Big Bad Boy Riddim – Mafia

Keith Hudson’s 1972 Mafia production Big Bad Boy pulls together three sharp cuts from the era, with Alton Ellis leading the title tune, Dennis Alcapone riding high on Jungle Of Crime, and Don Drummond Junior bringing Evil Spirit to the set. It’s a compact, three-track riddim that reflects Hudson’s early-’70s work on Mafia, the label he used for some of his most distinctive productions, and it carries that tense, hard-edged Kingston feel that suits both Ellis’s voice and Alcapone’s deejay style. With just three versions, the release feels lean and purposeful, and the title track has remained one of the better-known entries in Hudson’s catalogue.