1996 was a pretty good year for riddims – Joyride, Mecca, Stink, Rae Rae and Medicine all seeing the light of day, not to mention a slightly lesser known but big riddim, Fed Up, out of Sly & Robbie’s camp.
The riddim is dark, the bass is deep and the guitar riff pinning it all together is menacing. Coupled with some of dancehall’s gruffest vocalists – Bounty to Merciless – this one really embodies the anger in the name. The highlight is undoubtedly Bounty’s version of Suzanne Vega’s ‘Tom’s Diner’, where he does his favourite thing – being ‘cross, angry, miserable’. His offering is a downright bun babylon tune where the Warlord represents for the ghetto – ‘Poor people fed up’. There’s also a gallis anthem from Merciless, General B doing the ‘gyal ya body good’ thing, and a very weird ode to Lasco (a Jamaican milk brand) from Flourgon.
