2018 Riddim – Knack Outt Productions

Knack Outt’s 2018 Riddim comes in hard and sparingly polished, the kind of straight-ahead dancehall juggling that leaves room for voice and attitude to carry the weight. Fantan Mojah opens things on a rough-edged conscious note with “Nah Diss Mama, ” and that early seriousness gets offset by the tougher party cuts from Dutch B on “Got That Body, ” King David’s “Pop Bottles, ” and Leftside’s sharp-tongued “Affi Come Back. ” The set leans toward street-ready dancehall rather than slick crossover business, with eleven tracks in all and a neat run of names that includes Jah Thunda, J Don Heights, and RP N’Trapaneur. Released in 2017 under Knack Outt Productions, the riddim’s strongest moment may be Leftside’s cut, which lands with the kind of clipped, no-nonsense delivery that keeps the whole project moving.