STICKY – JUMEIRAH RIDDIM (Mixpak)

 

Jan. 29th, 2010 by Kush Arora

The Jumeirah Riddim EP by Sticky is presented to us by the newfound Mixpak records, run by Dre Skull. This is simply the most slapping, well produced, and perfect cross section of the UK funky, post-grime and funky bashment scenes there is out there right now. In the early 2000’s, Sticky’s productions and riddim in the 2-step garage scene launched the careers of folks like Ms. Dynamite and many others. After a hiatus, he returns with spectacular and timely work from a true garage master.

First off, the strings in this are absolutely raging with massive amounts of low-end presence and orchestral chase music stabs, high quality and not falling apart like some crappy soft synth. Pair that with a solid 130 tambourine, mild Miami congas, and an afro bassline-rumbling but very simple sub; this is the perfect riddim for any acapella ride or to smash against other top numbers by folks such as Crazy Cousinz. It has been on almost every exclusive funky mix in the past four months and has become a genre quality placeholder.

The queen of funky, Natalie Storm, drops her best performance yet on a bashy riddim on the tune “Look Pon Me” which rides this riddim through one vocal version, one Dexplicit Remix, and one radio edit. Natalie delivers a sexy examination of how hot and talented she is, in her high school gone punk rock and marriage-breaking charm that she puts out there, keeping the men around her like flies on shit. Her timing, inflection, and pitch are perfect and she continues to be one of my top five favorite dancehall MCs.

The Dexplicit remix gives folks exactly what they’ve come to expect – kind of interesting in its hacking of the vocal but
reid dunn aka wisp untitled cd really ravey and quickly pumps in and out with some generic moog bass rises throughout. Honestly, with the maturity of the rest of the release this doesn’t even really sit on the release, and doesn’t bring any experimentation to it either like many would think. Just maybe a bit to throw into a seriously young rave moment. The second re-licking of the riddim in its alternate version is fairly similar, but provides some interesting time shifts and extension for DJs to really ride this one out.

This release will be heard by everybody in the next few months, whether they like it or not! I cannot wait to see what Mixpak puts out next.