Top Game Riddim – Spit Fyah Records

Top Game Riddim finds Spit Fyah Records in a more stripped-back, tune-first mode than some of the busier party riddims that were floating around in 2014. The set keeps the focus tight with eight artists across nine cuts, and the best-known name here is probably I-Sane, who turns up twice on “Gyal Swear” in clean and raw versions, a nice little nod to the way dancehall packages radio and street mixes side by side. Elsewhere, Black Pearl’s “Benjamins and Shaerer” and Navino’s “Love You Off” give the project some of its sharper hooks, while Jah Izrehl and Iya Champs keep the badman-and-gal listings moving. The production sits in that lean mid-tempo dancehall pocket, with a clipped drum pattern, plain bassline and enough space for the vocals to land cleanly, capped off by an instrumental cut that lays the riddim bare.