mid-1980s – 1990s

Digital Riddims

Programmed drums replace live bands — Sleng Teng and the digital revolution.

Digital dancehall replaces live-band recordings with drum machines and keyboards. Wayne Smith's "Under Mi Sleng Teng" (1985) on the Sleng Teng riddim is the landmark often cited as the turning point; hundreds of voicings follow on shared digital basslines.

  • Drum-machine riddims
  • Sleng Teng (1985) watershed
  • Shared digital basslines

Key artists

12

Producers

8

Labels

8

Riddims

12

Listen — albums & songs

12

Island Chronicle

8

This Day in Jamaican Music

6

News & culture

6

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