Words by Jesse Serwer—
Are you paying attention to Busy Signal right now? You should be. Hott Ed started off 2013 red hot, and, though he hasn’t had any runaway hits, he hasn’t cooled off, dropping some of the year’s tuffest dancehall tunes. In our view, Busy’s been ahead of the game since he first turned up on the scene in ’05, and deserves consideration in any discussion of the baddest dancehall deejays of the last decade.
He definitely doesn’t disappoint on “Same Way,” which is up there next to “Bad Up Who” and Major Lazer’s “Bumaye” among our favorite Busy tunes in 2013. The track is a manic, free associative manifesto declaring Busy’s independence from fuckery, touching upon topics like radio payola and the recent killing of dancehall manager/producer Patrick “Roach” Samuels. As several readers from overseas have pointed out to us, the riddim comes via Ghanaian rapper Sarkodie’s azonto track “U Go Kill Me,” a major hit in Ghana and other parts of West Africa, and also the U.K.
More than any other Jamaican dancehall artist, Busy has kept his ear tuned to Africa, looking east for inspiration on tunes like “Da Style Deh” and “Jafrican Thing.” “Same Way” is a great addition to that catalog.
Stream “Same Way” below, and check out Sarkodie’s original here.