Thong Riddim – Topaz Records

Topaz Records’ Thong Riddim comes off less like a glossy showcase and more like a compact dancehall juggling from the turn of the century, with just enough room for personality to come through in the voices. Riddim-ID places it in 2000, which fits the early-2000s feel even if a lot of listings tag it to 2001, and that little date gap only adds to the sense of a release moving through the underground rather than arriving with fanfare. Daddy Boastin’s “Ridin West” and Michael Knight’s “Boom Boom Sound” give the set its roughest, most direct turns, while “Pussycat Feat Wiz – Love Machine” tilts things a touch slyer. The sequence is clean and practical: three vocal cuts, then the version, which suggests Topaz wanted the riddim to work first as a selector’s tool before anything else.