Good To Gone Riddim – Don Corleon Records

Good To Gone Riddim landed in 2004 on Don Corleon Records, at a point when Donovan Bennett was sharpening the clean, hard-edged dancehall sound that would become his calling card. Bennett, better known as Don Corleon, had already begun building a reputation for sleek but heavy productions, and this rhythm sits right in that early run, before his name became tied to some of the biggest Jamaican anthems of the decade.

The project is tiny but sharp: the version cut, Vybz Kartel’s When Gal Want Buddy, and In My Eyes from Wayne Marshall, Bounty Killer, and Vybz Kartel. That kind of three-cut juggling leaves no room for filler, and it suits the rhythm’s clipped, forward-driving feel. The beat has that early-2000s Don Corleon polish, crisp and digital without sounding thin, with enough bounce for the deejays to work the pocket and enough space for personality to carry the tune.

Kartel is the clear center of gravity here. By 2004 he was already one of dancehall’s fast-rising voices, and his cut brings the sly, woman-centric storytelling that helped define his early catalogue. In My Eyes broadens the energy, pairing Wayne Marshall’s melodic touch with Bounty Killer’s harder contrast and Kartel’s sharp edge. It gives the riddim a little more weight and a stronger posse feel than a lone Kartel feature would have done.

Good To Gone works best as a snapshot of Don Corleon’s early formula: trim the lineup, keep the rhythm tight, and let the voices do the work.