The Warning Riddim – Various Artists

THE WARNING RIDDIM produced by VARIOUS ARTISTS 2007

The Warning Riddim leans hard into gun talk and street tension, with Bugle’s “Dem Bwoy Deh A No Treat, ” Demarco and Style P’s “Man A Murderer, ” and Wayne Marshall’s “Senseless Killing” driving the mood. The cut feels very much of its 2007 moment, when dancehall was steeped in stark, declarative title tracks and terse one-drop-to-rub-a-dub pressure, and this one sits alongside other Jukeboxx-era cautionary riddims Shane Brown was known for. Elephant Man’s “Pum Pum Wi Waan” and Frisco Kid’s “Inna Di Place” keep the set from getting too monochrome, but the darker tracks do the heavy lifting. In the end, this is one of those mid-2000s reggae riddims that lands squarely in the harder corner of the catalogue, with enough vocal variety to keep the message moving.

The Warning Riddim Tracklist:

1. Bugle – Dem Bwoy Deh A No Treat
2. Craig Dennis And Delly Ranks – Time Get Serious
3. Currant Man – Voices Inna Me Head
4. Demarco Ft Style P – Man A Murderer
5. Elephant Man – Pum Pum Wi Waan
6. Fambo – Informah
7. Frisco Kid – Inna Di Place
8. Harry Toddler – Build It Up
9. Monster Twins – Cold Blooded Murderer
10. Nah Switch – Dem No Know Badness
11. New Kidz – A Nuh We Dat
12. Ras Myrhdak – Its Only Natural
13. Shane O – Drop Ah Gun
14. T.O.K – Rise Di Gun Fingas
15. Version – The Warning Riddim
16. Wayne Marshall – Senseless Killing