Some Like It Redhot Riddim – VIS Records

VIS Records has long been one of those Kingston-rooted names that keeps its catalog moving between roots, culture and straight dancehall, and Some Like It Redhot Riddim lands in that familiar lane with a newer, sharper title and a 2026 release date. The label’s past work has included projects like Index and other multi-artist sets that mixed veterans with sound-system-ready voices, and this new juggling follows that same logic: a one-riddim framework, a stacked list of artists, and a tune designed to travel well in a selector’s set.

The rhythm itself feels like a modern reggae driver rather than a sleepy roots exercise. It has that clipped, forward-moving pulse that leaves space for the vocals, with a bright, slightly tense edge that suits warnings, survival talk and self-help lyrics more than slackness. The title nods to “Some Like It Hot, ” but the vibe here is less throwback novelty than current-day culture business: disciplined bass, clean drum placement, and enough lift in the arrangement to keep the song versions from blurring together.

The cuts that matter most are the ones that know exactly how to use that space. Tyrical’s Still Live Up reads like seasoned endurance talk from an artist who has been voicing conscious reggae for decades, and his delivery gives the riddim instant credibility. Wayne Lyrics, another veteran voice from Jamaica’s Saint Mary parish, brings the same rooted, plainspoken energy on Wise Up, while Gowdie Ranks adds the kind of lived-in reasoning that has always suited VIS productions. Its K appears twice in the list, on Bandolu Man and Love, which makes him one of the few artists with a double presence here, and that helps give the project some personality.

The newer and harder-edged names also pull weight. Muscle Emanuel, known off mic as Carl Donovan Blackwood, works well on Take Them Away, where the vocal attack matches the riddim’s clean, assertive pacing. Predator’s Clean, Shaw Banton’s Bleacha WAN, Wicky Wicky’s I Know It’s Late and Bling Dawg’s She Nah Leave all point to the same thing: this is a juggling built for chants, attitude and social commentary, not one-note party chatter. Youth Man, Comanche, Don Mafia and James Singer widen the spread, and by the time the version comes back around, the project feels like a proper label compilation rather than a loose pile of singles.