A diehard sound system man, Foota Hype loves his dancehall music hardcore and unfiltered. Which is what he wanted for Dollars And Cents, his second ‘riddim’ project.

The nine-song album was released last week. It contains songs by Busy Signal, Mr Vegas, and Delly Ranx.

Foota Hype said he was determined to deliver a beat that did not have the “phrasey, phrasey an’ di smoothness” associated with many current dancehall jams.

“I think di country, di people, di culture… everybody wey listen to dancehall is yearning for dat,” he added.

The Dollars And Cents project is the popular sound system selector’s second run at production. His debut ‘riddim’ was the Motherland which fared well thanks to Nesbeth’s Success Story and Where is The Love by I-Octane.

The Nyabinghi feel of Motherland, Foota Hype points out, made it a more spiritual production. For Dollars And Cents, he went back to basics.

Chippinz And Choppinz by Busy Signal, Most High from Mr Vegas, and Psalm 91 by Delly Ranx are some of the songs on the ‘riddim’. There are also singles from veteran Determine who does Facety, and Canada-based Knass with Cheat pon Him.

Though he is established in dancehall circles, Foota Hype (real name Oneil Thomas) admits being a producer is a different ballgame. It is not easy getting acts to ‘voice’ for him.

“If I could get di artistes I envisioned for di project we would have crazy hits but dat’s how music goes. Yuh work with what yuh can work with until yuh can work with who yuh want,” he said.