CHUNE

Riddim: Taxi (2006)

Producer: Sly and Robbie

I’ve made no secret of my love for Sly and Robbie’s Taxi re-lick. While it’s got standout cuts from Buju Banton and Beenie Man (among others), it also has what’s probably my favorite Vegas track of all time. That’s no shot at dancehall classics like “Heads High” and “Nike Air,” but he’s almost always singjaying over busier riddims; Taxi is so loping and spare that it slows him down, making his lyrics about eschewing petty crime for higher stakes sound almost mournful:

when government a rob
seh dem rob a bag
suh if mi a go rob a muss million a have
mi nah pick nuh purse
nuh chain mi nah grab
around here di warriors nah rob taxicab

Additional listening:

• Buju Banton’s “Driver A,” the riddim’s biggest hit
• Beenie Man, “Foundation Badman”/”Mi Dis Movado”
• Vegas runs through a barrage of hits for a Brooklyn crowd