Screw Face Riddim – Tuff Gong

Al Campbell’s gruff “Nah Sorry Fi Dem” is the first place to land on Screw Face Riddim, but the cut that really frames the set is Bob Marley and The Wailers’ title tune, an early Tuff Gong recording from 1971 that gives the whole compilation its rootsy backbone. The eight-track selection moves between veteran voices and later-era singers, with Brent Dowe’s “That Little Girl, ” Glen Washington’s “I Found Me A Love, ” and Kashief Lindo’s “No Show” keeping the mood sweet and polished while Don Yute and Ratigan push it into a tougher, more modern dancehall-rooted register. Tuff Gong’s own imprint runs through the arrangement: lean, melodic, and heavy on that unmistakable Marley-era swing. But it’s Bob Marley and The Wailers’ “Screw Face” that hangs over the riddim, the kind of cut that makes the rest of the lineup feel like it’s circling a classic.