Every week resident FADER selector Eddie STATS runs through dancehall riddims and other artifacts from the ghetto archipelago.

This week I wanted to shine a light on the Freestyle riddim, the extremely stripped-down soundtrack to Busy Signal’s current 45 "Cool Baby" along with a riddim run of Bobby Konder’s "Go Go" riddim. "Go Go" has been playing in the juggling for some months now--I think ex-FADER editor Nick Catchdubs put me up on it back around New Years--but it fit not only rhythmically but conceptually (freestyle, go-go— get it? If there was a hi-NRG riddim I would have thrown that in, too). At the end I tacked on one extra Collie Buddz tune on 2006’s Sidewalk University riddim (if you need justification, see the Collie Buddz clause established in Ghetto Palms #2).

Freestyle/Go Go blend:
“Freestyle” Riddim:
Busy Signal, “Cool Baby”
Busy Signal, “Caan Beat We”
Bling Dawg, “Jamaica”

That’s all three tunes on the riddim--according to my sources, that’s all the murda she done wrote. As was already pointed out, this is minimal dancehall—riddims that Carl Craig and fools like that would approve of. It’s practically begging for a genre name to be coined but "minimalist" will do for the moment. Bling Dawg puts it to good work on "Jamaica" but this is clearly a Busy Signal vehicle, a teaser for his album which is meant to drop late summer, and which, even if it’s just a round up of his recent 45s, is already making my favorite LPs of '08 list.

"Go Go" Riddim:
Vegas, “Hottie”
Pompatay, "Good Good"
Dr. Evil, "Husslin"
Burro Banton, "Cross The Board"
Richie Feelings, "Where De Wife"
Collie Buddz, "Rise It"

Vegas has been the owner fi the yard lately, "Mus Come a Road" just perpetuating the crazy comeback roll he started with "Taxifare" and "Hot Fuk" almost two years ago. "Hottie" is one more link in the chain and possibly the strongest tune on the "Go Go" although there’s a slew of them. Most notable are a version from a new female deejay named Pompatay, about whom I know exactly zero and "Husslin" from Dr. Evil aka Leftside from Leftside and Esco, the first one from his alter ego that you can really get behind in a club as opposed to just buggin out on in a weed-smoke filled record shop.

"Sidewalk University" Riddim:
Collie Buddz, "Wild Out"


Download: Ghetto Palms: Freestyle & Go Go Blend