Words by Jesse Serwer—
LargeUp Editor Jesse Serwer here filling in on Mixtape Mondays, while DJ Theory holds down Beijing, Singapore and more on his tour of Asia this week. Taking a slightly different route than usual, this week we’re highlighting some mixes that blend Caribbean and dancehall flavor with other genres—namely hip-hop and moombahton.
Chip Fu a/k/a/ Jungle Rock Jr, Stop Playin Vol. 2: If you remember early ’90s Brooklyn rap crew Fu-Schnickens, you’ll definitely recall the raggamuffin-style emceeing of Chip Fu. In recent years, Chip, a one-time Guinness record holder as world’s fastest rapper, has re-emerged with a reggae alter ego, Jungle Rock Jr. A preview to his upcoming solo debut War Paint, Stop Playin Vol. 2 offers new hip-hop and reggae tracks and a whole heap of rap/reggae hybrids, as well as Chip’s features on tracks by Royde da 5’9, Jedi Mind Tricks and The Astronomical Kid. Barrington fans will definitely get a kick out of his “Here I Come” flip on the track called “Wanna Know Why.” Download, get the artwork and track list here and look out for more from Jungle Rock Jr. on LargeUp soon.
Chong X & Dazed Dog & Buzz A Buzz & Dj MesS, Moombah Claat: After highlighting moombahton’s Caribbean roots and coming across dancehall-inspired material like Cam Jus’ Badman EP, we knew it was only a matter of time before someone dropped a full-on mixtape blending the reggaeton x Dutch house hybrid with dancehall. Moombah Claat, here it is! From Most High Records, which bills itself as the “finest dancehall, reggae, soca and moombahton label in Slovakia,” (are there others???) Moombah Claat is a collaboration between five DJs who’s names are all new to us: Chong X, Dazed Dog, Buzz A Buzz and Dj MesS. After starting off a little little oddly with a remix of 20 Fingers’ ’90s house novelty “You Gotta Lick It,” the mix settles in nicely with the Most High crew’s own moombahton remixes of staple records by Vybz Kartel, Elephant Man, Stylo G, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer and more. Stream below, download here.
Be Right Bass, Boombah Bass Clash: Not far sonically from Moombah Claat is Boombah Bass Clash from Be Right Bass, the collective behind that city’s tropical bass party of the same name. The 70-minute-plus mix, which is hosted by our friend and dancehall legend Red Fox, is divided into four sets, from Be Right Bass’ Makks, Maja Goffe, Johanna Ritscher and Beatable. Makks kicks things off with a dancehall meets moombahton set that even features remixes from Most High’s Chong X & Dj MeSs. Other DJs bring African house and hip-hop into the mix, with moombahton the thread that connects it all together. Chances are not everything on here will be your cup of tea, but the dancehall segment is definitely on point.