CHUNE

Riddim: Dub Organizer

Producer: Bobby Konders

Big sense memories from this one. (Not to be confused with big sensi memories—but same, I guess.) Bobby Konders and his Massive B partners have spun reggae and dancehall on NYC’s Hot 97 for straight-up decades, in addition to being a solid soundsystem and producers in their own right. Their 2002 re-lick of Scratch Perry’s Dub Organizer riddim—well, really of Rankin’ Joe’s 1982 version of the riddim—didn’t set the airwaves ablaze, but this King Kong tune always grabbed me. He still sounds like the singjay sensation he was in the mid-’80s, just with an added dose of poignancy.

Additional Listening:

• Lee Perry, “Scratch the Dub Organizer” (1970): The mad genius mad geniusing.

• Dillinger, “Dub Organizer” (1971): Like Big Youth, Dillinger brought a larger than life confidence even to his earliest tunes. He wasn’t the first to turn toasting into DJing, but he would become one of the most crucial.

• King Kong, “Ninja Mi Ninja” (1986): After Sleng Teng kicked off the digital arms race, Harry J re-licked it for the Computer/Computer Rule riddim—and King Kong rode it in fine fashion.

• Ranking Joe, “Can’t Stop the Natty Dread” (1982): There’s that bassline.