- BEST OF 2004

 

 

MR. VEGAS TOPS 2004!!!!

2004 NEW Mexico Reggae Dancehall Charts TOP 50
.
1
Mr. Vegas & Anthony
Pull Up
High Society
2
Elephant Man, Kiprich, Twista, & Young Bloodz
Jook Gal
Atlantic
3
Mr. Vegas
Tamale
In the Streetz
4
Richie Spice
Earth A Run Red
Henfield
5
Cecile
Hot Like We
South Rakkas
6
Tanya Stephens
It's A Pity
Germaican
7
Vybz Kartel
KISSING (Picture This)
Black House
8
Natty King
No Guns To Town
2 Miles
9
TOK
Gal U A Lead
Massibe B
10
Cecile & Carl Henry
Bare As She Dare
High Society
11
Degree
It No Matter
Germaican
12
Beenie Man & Ms. Thing
Dude
Mad House
13
Bounty Killer & Angel Doolas
Gal Turn Me On
Big Yard
14
Baby Cham
Vitamin X
Mad House
15
TOK
Let It Shine
South Rakkas
16
Shaggy & Rik Rok
Your Eyes
Big Yard
17
Elephant Man
Bad Man
Mad House 40/40
18
I-Wayne
Cant Satisfy Her
Loyal Soldier
19
Richie Spice
Marijuana
5th Element
20
Chico
Exchange
Big Yard
21
Tony Matterhorn & Richie Feelings
All About Dancing
357 Records
22
Elephant Man
Burn Bad Mind
Stonelove
23
TOK
Shake Your Body
Don Corleon
24
Mr. Vegas
Hands In The Air
In the Streetz
25
Daville
Sooner Or Later
Black House
26
Lady Saw
Man Is The Least
Mad House
27
Elephant Man
Krazy Hype
H2O
28
Sean Paul
Bounce It Right There
Black House
29
Capleton
I See Them Quaking
2 Miles
30
Baby Cham & Nina Sky
You're Turning Me On
Black Chiney
31
Baby Cham
Hood
Mad House
32
Capleton
Real Hot
South Rakkas
33
Baby Cham Toi
That's How I Ride
Mad House
34
Capleton
Who You Calling Nigger
Black Chiney
35
Mr. Easy
Pull Up
South Rakkas
36
Macka Diamond
Chase Money
Mad House
37
Michael Rose
Kill Off The President
Xterminator
38
Tony Curtis & Future Troubles
Breast Specialist
357 Records
39
Beenie Man & J
Dick
Mad House
40
Capleton
Turn It Up (fire time)
Fire Links
41
Elephant Man
Father Elephant
Black Chiney
42
Kevin Lyttle & Spragga
Last Drop
Atlantic
43
Chuck Fender
I Swear
5th Element
44
Elephant Man
Highty Tighty
Don Corleon
45
Assassin
Girls Gone Wild
H2O
46
Voice Mail
Salsa
Big Yard
47
Kiprich
Senorita
Dem Yute Deh
48
Freddy McGregor & Assassin
Youth Well Cold
Penthouse
49
Vybz Kartel
Tekk
Renissance
50
TOK
No Way Jose
K-Licious
updated Jan. 20, 2005


2004 has come & gone and it is time to take a look back at reggae music for the year. The beginning saw a continuation of 2003's domination of hardcore dancehall music; bashment style. The riddims were extremely fast (up to 120 bpm's and even faster) and one dance-craze succeeded another. Around summer-time a heavy soca element came into the dancehall, as even Stonelove rebuilt a thumpin' calypso riddim and tunes by artists as Rupee and Kevin Lyttle,from other Caribbean islands, were mashing up yard as well as the rest of the globe. Meanwhile in Jamaica a record murder rate since the year 1980, with far over 1000 killings (in a population of only 2.6 million) seemed to cause a severe re-direction of the music for the second half of 2004. All of a sudden, high-quality roots riddims were popping up everywhere. Newcomer I-Wayne probably had THE tune of year in Jamaica with "Can't Satisfy Her" and other rootical newcomers as Fantan Mojah and Mr.Perfect became extremely popular a yard. Even hardcore dancehall producer, Donovan "Vendetta" Bennett produced a sweet roots-riddim entitled DROP LEAF, voicing Germany's Gentleman and Jamaicas Jah Cure. Richard Browne thought, "hey, I did that already a few years ago.", and voiced a slew of further artists on his I BELIEVE as well (remember that TOK track from 2001 or 2002?) and quite a few producers released some kinda tribute to Sir Coxsone Dodd, who passed in 2004. Nuff general info; lets get to New Mexico.

Completely opposing world-wide trends once again, New Mexico crowns

Mister Vegas as
REGGAE-DJ/ARTISTOF THE YEAR 2004

While his tune on the COOLIE DANCE "Pull Up" (featuring the up & coming singer Wayne Anthony) did well across the entire globe, it was right here in New Mexico that the track got requested over & over again, sparking up countless dancehall sessions and kicking them into over-drive. Not only that, Mr.Vegas' "Tamale" was also right-on for the senoritas AND the rude-bwoys, topping the New Mexico Reggae Dancehall Charts as well. A HOT year for Vegas again finally; probably the hottest since 2000. Back in those days it looked like Vegas was bound to be the superstar, rather than Sean Paul, and after the break-up of the Scare Dem Crew a certain Harry Toddler also looked liked HE was heading for stardom, rather than Elephant Man. Remember? Well, 2004 treated the ever-youthful sing-jay quite good again, as he signed to the hip-hop giant Delicious Vinyl and "Pull Up" was covered in Spanish by rappers Cool O and Little John, achieving an incredible mainstream HYPE on the COOLIE DANCE, which also set the huge Ele/Kiprich/Twista/Young Bloodz combination "Jook Gal" into motion. Speaking of Ele: he had a good year again, yet dropped off a little, as some his tunes didn't quite have the incredible quality of earlier years. Still, he came in at #3 amongst the dj's, almost solely responsible for the dance-hype of the past year or two. Baby Cham doesn't have the output of many of his fellow chatters, yet what he does put out is usually top notch. He had a great year in New Mexico, topping the charts with selections on Dave Kelly's PRETTY PRETTY and Black Chiney's KOPA. His "Vitamin S" on the FIESTA also carried over well from 2003. The runner-up spot for Baby Cham therefore; wah wah!!! As far as other dj's go: Vybz Kartel had a fantastic year world-wide and his "K.I.S.S.I.N.G." on the BLACKOUT riddim mashed up NM as well, yet his style is a bit too hardcore for the mainstream out here. No chart-toppers yet. #4 spot for the word-smith from Portmore. Capleton had a good year with great tunes on the WHY WORRY, TUNDA KLAP, KLYMAXX and MAD INSTRUMENTS DANCE . #5 for the man from Islington, St. Mary. Chuck Fender had another great year, and the doctor Beenie Man also did pretty good, yet most of his success carried over from 2003 and the combination with Ms.Thing. Bounty Killer had a TERRIBLE year. He shone on a few collaborations but came across too bitter as an individual. Highlights occurred when he went conscious ("Almighty"). Assassin also improved quite a bit, while Sean Paul and Predator nearly disappeared completely.

 

UPCOMING ARTIST OF 2004:

can only go to I-Wayne, yet in NM where time moves a bit slower than elsewhere he has to share the title with Natty King, whose "Don't Bring Your Guns To Town" from 2003 didn't really take hold in bad-man territory until 04. So congrats to I-Wayne and Natty King. By the way, last year's winner in the category Ms.Thing just released her first album and is currently having her first baby. She'll be out on tour starting in spring.

 

FEMALE ARTIST OF 2004:

in NM is bad-gal Cecile, whose "Hot Like We" on the RED ALERT was massive out our way. Tanya Stephen's "Gangsta Blues" album on Vp got rave reviews everywhere, showcasing her versatility. In NM it was mainly her "It's A Pity" on Germaica's DOCTOR DARLING (which didn't figure in last years top 50 yet) that put her in the runner-up spot. In Jamaica though, the top-a-top female entertainer was veteran Lady Mackerel, who changed her name and her style for 2004 to Macka Diamond. Alicia Keys did a great reggae remix, which in turn was covered nicely by Fiona.

 

LIVE PERFORMER OF 2004 in NM:

was Junior Reid, who gave us plenty of his classics on a slow Sunday night in front of 60 people.

 

 

SINGER OF 2004:

is 5th Element's Richie Spice. His "Earth A Run Red" from 1998 finally sunk into everyone's brain and got followed up with ganja anthems like "Marijuana" and "High Grade In My Chalice". Not so much from either Sanchez or Beres, or George Nooks for that matter, who took this title in previous years. Daville had a good year, as did Anthony Cruz, Nicky B and Mister Easy. Luciano and Bushman also released some great tunes, as did Freddy Mc Gregor and Lukie D. I still miss D.Brown to the max though, don't you?

DANCEHALL RIDDIM OF 2004:

If the COOLIE DANCE wasn't really a 2003 riddim, the choice would be clear, otherwise its hard. South Rakkas' RED ALERT is my top choice, as it ran up & down NM dancehalls and its most serious competitor Dave Kelly's BAD GAL didn't get released until the end of the year. At #3 I put the FRENCH VANILLA aka KRAZY HYPE, one of those typical 120 bpm bulldozer-style Don Corleon typa beats, followed by the more mid-tempo SCOOBAY. At #5 I see the BLACKOUT, at #6 the KOPA and at #7 the TUNDA KLAP. Enough? Although I figured 2003's SALSA & FIESTA into these charts, they don't get to compete here. Otherwise they would be in top 10 among riddims as well.

DANCEHALL PRODUCER OF 2004:

Wow! Very hard one here as so much music came out. Great premieres from labels/new producers as Black House (BLACKOUT riddim), Dem Yute Deh (SPANISH FLY riddim), Mario-C & Tony Matterhorn (SCOOBAY riddim), Renaissance (TUNDA KLAP, STEPZ), H2O (FRENCH VANILLA,SLOW BOUNCE), Black Chiney (KOPA) as well as tuff contributions from plenty of dancehall-veterans like Birch (MILITARY, KLYMAXX), Frenchie (BLUE STEEL), Tony Kelly (GRINDIN, KATANA). Once again no producer topped Donovan Bennett's output though who had his hands on FRENCH VANILLA, COOL FUSION, MAD GUITAR, TIGHTY TIGHTY and SLOW BOUNCE plus more still yet. Dave Kelly managed to top the NM Reggae Dancehall Charts in 2004 with 2 riddims (the FIESTA from 2003 and PRETTY PRETTY), while the BAD GAL reached the #2 spot just in December. After last year's top-scoring CLAPPAS beat, Mr. Dennis "Dow Jones" Shaw hit the jackpot again with his follow-up riddim RED ALERT. The TOK & Cecile tunes were big hits in NM and other tracks were quite popular as well. Therefore a three-way tie between Donovan Bennett, Dave Kelly and Dennis Shaw: big ups & keep the riddims & the hits coming !!!

ROOTS RIDDIM OF 2004:

Plenty of contenders here as well. How bout Don Bennett's DROP LEAF, Mr.Tipsy's MARCUS GARVEY, or Lion Paw's 9-11 ? Or maybe Heartical's DUB FIRE/PROMISED LAND, Digital B's FOREVER LOVING JAH, or Gibbo's HARD TIMES? In NM the top riddim was 5th Element's 5TH ELEMENT/I-SWEAR selection though, with top tunes from Richie Spice, Chuck Fender and Sizzla.

Have a blessed 2005 and please enjoy and support the music.

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