Every week resident FADER selector Eddie STATS runs through dancehall riddims and other artifacts from the ghetto archipelago.
Chutney people: your dutty dreams have now been fulfilled. This Friday—tomorrow—I will be making my Philly DJ debut at Fluid for a bashy called Dutty Chutney which is dedicated to two of my favorite things in this world: bhangra and dancehall. In fact, if the party is anything like the pirate radio style remixes the Dutty Chutney crew have been disseminating online, it will be like my favorite parts of Basement Bhangra and my favorite parts of HEAVYWE1GHT Sessions sandwiched on top of each other and then marinated in lo-pass filter like a deep fried Reeses cup. Seriously I am going on with the food metaphors, but all jokes aside at this party they actually serve pattys and samosas, which eliminates the walk across Houston to the Punjabi deli I habitually make after Bollywood Disco. Also, it represents a step up from my Philly non-DJ debut which consisted of catching a bad one from the patty vendor in the bus station sometime in the late '90s. In recognition of this momentous event I decided to run a sequel to my desihall column of a few months back as a promotional sneak preview of the set I’ll be playing.
Desihall II Blend:
Qurbani OST, “Hum Tumhe Chahte Hain” (Tabla riddim refix)
Jawani Diwani OST, “Dil Diwana” (Emraan Rocks remix)
Specialist & Tru-Skool “Dhaaru Peeke” (Dutty Chutney refix)
Capleton, “Tour” (Bach Ke refix)
Bally Sagoo, “Hot Kuri”
Download: Desihall II Blend
The first mix is one I’ve been playing live since the "ghetto orientalist" era of dancehall peaked a few years ago in the wake of Panjabi MC and Truth Hurts and every other riddim that came out was called Tabla or Coolie Dance or Hindu Storm. I continued on the Bollywood tangent with a bellydancerish remix of “Dil Diwana” and then cut back to bhangra with the one of the Dutty Chutney white label refixes, which is like the high points of Basement and HEAVYWE1GHT on one track. “Dhaaru Peeke” by Specialist n' Tru-Skool might actually, factually be the biggest tune we play at Basement; the cut the words and let the crowd sing along moment, and here it is dubbed over the Show Off/Showtime/Unfinished Business riddim, which, between “No Games,” “So Special” and the original classics like “Gal Pon de Side” may be the most-played riddim at any dancehall night I do and in fact was the backbone of my last desihall blend. That one also featured a new Cham tune, something that happens not once in a blue moon, but like only when the moon is a particular SHADE of blue. So just to keep things symmetrical I threw in a loosie of his newest on Stephen McGregor’s Advocate riddim:
Cham, “Dem fi Know Dat”
Download: Cham, "Dem fi Know Dat"
Next month is the 12th anniversary of Basement and desihall/bhangraton pioneers Tigerstyle will be joining us so there’s no telling what I’ll get inspired to dunk my Reese’s cup in for that.