Riddimental - Unda Wata Riddim
Contemporary listeners of Caribbean music are used to seeing and hearing collaborations between Dancehall and Soca artists (not to mention African artists). But in 1999, these kind of collabs were infrequent and when they did occur were often a bit off a curiosity. So, the idea that a big, big, big Dancehall riddim would drop and one of the best songs on it would feature a Soca artist? No sah. Nope. Not. Gonna. Happen. Until the Unda Wata Riddim.
Produced by the great Tony ‘CD’ Kelly, the Unda Wata riddim achieves the unique feat of sounding raw and stripped down (drums, bass, various sound effects) while still feeling full and lush. I mean this riddim is tuff…real tuff…and is an invitation to move your waistline. You’re just being greedy if you want more out of a riddim than what the Unda Wata provides.
But what really, really makes it special—what really takes it from being a good riddim to an all-time classic—is the DJs and artists who voiced it…all killer…featuring the likes of Buju, Beenie, Mr. Vegas and General Degree. I mean, every word and sound that comes out of Buju’s mouth is sweet—that man rides a riddim like a bike; ‘Who Am I’ is, in my opinion, the only other time an in his prime Beenie Man ever sounded sweeter on a riddim (“Kingston hot hot hot, man from Tivoli and Rema and Jungle a fire gun shot shot shot, and if yu pass Spanglers Corner Rude Bwoy yu haffi get flat flat flat…” Geez.); Mr. Vegas was at his melodic singjay best; and an always underrated General Degree employs his signature humour and playfulness to great effect (“wah mek yu think woman luv fi employ we, dem get the best and dem always enjoy we, cause man a big man, nuh gwaan bwoy-ee bwoy-ee…”).
And then there’s Machel. Look, I first heard the Unda Wata riddim when MuchMusic’s Da Mix/X-Tendamix (shout out Master-T!) premiered the Dancehall Magnificent 7 - Unda Wata Medley video. And I didn’t expect much when I saw Machel Montano was part of the lineup…in my head I was on some “he’s a Soca artist what the fuck is he doing here….”…and then that chorus dropped…
”Big Fat Fish, Raining From The Sky, Making Man Dem Cry, And Let Off A Sigh”…
whew…Bare Niceness.
20 years later, aside from being able to reliably mash up any dance filled with my Caribbean peoples, the Unda Wata Riddim’s legacy is this: it was one of the first big steps towards a Caribbean musical landscape where you can hear Machel, Konshens, Demarco, Kes, Patrice Roberts and Charly Black doing this, Shenseea and Kes doing that, Machel and Ding Dong come in like so, Denise Belfon getting rootical, or Spice and Destra causing Trouble. It was and is a step towards the Caribbean actually (and finally) living up to the ‘All Ah We Is One’ mantra I hear all the time, the kind of unifying idea for the people of the region that too often is more vision than reality.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Toronto (Scarborough baby!) Gangalee founder and editor Kevin Reigh is an experienced arts administrator, writer/poet, sometime musician, and DJ who has released one album (Ground Provisions) and two volumes of poetry (Love Universes All Things and Bedroom Bully). Kevin has collaborated with numerous musicians and dancers throughout the Greater Toronto Area and has had his work included in T-Dot Griots: An Anthology of Toronto’s Black Storytellers as well as Paranoid Jack’s album The Last of the Funky Cyborgs and most recently in Pree magazine...visit kevinreigh.com for more about Kevin.