Words by DJ Arems
We circle the globe with this extra world wide edition of Mixtape Monday hearing entries from Hawaii, Sweden and London by way of Dubai. Fasten your seat belt and get ready to go way up.
Melody Jay 985, Sugarcane Hawaiian Reggae 2016: If you’ve ever had the chance to fly to the pacific islands of Hawaii your bound to have heard Hawaiian reggae music all over the radio, in shops and restaurants and booming from cars. The sounds are slow and sweet with that familiar lovers rock style but sometimes with added native Polynesian instruments you might not be used to. The melodies are always on point and the singers from Hawaii are amazingly talented and soulful. Sadly, there a huge chance you’ve never heard Hawaiian reggae music as it is a small niche that hasn’t crossed over aside from the one stand out artist that is J-Boog with his smash mega hit – Let’s Do It Again. Thankfully, Hawaii’s own Melody Jay has compiled some of the best sounds to come out of the pacific so far this year, and while you might not recognize many of the artists on this mix the quality of the songs is very evident and music is instantly relaxing. Stream and download below.
Solid Radio, Dancehall 4ever (Part 3): Sweden’s Solid Radio has dropped the third installment of their Dancehall 4ever mix series and the results are more of the same – bere badness. If you find yourself struggling to keep up on all the latest fiyah coming outta JA right now then make sure to grab this mix. It’s packed with nothing but heat from artists like Vybz Kartel, Jahmiel, Alkaline, Popcaan and Mavado and the tracks are fresh out the box and well mixed. Grab this mix and stay pon toppa tings. Stream and download below.
DJ Fearless, Dancehall In Dubai: You may not have guessed it but dancehall is alive and well in Dubai and we seem to be find a lot of djs based in the UAE dropping big soca, afrobeat and reggae mixtapes on the regular. This time we find London’s DJ Fearless demonstrating what a typical night in Dubai at the dancehall might sound like and this mix keeps one theme going throughout – strictly big chunes. With huge hits from last year and all the latest bangers from 2016, it’s hard to keep from bussing a wine once you hit play on this one. Stream and download below