Hot Pepper Riddim (2021) – Gloryhouse Music

Egg Nogg’s “Crying” is the sharpest way into Gloryhouse Music’s Hot Pepper Riddim, a 2021 set that keeps its footing in rootsy reggae while letting the heavier songs do the talking. Howard Tuff and Jah Kooks push that edge too, with “Looking To The World” and “Too Much Bloodshed” giving the riddim a moral, street-level bite, while Zion Skye and Pheonix lean it toward uplift and devotion. Gloryhouse keeps the arrangement lean enough for each voice to cut through, and the way Egg Nogg and Spready Glory sit across from each other on the project suggests a producer who knows how to leave space without thinning out the bass. There are 12 tracks in all, with Sensi Tea, Mel Dube and Singing Bird tucked in as a final burst of heat at the tail end.