CHUNE

Riddim: Action

Producer: Dave Kelly

I’d written up a whole thing about “Number Two,” a different Terror Fabulous song from his run of Madhouse tunes . . . and then this video jumped out of the past, and everything changed¹. Warner Music imprint East West signed TF during dancehall’s big mid-’90s crossover moment, which meant good-sized video budgets for artists. It’s also just a stellar combination, with the two trading off bars until Terror Fabulous comes in to set the fellas right:

Bedroom bully, she nuh want that yuh know
She want a man fi caress her up like so
I nah mek love to woman like a war dem a go
Woman a bawl inna agony and holler out Cho!
Hardcore lovin, man, yuh mussi insane
Woman nuh waan no man fi mek she feel pain
Sweet lovin’ in di fallin’ rain
Sweet loving a mix up har brain…

Madhouse!

Additional Listening:

• Terror Fabulous, “Number Two” (1994): I’m not sure anything feels like 1994 quite as much as the Pepperseed riddim.

• Snow & Nadine Sutherland, “Anything For You (Remix)” (1994): Speaking of Nadine Sutherlands and major-label budgets, Snow spent that “Informer” money on features from an all-star team: Beenie, Buju, Terror Fabulous, Louis Culture, and Kulcha Knox. (Don’t get it twisted: Snow had cosigns.)

• Buju Banton feat. Carol Gonzales, “No Second Class Love” (1993): Meanwhile, across town, Penthouse Records dropped a very similar combination on Action. (I have no idea which came first, but let’s just agree that they’re both great.)

1. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen this since the days of Caribbean Connection (shout out Rachel). ↩︎