Try Riddim – Irie Ites Records

Irie Ites have never been a label that treats roots music like museum glass. The French crew has spent years cutting hard, bass-heavy reggae and dancehall records with a deep respect for classic Jamaican craft, often pairing veteran voices with fresh digital-era pressure. Try Riddim sits neatly in that lane. It is a 2026 release on Irie Ites Records with Evidence Music handling the wider digital side, and it centres on a small but telling set of voices rather than overloading the juggling.

The heartbeat here is firmly roots. The riddim moves with that stubborn one-drop feel that lets the bassline do the talking, while the drums and guitar skank leave plenty of air around the vocal. It is not a glossy contemporary crossover job; the sound is earthy, warm, and a little militant, the sort of backing track that feels made for warning, testimony, and old-school chant-down energy. The dub versions underline that mood and show the production from the inside out, with the instrumental mix letting the low end and echo work breathe properly.

The strongest name on the project is Prince Alla, one of roots reggae’s enduring greats, a Jamaican singer whose classic 1970s work helped define the spiritual, militant side of the genre. His “Mash Down Rome” feels like exactly the kind of song listeners expect from him: stern, righteous, and rooted in the same consciousness that made records like “Sun Is Shining, ” “Bucket Bottom, ” and “Lot’s Wife” last. Trinity, the late deejay and producer born Wade Brammer, brings a different kind of authority. He was one of the voices that helped bridge 1970s roots and the tougher deejay style that followed, and his “Don’t Throw Stone” gives the riddim a sharper talk-over edge, more streetwise and cutting than devotional.

That contrast is what makes the release work. Prince Alla gives it weight and history; Trinity gives it pace and bite. Together they frame the riddim as something more than a backing track package. It feels like a deliberate meeting point between two generations of reggae expression, carried by a production style Irie Ites have made their own over the years. The dub cuts are the final reminder that this is a producer’s record as much as it is an artist record, and the riddim itself is strong enough to hold both sides without ever thinning out.