Review of STRICTLY DANCEHALL VOL. 2

If VP's copious compilations aren't enough to satisfy your dancehall needs, there's no doubt you should have more than your fill if you add JamDown Records' releases to your collection.

Strictly Dancehall Vol. 2 is the next is JamDown's series of dancehall comps featuring a few riddims and a handful of Jamaica's most popular DJs doing their thing over top. This isn't exactly the most dynamic or exciting entry in JamDown's catalog, but there are a few versions worth checking.

The riddims included here are Arif Cooper's "Nighttime," Sean Paul and Daniel Abbott's "Titanium," C. Smith and B. Murry's "Crash," Steven Ventura's "Bossy Gal," and Mark Hudson's "Springtime." None really stand out as anything above the standard dancehall fare, but combined, they provide for a slightly more interesting collection than most one or two riddim compilations.

Lexxus serves up solid vocals on "Due to We" (voiced on the "Nighttime" riddim). It works better than the Genius' static "Cyan Tek It" or Jack-a-Diamond's "Shoulder to the Wheel." Mark Hudson's "Springtime" riddim is probably the most well-produced; Powerman's version "Run Come Face" is slightly better than Cutlass' "Bow Yah." Powerman's "Ding Dong" (on Desmond Blake's riddim) is also a pretty solid track.

Only one track really stands out as being especially rough-around-the-edges. Benzly Hype's "Pass De Test" is almost unrecognizable with the many edits that needed to be made for radio-friendliness; why these edits showed up on the CD, I'm not sure. Even Red Rat's "Tink Mi Fraid" isn't as annoying (I used to really dig Red Rat, I swear!).

While Strictly Dancehall Vol. 2 isn't likely to break any sales records, it serves up what it intends to: dancehall tunes over popular riddims featuring the next generation of DJs.

More information is available from JamDown's site.

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