# The 9 Best Dancehall Tracks of All Time Reggae with the band replaced by a riddim and the singer replaced by a deejay. From 1979 the rhythm track became a shared public asset that dozens of records were built on, which is a distribution model as much as a sound. - **Origin:** Kingston, Jamaica, 1979 - **Tempo:** 90–110 BPM - **Also known as:** ragga, raggamuffin, bashment, riddim - **Tracks:** 9 - **Updated:** 2026-08-29 - **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/genre/dancehall/ ## The list ### 1. [Sister Nancy](https://waxonia.com/artist/sister-nancy/) — [Bam Bam](https://waxonia.com/track/sister-nancy--bam-bam/) *1982 · Techniques* The most sampled record in this list by an enormous margin, and its author was paid nothing for decades. Effortless, funny, endlessly quotable, and it never once raises its voice. Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Sister%20Nancy%20Bam%20Bam) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=a9OopCd1gpE) ### 2. [Yellowman](https://waxonia.com/artist/yellowman/) — [Zungguzungguguzungguzeng](https://waxonia.com/track/yellowman--zungguzungguguzungguzeng/) *1983 · Greensleeves* A melody so contagious that Biggie, Nas and half of hip-hop borrowed it without discussion. Yellowman turned an unpronounceable title into the genre's most recognisable hook. Also on: [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Yellowman%20Zungguzungguguzungguzeng) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=X-tfYbRK2OA) ### 3. [Tenor Saw](https://waxonia.com/artist/tenor-saw/) — [Ring the Alarm](https://waxonia.com/track/tenor-saw--ring-the-alarm/) *1985 · Techniques* The Stalag riddim's definitive vocal, cut by a nineteen-year-old who was dead within three years. Urgency is easy to fake and impossible to manufacture, and this is the real thing. Also on: [The Eighties](https://waxonia.com/theme/the-eighties/). [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Tenor%20Saw%20Ring%20the%20Alarm) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=UpjLLw-cVzU) ### 4. [Shabba Ranks](https://waxonia.com/artist/shabba-ranks/) — [Dem Bow](https://waxonia.com/track/shabba-ranks--dem-bow/) *1990* Included for what happened next: the Bobby Digital rhythm underneath it was recut in Panama and Puerto Rico until it became the default pulse of reggaeton. One riddim, one hemisphere. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Shabba%20Ranks%20Dem%20Bow) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=HkzEZ_pFORs) ### 5. [Chaka Demus & Pliers](https://waxonia.com/artist/chaka-demus-and-pliers/) — [Murder She Wrote](https://waxonia.com/track/chaka-demus-and-pliers--murder-she-wrote/) *1992 · Mango* The Bam Bam riddim again, twenty years on, and the record that made dancehall a fixture of British radio. Singer and deejay trading lines is the form's most durable arrangement. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Chaka%20Demus%20%26%20Pliers%20Murder%20She%20Wrote) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=xwamqXYQh-0) ### 6. [Shaggy](https://waxonia.com/artist/shaggy/) — [Boombastic](https://waxonia.com/track/shaggy--boombastic/) *1995 · Virgin* Enormously silly and technically immaculate. Shaggy's timing is the reason this works where a hundred imitations did not, and it sold dancehall to people who owned no other dancehall records. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Shaggy%20Boombastic) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=6W5pq4bIzIw) ### 7. [Beenie Man](https://waxonia.com/artist/beenie-man/) — [Who Am I](https://waxonia.com/track/beenie-man--who-am-i/) *1997 · Greensleeves* The Playground riddim, and a deejay operating at the absolute peak of his powers. Beenie phrases behind the beat with the confidence of someone who knows the rhythm will wait. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Beenie%20Man%20Who%20Am%20I) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=WI-xQ7IksUc) ### 8. [Sean Paul](https://waxonia.com/artist/sean-paul/) — [Get Busy](https://waxonia.com/track/sean-paul--get-busy/) *2002 · VP* The Diwali riddim went to number one in America and took the genre's handclap pattern into pop for a decade. A riddim, not a song, is what actually crossed over. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Sean%20Paul%20Get%20Busy) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=oPQ3o14ksaM) ### 9. [Vybz Kartel](https://waxonia.com/artist/vybz-kartel/) — [Clarks](https://waxonia.com/track/vybz-kartel--clarks/) *2010* Three minutes about shoes that reportedly emptied Jamaica's supply of them. Kartel's ear for the specific detail is what separates dancehall writing at its best from a list of boasts. [Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Vybz%20Kartel%20Clarks) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=aFCTTcLq9H0) --- Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.