Riddims that built dancehall

A dancehall riddim. This is a starting record: the originating cut, producer, year and the version chain need building from a discography rather than recollection, since riddim attributions are widely and confidently misreported online.

Madhouse riddim produced by Dave Kelly and released in 2005, part of the label's run of stripped-back, keyboard-driven dancehall rhythms; carried cuts by Beenie Man and Spice.

Late-1980s digital dancehall rhythm built at King Jammy's by house band Steely & Clevie in 1987 and first voiced by Pinchers on the hit "Agony," with further cuts from deejays including Shabba Ranks and Admiral Bailey.

Treasure Isle rocksteady rhythm associated with John Holt's "Ali Baba," produced by Arthur "Duke" Reid and released around 1968-69; a durable Duke Reid rhythm that circulated in versions and dub cuts in the years that followed.

Cut at Studio One for Coxsone Dodd and first heard as "Never Let Go" by Slim Smith and The Uniques — a heavy bassline under a horn figure, with Smith singing over it. About a decade later the deejay Lone Ranger voiced "The Answer" on it; that record made his name and renamed the rhythm, and it has been known as the Answer riddim ever since. It has kept returning across every subsequent dancehall era, which is the point of it: the rhythm outlived both of the records that defined it.

2005 dancehall riddim produced by Jah Snowcone (Riddim Driven series); voiced by Sean Paul, Sizzla, T.O.K., Wayne Wonder, Capleton and more.

The Arab Attack riddim is a 1990s dancehall rhythm title found across singles and compilation discographies, part of the era's producer-led riddim economy where distinctive track names organized a whole cluster of voiced versions.

A rocksteady-era Treasure Isle riddim originating with The Jamaicans' 1967 hit 'Ba Ba Boom,' produced by Duke Reid and a winner in the Jamaica Festival song tradition. Its rolling rhythm and horn arrangement became a recut favourite carried by later producers from Coxsone Dodd to Sly & Robbie.

Ballistic Affair is a Jamaican dancehall riddim produced by Anthony Malvo in 2002-2003, best known for Capleton's 'One Day Rudeboy' and versions by Buju Banton, Sizzla, Shinehead, Anthony B, Bushman and Wayne Wonder.

Early-1990s Madhouse riddim (Dave Kelly), named for dancer Gerald 'Bogle' Levy; Buju Banton's 'Bogle' (1991/92) is the defining cut.