# Hey mon, recomend some good "raggae rap" songs. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-mon-recomend-some-good-raggae-rap-songs/508656 "2009-09-02T18:07:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-mon-recomend-some-good-raggae-rap-songs/508656/1 "2009-09-02T18:07:22Z")
The tittle says it all. A friend of mine that I go to lunch with (at work) has this awesome CD that he plays in his car. It’s rap but it sounds like it’s sung by reggae dudes. So I dubbed it “reggae rap”. I asked my friend who was on the CD but he couldn’t tell me as the CD itself was made from a friend of his. The friend didn’t bother to put a label on it. (He’s a DJ) So now, I’m left wondering who these bad-ass artist were. Anyway, I know that’s too vague a description for you all guys to guess who it was; but I was hoping you could throw some good suggestions out there. I really dig this new found music!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-mon-recomend-some-good-raggae-rap-songs/508656/2 "2009-09-02T18:13:45Z")
Oxymoron. Ok, I might as well attempt. Try Mattisyahu. Buju Banton. Just Ice. Hmmmm . . . Shaggy, I guess. I think some of the later _Big Blunts_ compilations (not Volume 1) have some reggae-rap on them. ---
**Author:** ![Highpockets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19adc/32.png) [@Highpockets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Highpockets)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-mon-recomend-some-good-raggae-rap-songs/508656/3 "2009-09-02T18:15:22Z")
Try Damien Marley. Specifically, “Welcome to Jamrock” and “One Loaf of Bread” are excellent. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-mon-recomend-some-good-raggae-rap-songs/508656/4 "2009-09-02T18:24:38Z")
Worst. Genre. Ever. (If it’s that Sean Paul type shit) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-mon-recomend-some-good-raggae-rap-songs/508656/5 "2009-09-02T18:33:52Z")
This style is called dancehall, isn’t it? I’m not into it but if I’ve got the name right that might help **SHAKES**. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-mon-recomend-some-good-raggae-rap-songs/508656/6 "2009-09-02T18:43:56Z")
Also check out Serani, Mavado, Santogold, MIA and Tanto Metro. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-mon-recomend-some-good-raggae-rap-songs/508656/7 "2009-09-02T18:47:15Z")
and Beenie Man, Elephant Man. Also The Fugees from back in the day… ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-mon-recomend-some-good-raggae-rap-songs/508656/8 "2009-09-02T19:15:40Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Also check out Serani, Mavado, Santogold, MIA and Tanto Metro. Mavado is actually bang on. Dancehall is generally considered more of a ‘rappy’ style of reggae, like Marley said, but Mavado takes it a step further by really embracing modern rap to the point of working the lyrics into his music. (Tupac, Biggie, etc) Also, Mavado is the dancehall artist that really pulls in the hip hop crowd that normally doesn’t like dancehall/reggae. The chanting that is done in dancehall is heavily influenced by hip hop and is what separates reggae from dancehall, along with the rhythms (riddums). To restate, almost all dancehall is rap reggae, because the chanting / rhythm is influenced by hip hop in a way that reggae is not. Dancehall artists that are hip-hoppy in their chanting styles and rhythms are Buju Banton Beenie Man Sizzla Kolanji Capleton Bounty Killa Damian Marley And most of all, my very favorite dancehall artist of them all is Vybez Kartel. He is great at bringing the hip hop flavor to reggae and he lists my favorite hip hop artists as his too, and credits them for the dancehall sound as he performs it. All of this is subjective of course. Some people may not consider dancehall to be hip hop reggae. But it is, IMO. I love hip hop more than anything. But if hip hop stole my heart, dancehall took my body! (gotta wiggle the hips the second I hear the first base drop). tr0psn4j, Sean Paul is more of an R&B kind of commercial dancehall. Not really the gritty stuff that most folks think of when they think of dancehall. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-mon-recomend-some-good-raggae-rap-songs/508656/9 "2009-09-02T20:50:02Z")
Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim)'s old band from the early 90’s _Beats International_ had an interesting electronic/dub/reggae sound. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_Tightlips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/57b2e6/32.png) [@Joey\_Tightlips](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_Tightlips)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-mon-recomend-some-good-raggae-rap-songs/508656/10 "2009-09-03T18:40:47Z")
I can’t remember how it goes (of if it was even that good), but Run DMC had a song called “Roots Rap Reggae”. It’ll certainly give you a higher rap to reggae ratio than the other songs metioned so far. Agreed that Sean Paul sucks. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-mon-recomend-some-good-raggae-rap-songs/508656/11 "2009-09-03T19:14:17Z")
Does some of Sublime’s stuff fit into this category? ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hey-mon-recomend-some-good-raggae-rap-songs/508656/12 "2009-09-03T19:14:28Z")
Ok. I will come on in and defend Sean Paul. I wasn’t gonna try it, but I feel compelled. There is gritty dancehall, and commercial dancehall. Sean Paul is commercial dancehall, but the good kind. He is whack, mostly now. A bunch of radio crap he puts out, now. But Gimme The Light was actually a very good pop/r&b/dancehall song. ‘Deport Them’ is a damn near classic. ‘Never Gonna Be the Same’ is not bad either. All that radio crap and duets with Beyonce and all that is garbage. Cisco mentioning Just Ice (love him!) in this thread reminded me of KRS ONE. He had a lot of reggae influence in his music, but not nearly enough to call it reggae. He did have that reggae jump off with Mad Lion in the 80s. Shoot to Kill. Terrific song. Had that same rhythm as Mary J. Bliges ‘Love without a Limit’. I can’t remember if her song came first or theirs’. ETA: Zipper, I feel you on Sublime being very reggae/rappy, but I am convinced that the OP just means dancehall, which is rappy reggae as opposed to ‘Bob Marley’ reggae. I could be wrong, but I’m betting Marley had the idea right away. Rap reggae = dancehall. Chant = Rap. There are those that say rap is born of dub, or chanting reggae music. I am not one of those that buys that idea, but the dancehall / rap community is definetly married, that’s for sure.