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LISTEN / RIDDIMS / EMBEDS

The sounds of the island — gathered in one place

Reggae, ska, rocksteady, dub and dancehall. A growing collection of the riddims, voices and recordings that carry Jamaica’s music — all in one place.

FROM THE ARCHIVE

Bob Marley & The Wailers — Three Little Birds (official)

YOUTUBE · rights discovery only

Official YouTube upload; embedded as reference.

Transcript pending ingestion.

Source link ↗

The Maytals — Pressure Drop (official audio)

YOUTUBE · rights discovery only

Official YouTube upload; embedded as reference.

Transcript pending ingestion.

Source link ↗

Jimmy Cliff — The Harder They Come (official)

YOUTUBE · rights discovery only

Official YouTube upload; embedded as reference.

Transcript pending ingestion.

Source link ↗

Wayne Smith — Under Mi Sleng Teng (Jammy's, 1985)

YOUTUBE · rights discovery only

Official YouTube upload; embedded as reference.

View transcript · 41 lines

Automatic captions — a machine draft pending editorial review.

  1. 0:02[Music]
  2. 0:28my don't Wan to go
  3. 0:31my don't Wan to go Insan my brain no coce I don't Wan I do
  4. 0:35Insan my brain no coce I don't Wan I do
  5. 0:35Insan my brain no coce I don't Wan I do n't Wan Go
  6. 0:37n't Wan Go
  7. 0:37n't Wan Go [Music]
  8. 0:44[Music]
  9. 0:51[Music] inse and m like
  10. 0:55inse and m like
  11. 0:55inse and m like humanood mouth and of
  12. 0:58humanood mouth and of
  13. 0:58humanood mouth and of myse the air
  14. 1:01myse the air
  15. 1:01myse the air [Music]
  16. 1:44[Music]
  17. 1:44[Music] Myin
  18. 1:47Myin
  19. 1:47Myin [Music]
  20. 1:50[Music]
  21. 1:50[Music] Myin and moving like a
  22. 1:54Myin and moving like a
  23. 1:54Myin and moving like a human
  24. 1:58M
  25. 2:02[Music]
  26. 2:26[Music] putin I don't I don't
  27. 2:31putin I don't I don't
  28. 2:31putin I don't I don't my brain no I don't I don't go
  29. 2:38oh
  30. 2:41oh Myin
  31. 2:44Myin
  32. 2:44Myin my
  33. 2:48Myin
  34. 2:50Myin the give to
  35. 2:54the give to
  36. 2:54the give to neb
  37. 2:56neb
  38. 2:56neb the to my neighbor
  39. 3:03and like a
  40. 3:07[Music]
  41. 3:18[Music] human
Source link ↗

Sister Nancy — Bam Bam (Official Audio)

YOUTUBE · rights discovery only

Official YouTube upload (channel: VP Records); embedded as reference.

Transcript pending ingestion.

Source link ↗

Millie Small — My Boy Lollipop (official audio)

YOUTUBE · rights discovery only

Official YouTube audio supplied to YouTube by Universal Music Group; embedded as reference.

Transcript pending ingestion.

Source link ↗

Marcia Griffiths — Electric Boogie (The Electric Slide) (Official Video)

YOUTUBE · rights discovery only

Official YouTube upload (channel: MarciaGriffiths); embedded as reference.

Transcript pending ingestion.

Source link ↗

Desmond Dekker & The Aces — Israelites (Official Audio)

YOUTUBE · rights discovery only

Official YouTube upload (channel: Trojan Records Official); embedded as reference.

View transcript · 16 lines

Automatic captions — a machine draft pending editorial review.

  1. 0:00Who knows, love in my company should
  2. 0:04Who knows, love in my company should only smooth over that the PP
  3. 0:18and this provides a monistic way to think about every
  4. 0:22and this provides a monistic way to think about every attractive animal that lives,
  5. 0:33although the hottest waters of the day,
  6. 0:44maximum
  7. 0:47maximum to your account,
  8. 0:49to your account,
  9. 0:49to your account, origin, you gave me
  10. 1:30yes
  11. 1:36and more people who dance, my water laws give me
  12. 1:40and more people who dance, my water laws give me the day,
  13. 1:53well
  14. 2:00I'm
  15. 2:03I'm afraid not
  16. 2:20life
Source link ↗

RIDDIMS & RHYTHM

From drum feel to digital riddims.

Learning paths that teach the rhythms — each becomes a fully sourced lesson with official embeds.

Dancehall and the digital turn

Sleng Teng and the digital shockwave

The widely told story of a Casio keyboard preset becoming the foundation of a new digital dancehall era — followed here as a learning path, with every claim held to full citation before it publishes as fact.

digital bass patternkeyboard preset folklorerapid versioningsound-system circulation
  • How a small machine changed studio economics.
  • Why one instrumental could become many competing songs.
  • How selectors, producers and artists moved a riddim through dances.
Credit artists, producer, studio, keyboard model, label, release metadata and later versions through sourced records.

Rocksteady, reggae and dub

One drop, rockers and steppers

A listening guide to the drum-feel differences between one drop, rockers and steppers — taught with official, rights-cleared embeds rather than unlicensed uploads.

kick placementsnare cross-stickbass emphasisdub space
  • How drum feel changes the emotional weight of a song.
  • How dub engineers made the rhythm section feel architectural.
  • How learners can hear groove without needing a copyrighted upload here.
Use official recordings, licensed educational stems or platform embeds with visible attribution.

Dancehall and soundsystem culture

Juggling: many songs on one beat

Explains the difference between a single song and a juggling set where selectors compare many voices over the same riddim or related versions.

version cultureselector comparisonvoicing sessionscrowd response
  • Why the same beat can carry love songs, boasts, warnings and jokes.
  • How audiences learn to compare flow, melody, lyrics and timing.
  • How a riddim becomes a social arena rather than just an instrumental.
Each song version needs its own artist, writer, producer, label and platform/source attribution.