CHUNE

Riddim: My Conversation

Producer: Junjo Lawes

The song that arguably changed the course of dancehall. As Beth Lesser recounts in Dancehall: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture, a soundsystem owner from New York named Jah Life went to Jamaica in hopes of recording with Linval Thompson—only to be intercepted by Junjo Lawes, who suggested they work with a young Barrington Levy instead. This was the first song from that session at King Tubby’s studio, voiced over the track from Slim Smith’s “My Conversation” with a junior engineer at the boards who went by Scientist.

Cut to the end of 1979, and Levy had released four albums, though many of them featured the same selection of tunes. He was well on his way to becoming a titan of the rub-a-dub era—as were Lawes and Scientist.

As for the tune itself: a classic tale of learning how to buy quality weed for your parents. (Who among us, right?)

On my way out to Maverley
Mama send mi out fi go buy some collie
Mek a mistake an mi a buy folly
She jump on the bike, she mek to dolly
Hey, up a Maverley
…
Caan tek di bush herb again
Sensi, ah seh sensi, sensimillia mi want.

Additional Listening:

• Slim Smith, “My Conversation” (1971)

• Lone Ranger, “Barnabas Collins,” a song about the vampire character from the soap opera Dark Shadows; this was the reigning tune on the riddim when Levy voiced on it.

gyal mi seh out yuh candle, tek off yuh bangle
tun yuh neck pon yuh right angle
him a di best inna di business
Barney chew yuh neck like Wrigley’s

• It gets deeper! Yellowman first emerged on the scene when he won a talent contest in 1979—with a counteraction to “Barnabas Collins” called “Me Kill Barnie,” detailing how he’d save women from Collins’ clutches. By the time a recorded version came out a few years later, he was officially King Yellowman.

• Barrington performing “Collie Weed” in 2017. Does he age? Shiddly-diddly-no.