More Ideas 1988

In Jamaica, where a performer’s first priority is making dancehall audiences rock and swing, there’s little more valuable than an unstoppable riddim: a bedrock instrumental cut that can lend itself to hundreds of reinterpretations and keep dancers going strong until the early morn. Many of the most enduring riddims date from the late-‘60s heyday of Studio One and its gifted house band, but the dawn of the digital era in the mid-‘80s let even the humblest producer create original instrumentals, and a new wave of infectious digital riddims began to gain prominence. Among the most colossal of these was “Rumours,” a furiously propulsive track produced by Augustus Clarke and originally voiced by Gregory Isaacs. More Ideas, an incredible collection of cuts with the "Rumours" riddim, perfectly captures the exhilarating moment when “Rumours” first hit Kingston dancehalls and became 1988's most-versioned riddim. The most memorable versions here may be instrumental cuts like Vin Gordon’s “Roots of Zion”; its spacy dub mix reveals the true depths of this classic production.