Massive B, the label owned by New York-based radio disc jock and sound system selector Bobby Konders, has delivered two tracks for the holiday season.

They are Cocoa Tea’s Weh Ya Gone and Bend Down Low by Xyclone, Chedda Boss, and Kisko Hype.

On Weh Ya Gone, Konders recruits veteran Jamaican singer Cocoa Tea for this one-drop anthem that finds the vocalist searching for the dancehall days of old, before pandemic-era lockdowns gripped the world and impacted the music industry.

The song is featured on the No Curfew rhythm. The piano-driven skank and horn refrain, courtesy of musician ‘Madman’ Myrie, carry echoes of the now classic Things and Time rhythm that spawned Buju Banton and Beres Hammond’s 1999 party time anthem, Pull It Up.

Said Konders: “Cocoa Tea is back. This song and riddim will remind you of the golden years of reggae and dancehall when sound system would string up!”

This is the first collaboration between Konders and the legendary vocalist.

Bend Down Low – featuring Massive B cohorts Xyclone, Chedda Boss, and Kisko Hype ­ calls some of the raw elements of dancehall into play over a snare-driven beat.

“ Bend Down Low is another ladies anthem for the clubs. This can mix with everything, from dancehall to reggaeton, to soca, Afrobeats and hip hop,” said Konders.

Konders, who has been involved in music production for more than a decade, has made a significant contribution to exposing reggae and dancehall songs on New York City radio on Sunday nights with his long-running HOT 97 programme Fire Sundays.

— Kevin Jackson