Mixtape Mondays: Premiere of Mr. Vegas’ “Sweet Jamaica” Album Samplers (Mixed by The Heatwave and I-Vier)

Words by DJ Theory—

This week for Mixtape Mondays we’ve got exclusive premieres of two heavy mixtapes in support of the double-disc reggae and dancehall explosion on deck from one of our favorite singjays, Mr. Vegas.

Vegas’ Sweet Jamaica album, which we’ve been raving about since we first heard it at the top of this year, finds the singjay behind some of your favorite dancehall classics spreading his wings into festival reggae territory. In anticipation of the multi-faceted double-disc set, Vegas and team have tapped DJ I-Vier, repping Northern California champion sound Jah Warrior Shelter Hi-Fi, and LargeUp contributor Gabriel Heatwave, of the UK’s Toppa Top sound The Heatwave, to curate previews of the album’s respective reggae and dancehall discs. Between these two quality mixes you’ll know exactly what to expect from Sweet Jamaica, which hits stores May 29th on his own imprint MV Music.

Vegas’ latest slate of hits like “Bruk It Down” “Certain Law,” ” I Am Blessed” and “Sweet Jamaica” (ft. Shaggy and Josey Wales”) all appear on the dancehall disc, while the reggae disc sees Vegas covering classics like Hopeton Lewis’ “Take It Easy” and re-fashioning other staples of the Jamaican music canon like Desmond Dekker’s “Israelites” (“Gimme A Light,” in Vegas’ hands) in his own style. (There’s also a new version of the’ Jovi Rockwell-assisted “Love You More,” from Major Lazer‘s Guns Don’t Kill People Lazers Do). For more on the project, read our interview with Vegas from earlier this year, and catch our LargeUp TV clips of Vegas performing from Sweet Jamaica at Miss Lily’s. To get your hands on the album, pre-order here, or visit our friends at 45 Shootout.

Download and stream I-Vier’s reggae mix below. Track list and info here.

Download and stream The Heatwave’s dancehall mix below, tracklist and info here.