Riddim
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The Jamaican-English term Riddim originates from the word rhythm. A riddim is a rhythm pattern, basically consisting of a drum pattern and a prominent bass line. Often a melody is associated with the riddim.
Riddims are the instrumental background of every reggae, lovers rock, dub, raggamuffin or dancehall composition. In other musical contexts a riddim would be called a groove or beat.
In most cases the term riddim is used to reference to the whole background track, but in older, roots riddims, riddim name is used to reference to that certain bassline and drum pattern. Its also very typical that different producers have their own versions of the same riddim.
Different artists perform on one and the same of the hundreds of riddims with different lyrics and different vocal styles, ranging from singing to rapping (for example Beenie Man's song "My Wish", Mr. Vegas' tune "Go Up" or TOK's "Man A Bad Man" are based on the "Juice Riddim"). Most riddims are named by the tune sung on that instrumental track for the first time (as the "Satta-A-Masagana Riddim" is named by the song "Satta-A-Masagana" performed by the group The Abyssinians).
In general riddims can be divided in three main sections. The oldest type of riddims is the classical riddim providing roots reggae dub and lovers rock with instrumentals (for example: "Bam Bam Riddim" produced by Sly & Robbie).
Second type is the ragga riddims backing raggamuffin and dancehall tunes (for example: "Juice Riddim" produced by Richard "Shams" Brown), just as the third and last type, the digital riddims (for example: "Sleng Teng Riddim" produced by King Jammys).
External links
- Jamrid, the Jamaican Riddim Directory (http://www.jamrid.com/)
- www.reggae-riddims.com large riddim database, searchable by riddim name, singer, song title and label name
- Versionist Riddim Community (http://www.versionist.com/)
- Riddimcorner, another riddim database (http://www.riddimcorner.com/)de:Riddim