I was wondering whether or not to try and include some form of dancehall spelling in the above title, but I figured that this post is going to make me look horrifically white and totally out of my depth as is, so the last thing I needed to be doing was trying to spell ‘Ladies’ as ‘Ladiez’. Or, potentially, ‘Ladeeez’. Yep, dodged a bullet there. A bullet of racism.

It’s probably a bit of an understatement to say that I’ve been enjoying Major Lazer’s ‘Pon De Floor’ of late. Because at this point in time I’d say it is so clearly the best dance track of the year that everybody else may as well just stop producing altogether and enjoy the summer. I was a bit of a late convert to the cause, I must admit, so I’m sure there’s plenty of people out there who would be happy if they never had to hear that high-pitched noodling ever again. But for me, even after repeated listens at home, in clubs, on public transport, in bed, at funerals, etc. every time I hear the track, it still makes me want to dance like the worst wigga in the world. There’s arms flailing in the air and everything.

Naturally, the track has also spawned a horde of decidedly sub-par remixes from the blog haus fraternity (a lá Township Funk), but nonetheless I’ll attach for your edification two of the best, the Beataucue Remix, which is one of the few remixes to really attack the original’s synth line, and the Laidback Luke Edit, which is basically the original but with a new vocal overlay and a nice gentle, mixer’s delight intro and outro.

Major Lazer – Pon de Floor (BeatauCue Remix)

Major Lazer – Pon De Floor (Laidback Luke Remix)

But ‘Pon De Floor’ is really just introductory patter for the post at hand. One of the big things that Major Lazer seems to have achieved/attached itself to is a rekindled interest in dancehall music. They probably can’t take full credit for this resurgence, as it was probably starting at least last year – sweeping up alongside the kuduru/kwaito/dubstep charges – but they’ve certainly gone some way toward popularising it. Which is a good thing, because as dance music it, quite frankly, rocks. As a general rule these dancehall tunes are ballsy, bassy, rolling and have killer ragga/rap vocal lines, but to my mind one of the better things coming from this scene is the emergence of a new set of hard as nails lady MCs. In an electro pop moment dominated by the fluffiness of Little Boots, La Roux, et al, I just think it’s nice to have an antidote written in jagged synth lines, pounding bass and angry rhymes. Sisters got to represent.

I am so white.

First up is the absolutely massive ‘Poison Dart’, the standout track on The Bug’s 2008 dancehall renaissance album London Zoo, featuring the mighty Warrior Queen on vocals. In all likelihood you’ve already heard this tune, but on the off chance you haven’t it’s definitely worth checking out. I saw The Bug and Warrior Queen play last year and can safely say that while he was one of the shitter DJs I’ve seen in recent memory, she was by far and away the best MC experience I have ever had. ‘Posion Dart’ was the final tune they played that night and, shit me sideways, it went off like a frog in a sock.

The Bug – Poison Dart (feat. Warrior Queen) [HIGHLY RECOMMENDED]

Next we have Jamaican upstart Terry Lynn, producing a fine line in politically aggressive tracks about life in Kingston, a city with one of the worst murder rates in a country with one of the worst murder rates in the world. Yikes. Two tracks here, the dirty and angry System, which seems to be pissed about essentially everything, but still manages to be pretty goddamn danceable, and the Kocky remix of her track Kingston Logic, an odd play on the Daft Punk classic that is as banging a track as I’ve heard in quite some time.

Terry Lynn – System

Terry Lynn – Kingston Logic (Kocky Remix) [HIGHLY RECOMMENDED]

And finally (God, this post just goes on), hailing from Japan, we get Akane. I must admit up ’til now I’d never really thought much about Japan’s dancehall scene, but, well, here we are. I can’t find a huge amount of info about her (Japanese is a language that I’m not awfully good with), but she’s just put out her second album, Straighter, and I’m pretty sure this is the first single. Hefty and fun in an M.I.A. kinda way.

Akane – Dancehall Head

And I’m going to go out on a limb and say that’s probably enough content for one post. Enjoy!

-luke