SEAN PAUL KILLS IT FOR 2003 !!!

2003 NEW Mexico Reggae Dancehall Charts TOP 50 . 1 Sean Paul Get Busy 40/40/VP 2 S. Paul & Busta Gimme the Light RX VP 3 Anthony B & Seed Water Pumpee Germaican 4 Sean Paul & Sasha I'm Still in Love Old To New 5 Sanchez Frenzy Joe Frazier 6 Dr. Ring Ding Doctors Darling Germaican 7 Sanchez War Joe Frazier 8 Crystal Axe Got to be Strong Germaican 9 Sean Paul Like Glue K-Licious 10 Ms. Thing Get That Money Mad House 11 Baby Cham Can't Stop Us Now Mad House 12 Capleton & David House Clappin' South Rakkas 13 S. Paul, C. Clan, & F. Scoop Get Busy Remix Atlantic 14 Capleton Baghdad Stonelove 15 Elephant Man Genie Dance High Society 16 TOK & Beenie Man Bring It On South Rakkas 17 J Cute Mad House 18 Sanchez World Peace Joe Frazier 19 W. Wonder, LL Cool J, & Duches No Letting Go Remix VP 20 Sizzla Thank You Mama Digital B/VP 21 Shaggy, W. Smith, S. Paul, B&T Gold Hey Sexy Lady Big Yard 22 TOK Unknown Language High Society 23 Wayne Marshall All Night Long Stonelove 24 Buju Banton One to One Digital B 25 Sean Paul Shake That Thing Black Shadow 26 Elephant Man Pon Di River Q45 27 Queen Paula Signal Di John RMC 28 Bounty Killer Plenty Gal Stonelove 29 Baby Cham Bad Mind Mad House 30 Beenie Man & Barington Murderation Jah Life 31 Missy, Capleton, & Sizzla Work It Remix RMC 32 Elephant Man Jamaican Girls Stonelove 33 Bounty Killer Raging Storm 40/40 34 Cecile Bring The Money Stonelove 35 Sean Paul Everblazing 40/40 36 TIA & Danny English What up Poppi Big Yard 37 Cecile Give It To Me High Society 38 Sizzla Pure Love Germaican 39 Hawkeye Somebody High Society 40 Wayne Marshall Phat Infinite High Society 41 Lehbanchuleh Mama Stonecold 42 Vybez Cartel Sweet to the Belly Blaxxx 43 Mr. Vegas, Alozade, H.P. Under Mi Sensi South Rakkas 44 Chico Have Your Own Mad House 45 Sean Paul Get Wid It Blaxxx 46 Bounty Killer Yuh Gwan High Society 47 Predator Nah No Head Don Corleon 48 Elephant Man Signal Di Plane VP 49 Pickney Talk South Rakkas 50 W. Wonder & Suprize Enemies Black Shadow updated Jan. 10, 2004

Yow! Another year has come and gone, as it is time to look back at what reggae had to offer in 2003. Remember that this chart is based on what got played how many times on BROTHERHOOD SOUND SYSTEM and REGGAE RUNNINS radio. It would be unfair & unrealistic to include commercial radio-play as certain tunes got included on mainstream-stations' heavy rotation, which pretty much means that they ran up to 50 (!!!) times per day. BROTHERHOOD and REGGAE RUNNINS only have the opportunity to run tunes once a week, so you can see the discrepancy.

Sean Paul, nonetheless, killed 2003, even on our charts. His album "Dutty Cup" has gone triple platinum (over 3 million copies sold), while newer material like "Baby Boy" featuring r&b superstar Beyonce has the potential to increase Sean's popularity even further. On top of that, Mr.Dutty Cup has remained true to his roots, voicing excellent tunes on most of the hottest Jamaican dancehall riddims like TAI CHI, MASTERPIECE, EGYPTIAN, SURPRIZE, SEXY LADY, COOLIE DANCE, HYDRO, GALLOP, and the list goes on and on.Nearly everything he touched in 2003 turned to gold, lifting him way above the par of the chatter of the average Jamaican dj. Sean Paul has 8 tunes on this top 50, easily making him dj/artist of the year in New Mexico. "Get Busy" became the most requested tune in our 11 years in the dancehall arena, getting an enormous 56 rotations on our outlets. Although recorded in 2002, Sean's combination with Busta Rhymes, as well as "Like Glue" did not really achieve much of a breakthrough until 2003. They are therefore included here. Most other tunes are from 2003. Sean Paul's streak even managed to top that of Elephant Man, our runner-up in the dj/artist of the year category. Ele by no means lost his touch/dropped off , as compared to 2002 & 2001, when he was our champion. Sean simply outdid him. Elephant Man managed to bring back niceness inna di dance. Tons of dances were created after his tunes and vice versa: "Pon Di River", "Signal Di Plane", "Blaze", "Egyptian Dance" and "Genie Dance" just to name a few. This marked a return of good times & enjoyment in the Jamaican dancehalls: putting the focus back on the dance & away from the posturing/posing, so go deh Ele! Still:

DJ/ARTIST OF THE YEAR: SEAN PAUL

The prophet Capleton had a good year in NM , topping our charts with 2 different tunes, as did Wayne Wonder, whose remix on the DIWALI with LL Cool J and Duchess enjoyed enormous commercial success. Wayne may have made SINGER OF THE YEAR if it hadn't been for Sanchez, who managed to get 3 different songs in our top 20 alone! Congrats go out to Sanchez D. SINGER OF THE YEAR: SANCHEZ.

UPCOMING DJ OF THE YEAR had many contenders, as 2003 saw a number of rising dancehall stars establish themselves on the scene. Predator had a massive year, starting the whole"Sick Head/Head No Good" trend a yard. Vybez Cartel also cut a number of wicked bad-man and x-rated tunes before he ruined much of his reputation at Sting 2003 on December 27th, where he boxed Ninjaman at a clash in front of over 30 000 amazed patrons. No other newcomer enjoyed as much success in NM as did Ms.Thing. She managed to top our charts on Dave Kelly's MI NUH KNOW riddim and is currently holding the pole position alongside Beenie Man for January 2004.

UPCOMING DJ OF THE YEAR: MISS THING

Many other, new female artists also managed to shine, as Storm and Queen Paula. A good number of the established artists also put out excellent material. Lady Saw had a good year, as did Tanya Stephens and Cecile. Sasha, aka Duchess managed to get on some of the biggest tracks in 2003 though, so she mek it.

FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR: SASHA aka DUCHESS

New Mexico got spoiled with an enormous amount of live artists in 2003, yet patrons did not seem to appreciate it. Artists as Luciano and Morgan Heritage played in front of "crowds" of 100 or less (!!!), while others as Sizzla, Capleton & Cocoa Tea, and Beres & Marcia & Wailing Souls did not nearly draw what they deserve/are used to either. In both Santa Fe and Albuquerque, the reggae massive hardly ever came out in full force, even though many of these artists performed for the first time in NM, making the events special and different from the regular acts that seem to pass thru nearly every year. I'm thinking about the Beenies and the Bujus, as well as about the Wailers and the Burning Spears. These artists seemed to draw the actual crowds making me wonder if New Mexico is even ready to support ANYTHING that's fresh in this neck of the woods. And dont tell me nobody has ever heard of Capleton before. Not one artist came even close to performing LIVE as well as Beres Hammond did. Although the crowd was sparse, he belted out hit after hit after hit.

LIVE PERFORMER/VOCALIST OF THE YEAR: BERES HAMMOND

DANCEHALL PRODUCER OF THE YEAR would normally go to Dave Kelly, if the chart-topping FIESTA riddim had taken hold in NM a little earlier. MI NUH KNOW was not very successful in JA, yet it was HUGE here, elevating the Mad House camp's status. While none of Donovan "Don Corleon" Bennett's beats were that big in NM, they were massive a yard&abroad. He was responsible for works such as MAD ANTS, EGYPTIAN and GOOD TO GO, all of which are dancehall masterpieces. Richard Browne had a slow year. After a raging start with TAI CHI, nothing really followed to reach our area. Lenky Marsden hit it big-time with the success of the DIWALI, which got licensed by a number of hip-hop labels. He also created a top-a-top follow-up in late 2002 called MASTERPIECE, which did quite well out here. Newer 2003 riddims as TIMETRAVEL and DREAMWEAVER were also good, yet they did not really work on the dancefloors. More of a cruisin' type of thing: tunes to bump in your ride. Jeremy Harding is a producer I truly miss on the dancehall circuit, yet he apparently has his hands full, managing Sean Paul's career. Scatta's COOLIE DANCE was another red-hot beat, yet between Don Corleon's onslaught of hot riddims and Dave Kelly's success in NM its a toss-up:

DANCEHALL PRODUCER OF THE YEAR: DAVE KELLY and DONOVAN BENNETT

DANCEHALL RIDDIM OF THE YEAR also had enough competitors, ranging from BAGHDAD (basically a yardie re-make of the r&b beat SNAKE) to the rocking premiere CLAPPAS on South Rakkas. Yet no other beat was as popular out here as MI NUH KNOW, launching the careers of two new artists: Ms. Thing & J.

DANCEHALL RIDDIM OF THE YEAR: MI NUH KNOW.

After a weak 2002, roots reggae gained some popularity again. Germaican Records' DOCTORS DARLING remained popular throughout the entire year. Played by Germany's super-reggae band SEEED, it is a re-creation of the NIGHT NURSE. Anthony B & Seeed killed it everytime we gave it a rotation, as did Muenster's Dr.Ring Ding and female sensation Crystal Axe. Jah Life's HOT MILK was also strong with nuff good tunes from Beenie & Barrington, as well as a whole heapa veterans whom it was a blessing to hear once again: I'm thinking of the likes of Flourgon, Louie Rankin', Frankie Paul and Carlton Livingston. Still: no-one could touch DOCTORS DARLING.

ROOTS RIDDIM OF THE YEAR: DOCTORS DARLING.

All in all it was a great year for reggae accross the globe. Through the mainstream success of artists as Sean Paul, Wayne Wonder, Elephant Man and Wayne Marshall, a huge amount of other people got exposed to our music. Hip-hop sessions seem unable to exist without featuring a good, healthy peppering of dancehall tunes anymore, while Ele, Sean Paul and crew are running up and down the FM and the video channels. The danger in this is that the hip-hop industry may just use dancehall reggae to give it a much needed booster-shot, while it is not willing to do anything to help dancehall music prosper. In NM I see mainly hip-hop dj's and stations benefiting off Dutty Cup's success, while us reggae folks are still struggling along. Yet there are encouraging signs, as the public's approval & acceptance of hardcore Jamaican dancehall beats as DIWALI and BUZZ. This clearly shows that the people are hungry for something REAL, rather than the watered-down reggae-hip hop crossover approach, which may also explain the failed attempts in the 1990's to bring artists as Shabba and Louie Rankin into the mainstream's fold. The people want the real-deal and dancehall reggae is it !!! In its pure, hardcore and unadulterated form. Lets see what the future holds. Only time will tell.

Blessings for 2004