Music Sound

A riddim is a rhythm pattern, basically consisting of a drum pattern and a prominent bassline. This Patois or Jamaican-English term originates from the English word "rhythm".

Riddims are the instrumental backgrounds of reggae, lovers rock, dub, raggamuffin and dancehall compositions. In other musical contexts a riddim would be called a groove or beat. In most cases the term "riddim" is used to reference the whole background track or rhythm section, but in older, roots riddims, riddim is used to reference a certain bassline and drum pattern. Often a melody is associated with the riddim.

Riddims can generally be categorized into three types. The oldest type of riddim is the classical riddim providing roots reggae dub and lovers rock with instrumentals (Example: "Bam Bam" produced by Sly & Robbie). The second type is the ragga riddim backing raggamuffin and dancehall tunes (Example: "Juice" produced by Richard "Shams" Brown). The third type is the digital riddim (Example: "Sleng Teng" produced by King Jammy).

Different producers often have their own versions of the same riddim, and different artists often perform on top of the same riddims with different lyrics and different vocal styles, ranging from singing to toasting. As an example, Beenie Man's song "My Wish", Mr. Vegas' tune "Go Up", and TOK's "Man A Bad Man" are all based on the "Juice" riddim. Most riddims are named by the tune sung on that instrumental track for the first time. For example, the "Satta-A-Masagana" riddim is named from The Abyssinians' song "Satta-A-Masagana".

Contemporary Dancehall Riddim List:

-2005:::: Seasons::Jonkanoo::Sweet Sop::Applause::Cry Baby::Bubble Up::State Of Emergency::Strivers::Bionic Ras::Lion Paw::Istanbul::Ganja Farmer::Rose Apple::Bounce::Ice Breaka::Yellow Tape::World Jam::Throwback Giggy::Jump Off::Siren::X-Factor::Sleepy Dog::

-2004:::: Mad Instruments::Hot Gyal::Hard Times::Rah Rah::Clear::Chakka Chakka::Kopa::Father Jungle Rock::Stepz::Dancehall Rock::Scoobay::Military::Check It Back::Tunda Clap::Strip Tease::Drop Leaf::Double Barrel::

-2003:::: Lime Key::Ching Chong::Hindu Storm::Panty Raid::Dreamweaver::Masterpiece::Clappas::Krazy::C-4::Egyptian::Good To Go::Coolie Dance::Salsa::Scream::Forensic::All Out::Sexy Lady::

-2002:::: Diwali::Mad Ants::Bad Kalic::Mexican::Bollywood::Engine::Hard Drive::Rematch::Tabla::Thai Chi::The Violin::Time Bomb::Wash Out::White Liva::Zero Tolerance::Famine::Battery::

-2001:::: Unstoppable::Top-A-Top::The Rock::The Buzz::Run::Rice And Peas::Mento::Martial Arts::Itch::Hennessey::Heavyweight::Glue::Fire Glare::Fiesta::Energy::Dun Dem::Candle Wax::

External links

• www.soundbwoykillaz.ca SBK [Sound Bwoy Killaz] (Database) search for riddim,album,artist,producer,title,artist+title and filter by genre.
• www.versionist.com The Versionist Riddim Community.
• www.jamrid.com Jamrid, the Jamaican Riddim Directory.
• www.reggae-riddims.com A large riddim database.
• www.riddimcorner.com Another riddim database.
• www.riddimbase.net Yet Another riddim database with more than 43.000 Tunes.