Nanny Goat Riddim – Tappa Records

By 1989, dancehall was deep into its digital-leaning, sound-system-minded phase, and Tappa Records’ Nanny Goat Riddim sits right in that shift with a stripped, propulsive cut that still nods to the older riddim tradition. The package pulls in a mixed bag of voices — Junior Demus on “What S Wrong, ” Jimmy Riley on “It’s So Ridiculous, ” and Lloyd Hemmings on “Don Dada” among them — but the backbone is the same across the set: a tight drum pattern, a rubbery bass line, and enough space for the singers and deejays to work the groove without crowding it. It’s one of those late-’80s dancehall rhythms that keeps moving with a dry, clipped swing, and the version cut, “The Goat, ” leaves the bass doing most of the talking.