Sleng Teng, the rhythm that transformed dancehall-reggae, turns 40 this year.
Lloyd “King Jammy” James, who produced the computerised beat and hit single of the same name, plans to celebrate the milestone in a big way.
In an interview with the Jamaica Observer, his manager Jack Reuben said a commemorative Sleng Teng album is part of The King Jammy Legacy Project — a series celebrating the producer’s achievements.
“In regards to the 40th anniversary of the Sleng Teng, we will be releasing a Sleng Teng Worldwide Album featuring artistes from all over the globe. The line-up for this album reads like a dream team. I won’t drop names, but rest assured it will be worth the wait,” he disclosed.
What became the Sleng Teng was created by musician Noel Davey at King Jammy’s Waterhouse recording studio in late 1984 on a Casio MT-40 keyboard. By the summer of 1985 Smith’s radical Under Mi Sleng Teng was rocking dancehall and radio.
Dancehall artistes rushed to record on the uptempo beat, notably Tenor Saw (Pumpkin Belly), Johnny Osbourne (Buddy Bye), John Wayne (What The Police Can Do) and Anthony Red Rose (Under Mi Fat Thing).
Reuben promised that the upcoming album will do justice to one of dancehall-reggae’s timeless productions which triggered dancehall music’s digital age.
“The fact that Sleng Teng has been in existence for 40 years and has been featured on global radio for that length of time is an achievement King Jammy is proud of. The fans are the ultimate consumers, so it’s important to us that we can satisfy their listening ears with something special,” he said.
Chris Schlarb, one of the principals at DubShot Records in New York, remembers being blown away when he heard Sleng Teng for the first time while a student at the University of Vermont.
“That the entire rhythm was built on a Casio keyboard says so much about Jamaican musical culture. Not to be limited by the constraints of available resources, and the raw power made it so accessible to my ears,” Schlarb told the Observer. “It was intuitive and visceral, and it helped me to realise that musical production was only limited by creativity. It turned my understanding of dancehall on its head, and I only wanted to dig deeper into that era of early melodic dancehall.”
Wayne Smith, who had other hit singles with Ain’t No Meaning in Saying Goodbye and Come Along, died in 2014. Noel Davey has revisited his finest moment many times as a producer, recording songs by Anthony B, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, and Captain Barkey on revised versions of Sleng Teng.
King Jammy’s productions ruled the dancehall in the wake of the Sleng Teng. During the late 1980s and early 1990s he released numerous hit songs by artistes such as Cocoa Tea, Admiral Bailey, Nitty Gritty, Super Cat, Shabba Ranks, and Home T.