CHUNE

Riddim: Old Broom

Producer: John John

“Comforting” is an odd word to use to describe a singing voice, but it’s how Bushman’s baritone has always struck me. It’s smooth and deep, perfect for a roots sensibility in a dancehall world. You can hear it on early hits like “Nyah Man Chant,” and you can hear it on this ode to ital eating when he tells meat eaters cook a yuh yard yuh likkle fast food lover/vegetable you fi have dung inna yuh pot deh it simmer:

As a Nazarene man haffi live clean
No waan no beef no mutton or no sardine
Gimme mi ital stew and mi broad bean
Mi [call]aloo an’ mi split peas…

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go listen to dead prez’s “Be Healthy.”

Additional Listening:

• Bushman, “Fire Bun a Weak Heart” (1999): Another classic, this one over the same riddim (Hyprocrites) that brought you Half Pint’s “Mr. Landlord.”

• Bushman live from Tuff Gong Studios (2024): A stellar set for BBC Radio 1Xtra.

• Mad Cobra, “Out of Mind” (2001): Another tune on Old Broom—this one an uncharacteristically romantic cut from a not-usually-romantic Cobra.