Bazza Ranks (a.k.a. one half of Dirty Dubsters) goes solo with his new Rum Punch EP on which he invigorates two classic riddims with the highly capable assistance of a trio of reggae-hip-hop vocalists. Now which reggae-hip-hop legends would you pick if you had a free choice? It’s no contest is it? Has to be Fu Schnickens’ Chip Fu and fellow NYC-based legend Screechy Dan who tear things up like dancehall pirates on A-side Rum Riddim. Still, that’s not a trio is it? Step forward UK mic don Top Cat to show them as got no pop no style how to take an old time thing and make a new boom-bap reggae craze on – er – Old Time Thing, A New Craze. And damn if it doesn’t hold its own.
(Out now on Riddim Kitchen Records)