Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter
Kurt 'The Party Animal' Riley - Contributed
Beats have their time but recently the airwaves are full of extremely fast ones. This is an issue to some people in the music industry.
Many of these beats are done at some speedy rates and are accompanied by lyrics that are deejayed just as fast. Nonetheless, there are artistes like Mavado who manage to have 'catchy' songs on these quick rhythms but at the right pace so that the listener hears him clearly.
Veteran disc jock on Fame FM, Collin Hines, says he once had a major problem with these fast rhythms that are now part of the dancehall landscape.
"It's hard to say but the present fast beats lack the feel and swing of what we've known reggae and dancehall to be," Hines told The STAR.
Hines noted that in 2000, the beats were clocking as fast as 130 beats per minute or more. This, he says, deviates from classic dancehall beats which are usually between 88 and 103 beats per minute.
He says initially he had a major problem with such speedy beats. However, he said dancehall is evolving to accommodate the fast and slow and that songs on slower beats with the classic reggae feel have been successful.
Greater balance
Baby Cham's Conscience and Shaggy's Church Heathen were among those Hines listed.
"But there is a greater balance now. For instance, Click Mi Finger by Erup has the classic dancehall feel that clocks about 100 beats," he said.
Adrian of Truckback Records does not think the rhythms are too fast now.
"Naah man, it was fast at one point but it slow down back. Since we put out Gearbox (rhythm) the trend has been to slow down the beats," Adrian said.
Prior to his Gearbox rhythm which featured Erup's hit single Click Mi Finger, he said the beats were as fast as 120 to 130 beats per minute or even faster. In recent times most rhythms have been between 90 and 100 beats per minute.
"Everything has its time in music. I don't think it's deliberate but more where the music is at right now," he said.
Fame FM disc jock Kurt Riley also shares that opinion. "They are not fast as far as I am concerned. Everything goes through a phase. If people want it, they dance to it, you just have to give it to them till they don't want it anymore."
Erup - file
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