CHUNE

Riddim: Eighty Five

Producer: Dave Kelly

It’s always wild to watch a song become a crossover hit. This one was aided by Alicia Keys, of course—and then Akon, in re-licks dubbed “Chapter 2” and “Chapter 3″—but the original is an all-timer for a reason. Cham and Dave Kelly¹ have always been a superteam; here, Kelly’s Eighty Five riddim perfectly suits Cham’s Supreme Team-style tale of childhood friends who make good by making bad. Mikey go a foreign and a tun Al Capone, mek whole heap a money and send in wi own…

Additional Listening:

• Assassin, “Anywhere We Go” (2006): Even if “Ghetto Story” is the riddim’s defining tune, this one makes a compelling argument.

• Cham, “Babylon Bwoy (2000): Known as Baby Cham back then, the artist delivers a stunning (if homophobic) rebuke to fake gangsters.

• Cham performs “Ghetto Story” on BBC 1Xtra: With an assist from Damian Marley, no less.

1. Formerly of Penthouse, then his own Madhouse label, Kelly’s the man behind some of the ’90s’ biggest riddims: Joyride, Action, Pepperseed, and the list goes on. ↩︎