Thursday, April 14, 2011

Bay DJ Charts: Gappy, The Message and Mavado

The San Francisco Bay Area is a reggae lover's paradise. You can be assured on any given night you'll have your pick of reggae, dancehall, roots and rocksteady club nights and live shows to choose from, most with world-renowned DJs and artists.

Club nights happen Monday through Sunday with live shows popping off on Thursdays through Sundays everywhere from San Francisco and Oakland, up north in Marin and Sonoma, south in San Jose and west over the hills in Santa Cruz. We love it here and our DJs are some of the most active, innovative mixers on the planet. From Club Dread to Dub Mission, Festival 68 to Coo-Yah, Bless Up to King of Kings and Reggae Gold, the Bay has reggae music on lock.

In that spirit, ForwardEver decided to poll a few of our favorite reggae spinners and see what's rotating at their events. This is a small sampling, but it seems universal that UK singjay Gappy Ranks, singers like Tarrus Riley and Etana, tough emcees like Mavado and Vybz Kartel and riddims like Don Corleon's The Message or dancehall scorchers Dancehall FX and Bus Stop are what's ruling the dances ova yah so. For more on Bay reggae events stop by Dee Cee's Soul Shakedown site.

Check the charts:

Selcta Green B (Coo Yah)
Catch Green B every week at Coo Yah (At SOM Bar) with her DJ partner Daneekah. Fresh dancehall riddims in the mix and regular guest DJs.

Singles
Demarco – Love My Life
Shaggy & Mavado – Girls Dem Love Me
Kartel – Benz Punnany
Mavado – Pepper
Gappy & Russian – Tun Up


Riddims
Dancehall FX
Bus Stop
The Message
Dutty Gamez
Island Vibes


Irie Dole (Jah Warrior Shelter, KPOO)
Irie Dole is part of SF's sound clash champion crew Jah Warrior Shelter with Jah Yzer, Ivier and Rocker T. Irie Dole is a tireless supporter of Bay Area reggae artists and bands, many of whom appear on his chart here, and on his Wednesday afternoon (12 - 3 p.m. PST) radio program Rebel Music on KPOO.
 
 


Singles
Gappy Ranks & Delly Ranx – Coulda Run Weh
Soulmedic – The Mixer
Winstrong – Trippin
Rocker-T – There With You
Vital – Don't Say No

Riddims
The Message
O.M.G.
Run Di Place
Sweet Corn
Step By Step

DJ Smoky (King Of Kings) 
DJ Smoky's weekly Sunday night event King of Kings (Shattuck Downlow, Berkeley) just celebrated it's 9th anniversary, and with good reason -- it's one of the most consistently packed parties with big name (Cutty Ranks, Don Carlos, Tarrus Riley) guests dropping in on the regular. Hats off to Smoky for building a Bay Area institution.
 
Singles
Andrew & Wada Blood – Hammer
Cutty Ranks – Full Blast
Tarrus Riley – Shaka Zulu
Gappy Ranks – I Was There
Jah Cure, Rick Ross, Mavado – Like I See It

Riddims
Currant
Sad Streetz
Captain
Billie Jean 2k11
My Life

For more of the KoK vibe check this recent video!