The Bubble Up riddim was written by Steven “Lenky” Marsden.
Lenky was responsible for the Diwali riddim, which singlehandedly brought dancehall to American shores in the summer of 2003. Sean Paul broke with ‘Get Busy,’ overshadowing Elephant Man’s worthy ‘Elephant Message - a riff on Nena’s '99 Luftballoons' - and a dozen other sound Jamaican pieces: Beenie Man’s '10 out of 10,' Wayne Wonder’s 'No Letting Go,' Wayne Marshall’s 'Overcome' etc. In America, two dopey thin girls called Nina Sky ended up with the summer’s crown in ‘Uh Oh,’ a stoop song with an emphatic sunstroked verse from Busta Rhymes that struck the most comfortable chord on the barbecue and block party circuit that July.
Skulking round the wireless white cabins it strikes me that Vybz Kartel, Mavado, and Aidonia are really the best artists. If what’s clamped to these sterile walls and mercantile floors is a vain attempt to articulate and crystallize a moment – a shared joke, a clink of chipped glasses, a coy mutual smile, a click of a camera phone – then the Yard is saying it louder, better, and more direct. Dancehall is emblematic of the intravenous raw cane sugar of being alive. It captures that moment. The moment you overhear a rubbish 80’s German pop song whilst buying crisps in the supermarket. The moment you realize that Robert Kelly is the most accomplished chanteur of our time. Go to studio, record it with your friends, smash it out on seven inches of bumpy, wonky plastic, and move on. Lay it down and forget about it. Next riddim. Next riddim.
The riddim, is rhythm; for that’s what it is, that’s what it means, that’s how it feels. So infectious, it gives every ‘DJ’ a chance, each tweak gives them their own signature, each idiosyncratic version is there to discover, so when you’re out and you hear Nina Sky fly on the Hot or Power or Jams station you gotta remember it’s the scab on top of a thousand more fresh layers beneath. The music is lateral as it is immediate, One riddim is never just one riddim. Though it’s gone in a week, a month tops, it’s possible that the one you just heard once is the best one.
Zumjay on Bubble Up
Voicemail on Bubble Up
Wayne Marshall on Bubble Up
Elephant Man on Bubble Up
Danny English on Bubble Up
Sean Paul on Bubble Up
Lenky on Bubble Up
Chico on Bubble Up