Kabaka Pyramid and co. at Bebble Rock Music are back with one of the best produced and situated riddims and subsequent riddim albums of the first half of 2025. The Pon Di Island is chilled to a near perfection with a subtle guitar (I think that’s a guitar) and GORGEOUS piano being amongst the standout detailed sounds and a more prevalent horn dominating. While it doesn’t change for individual artists, all of those different colours and textures, given to different vocalists, make for an incredibly varied experience and, by its end, the Pon Di Island proved to be every bit of the class presentation that I felt it would be, going in. Let’s talk about it!
Getting the Pon Di Island riddim from Bebble Rock Music started is Yaksta who supplies the riddim with its title track. Pon Di Island shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone as far as its direction but what is a very nice eye-opener (ear-opener??) is the vibe of this one. It comes off as a very laidback type of theme but there is a certain STERNNESS behind it, making for an experience much more than just… laying around, enjoying the sun but that element does exist and is celebrated. I don’t know if I’ve ever actually written about Yaksta’s work, but he is a well talented individual and someone to keep an eye on, providing a definite highlight on the Pon Di Island riddim.
Next up, lives are endangered and stuff is broken and blown as, RIDICULOUSLY, legendary fireman, Capleton is paired with Cruzan blowtorch, Pressure Busspipe on Gunman Town, the single strongest tune here, to the surprise of absolutely no one.
Gunman town inna gunman town, Gunman town inna gunman town, Inna graveyard every gunman found. This is the problem wi face as minorities, Ghetto youth nuh have no food and don’t get no surety, Nuff seh dem are your friend but dem no know what is loyalty, Bwoy seh dem a gangsta and dem don’t got no lawyer fee. WAIT! Don’t be a fool to what di system create, Give up your life so easy and go take di bait. He who fights and run away, lives to fight another day. LOOK IN AND LOOK OUT! Be careful when they step and put a foot out, Gun clown, gun rookie – dem dun rook out, LIKE DEM FORGET SEH THAT THE GRAVEYARD BOOK OUT, CAAN BELIEVE DEM OWNA FRIEND – DEM DID TOOK OUT. Seh dat him have something weh tall weh chop di bush out. Inna gunman town, nuff a dem get push out, Dem seh dem cold and start di vibes and now di whole a dem goose get cook out!
BOOM! The tune is a HEAVY anti-violence set that gets brilliantly specific, grinding the subject down to a powdery-like substance. Capleton’s older now. He’s nearing sixty years old. You cannot tell me, lyrically, that man has lost a step – one of the sharpest minds in the history of Reggae and he and Pressure sets this riddim on fire with one of the strongest selections of the year. Kabaka Pyramid does take on his own creation, with the typically genius Jamaica. This one is all about having pride in being where you are from and, in the case of the Pyramid, he just happens to be from the sweetest place on the planet.
Mi fly around, Go whole heap a town, Collect nuff euro & pound, But dem no nice like Jamaica, Nowhere no home like Jamaica. Been all round di world, Seen whole heap a girl, Ah wear nuff diamond & pearl, But dem no nice like Jamaica, Nowhere no sweet like Jamaica. A what a likkle Island nice! From di beaches, to di rivers, to di island spice, From wi likkle but wi tallawah, Leader, wi no follower, And every Yard woman no fi whine pon time, Just a dat pon di map still, regardless, Weh you know bout Nanny and di one Marcus Garvey? World class coffee and cocoa dem call chocolate, AND FRESH JELLY WATA FI WASH OFF MI HEART WITH. Jah know mi love buy mi Clarks dung a Brixton, And mi will travel, go a Brooklyn inna instant, Mi juss shell a one show ova Lisbon, But nuttin no nice like a dance inna Kingston. Uptown man deh so Weddy Weddy now, Boom Sundays ah gwan, so wi heading out, Every night bout three dance ah keep, AND DI DANCEFLOOR MI SPOT ALL MATTRESS AND SHEET. The birthplace of Rastafari, Ah wi seh ‘look to the east’, Wi gi yuh Bob Marley, Usain Bolt, Shelly-Ann and all now nobody can compete, Mi have whole heap a mango tree so mi no buy a supermarket, Trailerload a ackee so just forward wid yuh basket, Real Jamaican, yuh know wi caan stop, From wi have pure breadfruit and plantain, lawd!
YES! I felt compelled to write all the lyrics down from the tune (because why not!). Kabaka Pyramid, in my opinion, is one of the very few people who has a case for being THE single greatest lyricist in Reggae today and he consistently proves it to devastating effect. Jamaica, easily, goes down as one of his finest builds in recent years. And if you love great writers, immediately following him (and Capleton & Pressure) is longtime favourite of ours, Lutan Fyah (probably going to write out a chunk of this one as well, then I’ll give it a rest) (not saying there won’t be anymore in this review –THERE MOST CERTAINLY WILL BE– just not for a minute), also takes on the Pon Di Island riddim on a vibe we know absolutely nothing about ’round these parts, Common Sense.
Mi no graduate from Yale, A common sense, Mi no believe inna no fairy tale. A common sense, Mi never come first in class, Mi took di test and pass, Mi no run dead last, None a dem coulda neva si mi fail, A common sense, just common sense. Mi no deaf, mi no dumb, Mi know mi language and mi psalms, I’m not a calculator, so dem caan shut mi dung, Alla now mi wise and mi did smart from mi young, They looking down at us, now si what wi become, I took a shot from the free-throw line, Things are stepping up, I’m certain, one day I must rise, WEH MI DO BEHIND CURTAIN MI LIVE IT OUTRIGHT, MY KNOWLEDGE COMES FROM THE MOST HIGH.
There is more than one way to come across knowledge is the sentiment behind this one and Lutan Fyah, I would guess, is someone who, though he may or may not have the scholastic accolades to show for it, has spent a considerable amount of time studying both the book and that type of knowledge that only comes with living and learning from life experiences. Common Sense is MAMMOTH and it speaks to the quality of this entire project that it only barely manages to crack its top five efforts.
Dre Island comes through with the very entertaining and Jr. Gong-esque Cold World. I’ve always thought that the Island to be reminiscent of Damian Marley and, if you haven’t, I’d definitely recommend you take a listen to Cold World (…even if you have, still hear this song); that being said and regardless of its stylistic inspirations, Dre Island absolutely DAZZLES here as he asks the world for just a little compassion and understanding for others.
I’ve never been the biggest Demarco fan, I never will be and his effort on the Pon Di Island, Don A Yard does not rank anywhere near my favourites on the riddim…. but it isn’t bad at all! This one doesn’t hit in the way that relatively similarly vibed present pieces like Kabaka’s Jamaica or the title track do but that does not mean that it is dull. Don A Yard is a beautiful ode to the culture which gave birth to it and everything you’re going to hear on this album. I’ll also mention one of the two remaining combinations (trying to get most of the biggest names together, then we’ll talk about the surprises), Real Vibez, which pairs Qraig [from] Voicemail and well grizzled big-voiced veteran, Singer J. Singer J (has a new album out this year, the Gospel vibed Grateful.
Qraig’s on that album as well) has literally been making music for over thirty years and I don’t think that we tend to properly acknowledge his contributions because they have been numerous. Let’s start here! The two come together under the umbrella-ing idea of being aware of those who may come into your life with not the greatest of intents in their thoughts, while giving credit to people who’re true to you. Real Vibez is fairly direct, but it does a very nice FEEL to it, particularly at the chorus and it is well worth several spins.
Hopefully, you’ll come away from the Pon Di Island riddim with a few names that are either completely or relatively new to you and you’ll be impressed enough to, perhaps, follow their work going forward. Such a candidate might be bouncing Spaniard, Irie Souljah, who does reach amongst the highest of heights here with Bout Ya. Call it INFECTIOUS, Bout Ya (and Common Sense would be another one), is the type of song that forces this riddim to ‘change’. Whether it does, actually, or not is not even important but with his delivery and the backing singers and everything going on here, it sounds like such a different and CAPTIVATING display from every other song. I’m dying to write lyrics here but I will refrain and, instead, tell you to really focus on what Irie Souljah says because you’ll miss a few GEMS if you do not [“Mi and mi empress take a ride up on di hill and ah talk bout di one bad house wi waan fi build”].
Check the burgeoning Jah Lil with the, arguably, even stronger pure social commentary Hold Corner. Lil is a multia-talented/faceted artist and you will encounter it all on vibrant display on this tune which is an examination of ghetto life in its most basic sense. It also develops slightly around that with the suggestion that people who go through the struggle may come out stronger because of the tough experiences Jah Lil is the exact type of person I was thinking of that may earn quite a few fans from appearing on this type of project.
There’re many people who will hear him here for the first time and will remember the name. While Ras-I doesn’t quite mine gold with his Do The Right, he does come close with the solid piece (which does take a step up during its latter stages as the chorus seems to intensify and the delightful backing singer/s take more of a presence. Check the final vocal track on the riddim, it’s obligatory ganja number, Pon Plane, courtesy of Jah Izrehl (great name). This one does DAMAGE!
Izrehl has a very free-flowing and organic style. It seems like it comes so naturally to him (he does have a new album, Kippy Fyah Red, which I have listened to. I cannot recommend it though, it isn’t very good) but he doesn’t run from STRUCTURE, which is kind of unusual (and I mean that in a good way). Pon Plane IMMEDIATELY becomes one of my favourite songs ever from the Kingston native. I would have complained had This I Know not been on the Pon Di Island, saying that the riddim lacked a significant female presence (more on that in just a second…. literally the next tune I tell you about) but not only is that NOT the case, Kabaka Pyramid tapped one of the greatest female voices going today, the outstanding Khalia. This I Know is golden.
Rifle dem ah lock a town, Body drop a ground, Wonder why di father not around? It’s a shotta zone, Likkle juvie get a proper crown, Bodies scattered round, GWAN GO LOOK INNA YUHSELF AND TRY FI LISTEN JAH JAH SOUND. Rastaman is not a clown, Siddung pon a throne, Responsibility – dem heavy than a pound, Give thanks ah gimme everything a Jah alone, That’s why a everywhere mi wave di banner proud. He that dweleth in the place of The Most High, Tell dutty babylon dem seh fi don’t try, Abide under di shadow of The Almighty, The inner city, it so cold until it icey, One time mi could afford fi live but now it pricey, Di youth dem nah no upside, now dem get so grimy. CORRUPTION CLEAR COULDA EVEN MEK DI BLIND SI, Ghetto youth unuh bodda tek it lightly
You don’t even hear from Iyansa until well into the song’s final minute but she does make the most of her time. I do wish that she did have more of a presence but Tafari absolutely lays waste to everything he touches on this track. Jah Sound is FIRE and, again, if you are unfamiliar with with either Imeru Tafari or Iyansa, you’ve now become acquainted! Also included, thankfully, is a clean version of the Pon Di Island riddim… because to not do so is just dumb. The instrumental is gorgeous and one of the nicest moments on its album – as is generally the case on these things.
What’s wrong with the Pon Di Island riddim? It’s too damn short. I don’t necessarily mean in terms of the total length here (I just clipped the screen off, I don’t even know how long it is) but with all but three being in the 2:50ish range (and the other three are only ten seconds longer), I would have liked to see more done with the development of some of the material here, with the prime example definitely being Jah Sound. Just looking through the tracklist also gives you that kind of… bad nostalgia that was so frequently associated with Dancehall – with that sort of ‘cookie-cutter’/’one-size-fits-all’ type of approach. Would have loved to have seen someone kind of break out of that and do something more…. organic and improvised because you can listen to it and KNOW that the opportunities were there.
Overall, the Pon Di Island riddim is outstanding and its album, for the most part, is as well. Riddim albums, in my opinion, provide such a wonderful opportunity to compare performances, ideas and such things as you can really see the different ways different artists approach the same music. The tunes can float around the same areas or be completely very different at times. What stands out in this particular case, however, isn’t such a grand deviation between tunes but, instead, REALLY big performances. As I said, I hope that you might come away from it with someone new in your mind to listen to, going forward, but the ones with whom you are already familiar SHOW UP as well. The biggest guns on the Pon Di Island shine just as bright as you would hope. Going in, I had such a beautiful nostalgic feeling about this one and, as it turns out, Kabaka Pyramid has delivered yet another one for the time capsule. Very well done.