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Old School Dancehall
Artists
Old School Dancehall
Ninjaman
2013
·
1 album
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2
/5
Genres
Flex Dance Music
Flex Dance Music (often abbreviated FDM) is a high-energy, battle-ready club sound created to accompany the Brooklyn street-dance style known as flexing. Built for showcases and one-on-one battles, the music emphasizes sudden drops, hollow spaces, and explosive percussive hits that mirror the dance’s bone-breaking, pausing, and gliding techniques. Rhythmically it draws heavily from dancehall while absorbing elements from East Coast club music, trap, and grime. Expect chopped vocal calls, airhorns, sirens, spin-backs, and subby 808s arranged in stark, stop–start patterns. Melodic content tends to be minimal and tense; the groove does the storytelling so dancers can punctuate the silence with dramatic movement.
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Jungle
Jungle is a UK-born electronic music style defined by rapid, chopped breakbeats, heavy sub‑bass, and a deep dialogue with Jamaican sound‑system culture. Typical tempos sit around 155–170 BPM, with intensely syncopated drum programming that flips funk and jazz breaks (especially the Amen, Think, and Apache breaks) into kinetic, polyrhythmic mosaics. Its sound palette blends dub’s bass weight and echo, reggae and dancehall vocal toasting, hip‑hop sampling aesthetics, and the rave/hardcore continuum’s rave stabs and euphoria. In contemporary usage, jungle is often grouped under the broader umbrella of drum and bass; historically it directly preceded and seeded mid‑1990s drum and bass and is frequently treated as an early substyle of DnB.
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Old School Dancehall
Old school dancehall is the formative era of Jamaica’s dancehall, spanning the late 1970s through the early-to-mid 1990s. It grew out of sound-system culture and the shift from roots reggae’s band-centric, message-heavy approach toward leaner, bass-forward "riddims" designed for toasting (MCing) and crowd control. Early old school dancehall (often called "rub‑a‑dub") centered on live bands like Roots Radics driving minimalist, heavy drum-and-bass grooves, over which deejays delivered rhythmic, improvisatory chants in Jamaican patois. By 1985, the scene pivoted to digital with Wayne Smith’s "Sleng Teng" riddim, bringing drum machines and cheap keyboards into the dance. Lyrically, old school dancehall ranges from party-starting braggadocio, dancing instructions, and witty clash talk to topical commentary. Sonically, it emphasizes a sparse mix with offbeat skank, big subs, and dub-inspired delay and reverb—purpose-built for massive sound systems and a responsive, dancing crowd.
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Ragga
Ragga (short for raggamuffin) is a digital-era branch of Jamaican dancehall that foregrounds electronic rhythms, heavy sub‑bass, and rapid‑fire toasting in Jamaican Patois. It typically uses drum machines, sampled or synthesized basslines, and minimal harmonic movement, creating spacious, hard‑hitting “riddims” over which multiple deejays deliver contrasting versions. The style crystallized in the mid‑1980s after the pivotal “Sleng Teng” riddim popularized fully digital production, ushering in a new sound that was simultaneously streetwise, club‑ready, and globally exportable. Lyrically, ragga ranges from party‑starting “slackness” and braggadocio to social commentary, and its vocal delivery combines singing, chanting, and MC‑style flows.
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Dancehall
Dancehall is a Jamaican popular music style built around bass‑heavy, groove‑centric riddims and the vocal art of chatting or singjaying in Jamaican Patois. It emphasizes direct, energetic delivery, call‑and‑response hooks, and a party‑forward attitude, while also leaving space for sharp social commentary and witty wordplay. The genre is fundamentally riddim‑based: producers release instrumental tracks (riddims) that many different vocalists "voice" with their own songs. This culture encourages competitive creativity, rapid evolution of styles, and a constant stream of new versions. Tempos typically sit in the midtempo range, with syncopated kicks and snares and prominent sub‑bass. Since the mid‑1980s, digital drum machines and synths have defined much of dancehall’s sound, though live instrumentation and hybrid production are common too.
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Lovers Rock
Lovers rock is a romantic, melodically rich branch of reggae that emerged in the United Kingdom during the mid-to-late 1970s. It emphasizes smooth vocals, tender lyrics, and polished arrangements over the heavier political themes or rugged rhythms often associated with roots reggae and dub. Built on reggae and rocksteady grooves but infused with the sensibilities of soul and R&B, lovers rock often features warm basslines, gentle one‑drop drum patterns, silky rhythm guitars, and lush keyboards or string pads. The result is an intimate, slow‑to‑mid‑tempo sound designed for close dancing and heartfelt expression.
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Reggae
Reggae is a popular music genre from Jamaica characterized by a laid-back, syncopated groove, prominent bass lines, and steady offbeat “skank” guitar or keyboard chords. The rhythmic core often emphasizes the third beat in a bar (the “one drop”), creating a spacious, rolling feel that foregrounds bass and drums. Typical instrumentation includes drum kit, electric bass, rhythm and lead guitars, keyboards/organ (notably the Hammond and the percussive "bubble"), and often horn sections. Tempos generally sit around 70–80 BPM (or 140–160 BPM felt in half-time), allowing vocals to breathe and messages to be clearly delivered. Lyrically, reggae ranges from love songs and everyday storytelling to incisive social commentary, resistance, and spirituality, with Rastafarian culture and language (e.g., “I and I”) playing a central role in many classic recordings. Studio production techniques—spring reverbs, tape delays, and creative mixing—became signature elements, especially through dub versions that strip down and reimagine tracks.
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Show all 7 genres
Albums
2013
2
/5
Ninja Mi Ninja - Single
Ninjaman
Old School Dancehall
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3
/5
Half Pint
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Sanchez
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Cutty Ranks
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3
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Garnet Silk
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3
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Gappy Ranks
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Chuck Fenda
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Delly Ranx
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2
/5
Nitty Gritty
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3
/5
Super Cat
Dancehall
Old School Dancehall
Ragga
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Melodding was created as a tribute to
Every Noise at Once
, which inspired us to help curious minds keep digging into music's ever-evolving genres.