Dark Horse Riddim – Sheriff Music

Out of Trinidad’s 2013 Carnival season came a compact Sheriff Music drop that kept the focus on the road: just three cuts, with Bunji Garlin’s “Over The Hills” and Terri Lyons’ “Fighter” carrying the Dark Horse rhythm’s charge. The production leans into brisk soca motion rather than anything glossy or overworked, and that suits Bunji especially well, since he was already deep into the period that turned him into one of the scene’s most dependable street-to-stage voices. Terri Lyons, meanwhile, gives the project a tougher edge and keeps it from feeling like a one-name vehicle. Coming after Sheriff Music’s 2012 Wonda Woman Riddim and before later runs like Session and Jungle Book, Dark Horse sits neatly in the label’s early Carnival catalogue as one of those lean, functional riddims built for DJs, fetes, and quick repeat play.