Cheri Riddim – Reyel Riddim Vol 16

Cheri Riddim keeps a breezy, French-Creole reggae feel, with Walla Prod and Idéal Songs lining up a fairly deep cast for Reyel Riddim Vol. 16 in 2017. Djo Black’s “Mwen ka viv li, ” MC Janik’s “Sa mwen pe baw, ” and Little Di Lion with Icess Majoumba on “Matinik mwen” are the cuts that catch first, but the whole thing has that local-voices-on-one-pulse energy that makes these Reyel compilations easy to slot into a session. Compared with some of the earlier Reyel volumes, this one leans a little more melodic and reflective than rowdy, with the instrumental version sitting right where you’d expect it in the sequence. It’s a solid late-2010s entry in the label’s run of regional reggae riddims, built for Francophone Caribbean singers who know how to work a sweet, rolling backdrop.