Portmore Empire Riddim – Various Artists

PORTMORE EMPIRE RIDDIM produced by VARIOUS ARTISTS 2008

Vybz Kartel is the gravitational pull here, and “Weed” feels like the cut that locks Portmore Empire Riddim into place, with Black Ryno’s “Story Go A Town” and Shawn Storm’s “Weel A Fortune” keeping the energy in that hard, stomping Gaza zone. The 2008 juggling sits right in the era when Kartel’s Portmore Empire crew was pushing a whole generation of Deva Bratt, Blak Ryno, and the rest of the camp into sharper focus, so the riddim works almost like a snapshot of that movement at full tilt. There’s a grim, street-level pressure running through the tracklist, but Kartel’s tune is the one that hangs in the air after the last drop, almost as if the whole set was waiting on it. Small detail, but the name says plenty.

Portmore Empire Riddim Tracklist:

1. Black Ryno – Story Go A Town
2. Devabratt – Raw Pellet Pellet
3. Idoni Dem Fraid A Wi – Raw – All Dem A T
4. G – Maffiah – Insance
5. Kartel We No Tek Talk
6. Shawn Storm – Raw – Weel A Fortune
7. Vybz Kartel – Weed