put the People Interest First," closes the album as a lone acoustic guitar accompanies a singer who communicates hope and frustration in a risky, naked setting. There's a moment toward the end of the song where Sizzla seems like he's going to explode with emotion and yet he just keeps it together, leaving the listener exhausted. It's this kind of performance that makes some fans declare his more street and explicit output as "talent wasted." They've got a point, but if he needs to exorcise that side on an avalanche of singles and riddim collections to get to gold like this, so be it."

you can hear some of it here

I should ignore that reviewer though. Every album review is devoted to deploring slackness and praising righteousness - he describes one Sizzla album as "too Babylon". I expect he lives in Connecticut.

i couldn't remember what year was recommended above but i ended up getting anthems 2001 comp. pretty good overall, the mr. vegas tracks esp.

2000 is probably my favorite of the Anthems although up until 2003 they are definitely all pretty excellent (post-2003 they start to slip slightly.)

I just listened to the first Elephant Man album and while it's good, it's not as stellar as I remember it being. Still worth totally if only for "Replacement Killer" (probably my single favorite Ele song) and "One More (Start A War)" w/ Ward 21 (which are the first and last track respectively which is always a good track sequence if you want people to think your album is better than it actually is.)

I also re-listened to Rise to the Occassion and it's even better than I remembered it being.

Did anybody hereabouts listen to those four King Jammy's 2CD Selectors Choice compilations VP put out last year? I don't pay much attention to dancehall at all, but I liked those a lot.