Musician and producer Steven “Lenky” Marsden is setting the record straight regarding a statement made by American television host Jimmy Kimmel regarding a dancehall rhythm during the opening monologue of his late night talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live, which airs on American network ABC.

During the minutes-long segment at the top of his show, Kimmel recounted being put on hold as his sought information from the COVID-19 Case Info and Vaccination Assistance Line. He shared with his audience that he was put on hold for two and a half hours and was subject to the hold music, which he shared with his audience. So taken by the rhythm, Kimmel turned to the virtual assistant Siri, to find out the origin of the instrumental and was informed that it was the song Love is Wicked by the Jamaican sibling duo Brick and Lace.

However, Marsden, who is the creator of the rhythm, has shared that what was played on Jimmy Kimmel Live was his XM24 rhythm, sections of which were used on the Brick and Lace project, with the base sound being his popular Diwali rhythm, which was created almost two decades ago.

“It feels good that after all these years a little rhythm which I created in my back room at Paddington Terrace in Jamaica is still having a buzz. But what Siri told him was technically not right. Let me explain. I built Diwali, but the truth is for every artiste who is on that rhythm there is something that we did a little different for them musically. So after it blew up with songs like Get Busy by Sean Paul and Wayne Wonder with No Letting Go, I created an instrumental version for myself which I called XM24. It was years after the rhythm buss that we worked with Brick and Lace and what they used is the rhythm pattern that I added to Diwali to create XM24… so what Kimmel played was my XM24 rhythm,” Marsden explained in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

He further shared that the Diwali rhythm, inspired by the Indian feast of lights festival, was created in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11, 2001, which caused the collapse of the Twin Towers, a New York landmark.

“I was a touring musician for many years, playing all over the world with a number of Jamaican artistes. I was about to go on tour with Buju when the whole thing started and I remember somebody saying to me with this whole clampdown on foreigners entering the US, the whole touring thing is in danger. I remembered something Sly Dunbar had said to me years before. He said, ‘Never come with the same thing, always come with something different’. I then thought of a little rhythm I had built in about 1998. Furthermore I was now a father of two children, so with touring taking a hit I remember the rhythm.”

“I was just starting out as a producer so when I took it to people to listen most said, ‘dash it weh’, some said it was too noisy, but I just liked the vibe. At the time the only artistes I was working with were General Degree, Zumjay, and Assassin (now Agent Sasco), so I worked with them and they helped to build the vibe in the streets,” Marsden continued.

The love for Diwali in Jamaica would slowly grow thanks to Meet Me at the Party (Party Time) by Danny English and Egg Nog, and then gain international notoriety with Sean Paul and Wayne Wonder, whose songs went to number one and number 11, respectively, on the Billboard charts. American hip hop artiste Lumidee also worked the Diwali rhythm taking it to number two on the Billboard charts with Uh Oh.

“The thing with Lumidee is that that song is technically a remix. She had released her song one a hip hop rhythm and a DJ laid her vocals on Diwali and it just took off from there. So there was a lot of talk that she was off key, but people don’t really know the facts. The truth is she was never went into the studio and recorded on Diwali, so by the time it blew up we never had the time to record her. I am pleased and proud of Diwali. I don’t think there is any other rhythm out there which has been as successful with three songs making it to number one, two and eleven on the Billboard charts,” Marsden noted.