A rhythm, riddim in reggae vocabulary, is a rhythm pattern. It's basically a bassline and usually a special drumpattern is used with the bassline. Sometimes a short melody is associated with the riddim, but the main ingredient is the bassline. In other musical contexts it would be called a groove, and that pretty well sums up what it is about.
Most riddims have originated from a hit tune, and usually the riddim has been given the name of that tune.
The most versioned riddims are more than 20 years old and originated at Coxone Dodds legendary Studio One studio, Brentford Road, Kingston. Many producers has made more than one classic riddim, but none can compete with the Studio One output from the late sixties and early seventies. Versions of "Moving Away", "Pretty Looks", "Nanny Goat", "Drum Song", "Jah Shakey", "Full Up", "Real Rock", "Skylarking" and "Joe Frazier" are riddims you'll hear your favorite soundsystem play in any session.
There is an continuously ongoing debate about the usage of these old riddims. Older producers and artists criticizes the current music business for exploitation of the old riddims and for lack of originality and real creativity. It's is easy to make a version of "Real Rock" with today's computers and samplers, but it's much more difficult to create
something new. Current artist claim that it is an inheritance and a tradition that they are proud of. Using the classic riddims for inspiration is a way of paying respect to those who originated them. The originators themselves would prefer to be paid cash, which mostly they weren't when the original was released.
And it's true that most Jamaican producers relies heavily on versions. Jamaican music industry is, and has always been, a business with a lot of followers and very few leaders.
Despite this fact Jamaican music has to be the most inventive in the world. Styles and fashions "buss big" one month and "a dead stock" the next. With such an incredible pace, originality is the key to success. As this suggests there is a lot of new riddims built, and it's often these that are the biggest sellers. The last few years rapid development of ragga has spawned a string of great riddims. Some of them will forgotten , but a few will surely become classics, to be recycled by the next of generation producers.
As mentioned, styles and fashions changes, but old riddims never die. If you wait long enough your old favorites will sooner or later be the hottest thing "inna dance". "Cherry Oh Baby" returned big in the early nineties, with versions and riddim albums from most producers. Even Eric Donaldson made recut of his old hit tune (on Bobby Digital's version if I remember correctly). The biggest riddim in recent times is, believe it or not, recuts of The Abyssinians ancient "Satta-A-Masagana, of which most producers have cut nuff verions of in recent times.
If you are familiar with copyright laws in the way it works in for example in the States, you might wonder how this works in Jamaica. It doesn't, and sadly there is not enough space to plunge into how the Jamaican music industry handles financial and legal matters. But it is a intriguing subject, believe me!
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