Serani makes Caribbean Drop Riddim
The “riddim” has always been a fundamental component of Jamaican music, particularly for dancehall and reggae. In 1968 Sir Coxsone Dodd brought an echoplex electronic machine into Studio One that would forever change the sound of reggae, introducing the ‘one drop’ element of riddims. Later Wayne Smith and King Jammy would create the “Sleng Teng” riddim, the first ever fully computerized riddim and incidentally one of the most popular- if not the most popular riddim to be produced in Jamaica. Since then the “riddim” continues to evolve especially with the advances in technologies available to producers. Today Jamaica possesses a wide catalogue of one-drop and “juggling” riddims- and the pool keeps growing.
Producer Craig Marsh, more popularly known as Serani, has been contributing to this pool since 2001 with the production house Daseca. Anger Management,Dancehall Again, Dreaming and Genesis Riddim are some of his best known work along with singles such as Tony Matterhorn’s Dutty Wine, Sean Paul’s We Be Burnin’ and several Mavado hits.
Doubling as singjay, delivering singles such as No Games and She Loves Me, Serani continues to be prolific- though with a newly formed record label “Rock Stone”. His most recent project the “Caribbean Drop” Riddim fuses the vibe of a quintessential juggling riddim with the groove of a one-drop riddim through the sweet strums of the steel guitar and groovy shakes from the cabasa.
(See Serani in his element as he explores and executes a unique blending of the juggling and one drop riddim elements to create the Caribbean Drop riddim)
A part from creating the riddim, Serani also voiced his own song on the riddim entitled “One Drop”, a song about the latest dance trend among ladies in the dancehall with the same name. So far the riddim has been receiving major rotation at nightly dancehall events from popular selectors Foota Hype and CD Fantasy sound among others.
By: Tanaka Tiki Roberts