The Hard Wine Riddim – Various Artists

The Hard Wine Riddim comes in with OG’s “Addicted” setting the tone first, and that’s the cut that gives the project its sharpest edge right away. From there the set keeps circling a stripped, dancehall-minded groove, with Jr Don’s “She’s Got It” and Flo Pg’s “Whisper” leaning into sly, girl-driven party talk before Skipper pulls the title track dead center. The whole thing is tight at five songs, but it doesn’t feel thin; Sause featuring Perks and Timstarr closes it out with “The Girls Dem Want We, ” a cut that pushes the riddim’s flirtatious energy hardest. As a 2009 release, it sits in that era when compact one-riddim packages still knew how to make a single pattern do plenty of work, and OG’s opener, followed by the title tune, leaves the clearest stamp.