ORIGINAL COPY RIDDIM

Some singers can’t rock a Riddim no matter who rolls out the riffs. Recording studio managers’ haffi PUMP UP the Auto-tune to maximum effect in order to camouflage the genuine lack of SKILLZ. Of course I am talking out loud here about OTHER musical GENRES. Hip Hop maybe? Possibly R&B? Yeah I’m pointing the FINGER at both of them. Do you remember when R&B used to stand for rhythm and blues? Where is the blues? Where is the human touch?
Dancehall fans beware ‘cause that Auto-tune effect shit is starting to creep its way in with certain JA production teams. (If not all) What bothers me about it…is these Dancehall talents can sing on the drop of a dime so they don’t NEED it. Serani or Honorable Munga I’m naming you.
I wonder if twenty years from now if I spin Strictly The Best 43, my eyes will get misty with nostalgia. “Auto-tune…wow that was so 2010! Do you remember that? Those were the good daze!”

Kinda like how I get all warm and fuzzy inside when I hear that Casio powered Rub-A-Dub stuff of the early Eighties.

Now in the wonderful world of Reggae Dancehall certain singers don’t think twice about rocking the same Riddim. Huge talent seems to come natural here. Talent also seems to grow in abundance. Has to be something in the water. Or the weed.



The year of release is 1996. The label is none other than VP Records. Original Copy is pure ROOTS VIBE. Original Copy has organic bass by ROBBIE thumping its’ way around SLY’s acoustic drum beats. Out of nowhere comes this smooth sax riff. I think courtesy of Lloyde Willis. You don’t notice it at first. This is all than electronically recorded by Stuart Brown for AFRICAN STAR.

CAPLETON voices not one but three tunes here! He starts off the proceedings with PURE of heart Fyah vibes with the BIG tune CHANT MI SONG. Inspector Grizzle (who?) and African work their stuff on the same Riddim before CAPLETON returns with an extended dubbed version of Chant Mi Song. Not a true dub but the extra reverb and echo do add to that rootsy feel. Very cool vibes. How do you follow the best tune on the disc? With another hard burning tune from the Fyahman. No Carbon Copy is just what it says. Its’ voiced over a different Riddim! Is it called PROGRAM? The rest of disc alternates between these two Riddims. A younger JAH CURE takes on the Original Copy Riddim and makes magic. African shows up again for track seven but it’s the Military Man tune that follows it that has my undivided attention. MILITARY MAN is definitely under recorded. Why? He is a strong chanter with a big voice and heart to match. Another name I never heard of before, Granty Roots, and Determine finish out the disc. The more I hear from Determine… the more I like.

I wouldn’t call this a straight Riddim disc then. In fact VP Records were a few years away before starting up the RIDDIM DRIVEN series. I guess you could call ORIGINAL COPY a prototype.