Kings Riddim – Review
Upsetta Records x Loud City: Kings Riddim Review by Mr. Topple for Pauzeradio.com.
What happens when you combine Busy Signal, Capital D, and Agent Sasco – then add in a quality, infectious riddim to boot? Upsetta Records and Loud City’s latest release is what.
Kings Riddim, released via Upsetta Records and Loud City, sees the former’s co-founder JJ “Dante” Vezina join forces with the latter, in Upsetta’s first release in nearly a year. But the wait has been worth it, as the end result is a sumptuous and instantly memorable cut.
The basic riddim itself is filled with detail. Central to it are several rudimentary elements – which are fascinating as they draw on various genres. The key to the Kings Riddim is its bassline. It’s been very cleverly arranged – opening across a riff which works around diatonic notes from the fifth above the tonic, down. Its sound is rich, rounded and resonant – but here’s where Vezina and City’s trick lies. Because this timbre and arrangement lulls you into a false sense of Roots/Dub security. When the riddim gets going proper, the bass morphs into something almost Trap. The sound becomes gritty, extremely low in pitch and slightly distorted. It still works around a similar melodic riff, though – but then Vezina and City mix it up again, as the first chorus and first half of the second verse revert back to that Roots arrangement. This is then mixed up again and again, creating a wholly ambiguous sound. It’s delicious and ingenious in equal measure – and also sets the tone for the drums well.
Again, Vezina and City have mashed-up several elements. While the snare follows a Roots one drop pattern (hitting the two and four), the kick avoids this, hitting the downbeats. Hi-hats, meanwhile, almost verge on the Trap – generally running across semiquaver led rhythms, with the occasional (albeit slightly elongated) demisemiquaver buzz roll thrown in, too. The snare occasionally joins in with the rolls – and despite some tin drums riffing on occasion, the overall drum vibe sits more at home in Trap than it does Roots.
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