Ciudad De Dios Riddim – Chronic Ting Records

Sparse and smoky, Ciudad De Dios Riddim leans into the darker side of Chronic Sound’s 2015 output, pairing Lasai’s Far Love, Sr Wilson’s War and Bman Zerowan’s Out Of Here with a clean instrumental cut that keeps the arrangement lean and tense. Produced by La Kinta Esencia and edited through Chronic Ting Records, it arrives as the fourth chapter in the label’s riddim run, following Mustapha, El Zorro and Rongo Rongo, and it carries that same Spanish-rooted, soundsystem-minded edge Chronic was sharpening around that period. Compared with those earlier outings, this one feels a little more stripped back and militant, with the vocal cuts riding the groove rather than crowding it. It sits neatly in the label’s catalogue as one of those compact mid-2010s reggae sets that says a lot without needing many voices.