Riddim Doubles (2016) – Vpal Music

Riddim Doubles lands in that sweet spot where roots weight and late-era studio polish meet. VPAL Music puts the set together in 2016, and the name fits: the grooves are sturdy, melodic, and vocal-first, with enough pulse to hold a juggling but plenty of space for singers to stretch out. It is not a bashment sprint. This is the kind of riddim that invites message songs, chant lines, and careful phrasing.

The lineup reaches across generations. Yami Bolo brings the same Rastafari fire that has long defined his work, while Luciano adds that clean, high-minded tenor he has carried through decades of conscious reggae. Natty King gives the set a modern roots charge, with the kind of earnest delivery that has kept him in the conversation since the early 2000s. Edi Fitzroy’s inclusion matters too: his voice carries the weight of classic Jamaican conscious music, and hearing him on a 2016 release gives the project a direct line back to an earlier roots era.

Doniki turns up twice, which gives the riddim a little extra identity and continuity. Sugar Minotti opens the set with True Love, while Ginjah, Andrew Belle, and Fizroy Face add their own shades of uplift and testimony. The strongest cuts are the ones that sit closest to the riddim’s spiritual core: Luciano’s Jah Works, Yami Bolo’s Rasta Sojah, and Edi Fitzroy’s Rastaman Chant. Together they frame Riddim Doubles as a roots compilation with veteran authority and enough variety to keep the juggling moving.