Step Hard Riddim (2018) – Boogie Down Records / Ajt Music

The Step Hard Riddim leans on a tough, strutting groove with enough space for the singers to cut through, and that instrumental has the kind of steady, forward-driving pulse that keeps the whole thing moving. Afreekan opens things with “Stepping Harder, ” while Vc and Ashmo take different angles on the same backdrop, one more devotional, the other sharper and more pleading. Turbulence is the name that jumps out most, though, and “Fear Flesh” feels like the track with the most bite, matching his gruff delivery to the riddim’s stern edge. Boogie Down Records and AJT Music kept it lean with five cuts in all, a compact 2018 set that sits neatly in that late-2010s run of roots-leaning reggae riddims still chasing weight, message, and a bit of pressure.