The iconic Bam Bam riddim, known globally for Chaka Demus & Pliers’ mega hit Murder She Wrote in 1992, has been sampled by American producer Yeti for Skillibeng’s latest song, titled Boom.
During a recent interview with Ras Kwame on Capital Xtra, Skillibeng confirmed that the song, which features Dominican singer Tokischa, samples the Sly and Robbie-produced Bam Bam riddim, and pointed out that the song was produced by Yeti.
Six days prior to the release, Skillibeng had teased a snippet of the track on social media, captioning it: “New Music Out, Vybz Kartel Free. Great time to be alive!”
Most of his fans have reacted gleefully to the song except for a few who expressed disappointment that he did not collaborate with his compatriot Queen of Dancehall Spice, instead of opting for Tokischa.
Skillibeng’s ardent supporters were however, quick to defend his decision, pointing out that the collaboration with Tokischa appears to be a strategic move to tap into the Reggaeton market, in order to broaden his musical influence and reach a wider audience.
“Him a tap into the Reggaeton market wid da feature ya,” one man said while another added: “It’s called marketing and getting your brand to an wider audience. Remember it’s ‘music business’ and not ‘friendship lane’.”
This marks the second occasion Skillibeng has released a track titled Boom. On May 5, 2021, he had also released another Boom version on a drill beat, which was met with a torrent of harsh criticism from his followers. Many labeled the song as “garbage” and lamented that Skillibeng was “falling off”.
As for the original Bam Bam riddim, it features an impressive lineup of songs, among them Pliers’ Bam Bam which was a cover of Toots Hibbert’s winning National Festival Song which was recorded in 1966; Nardo Ranks’ Dem A Bleach, Murder She Wrote by Chaka Demus & Pliers, Pan Head’s Punny Printer and Cutty Ranks’ A Who Seh Me Dun (Wait De Man).
The Bam Bam riddim has been sampled numerous times, including by French Montana on Freaks and Jason Derulo on Too Hot. It also featured as sync music on the Bollywood movie soundtrack “Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiyathe” which was released in January this year.
In March 2021, during an appearance on The Entertainment Report Podcast, Pliers, in reminiscing about the studio session with Sly & Robbie’s Taxi Gang which led to the recording of two mega-hits in a single day, had revealed that he and Chaka Demus were invited to record after a number of unnamed artists had declined the pulsating masterpiece, dismissing it as an “eediat riddim.”
He said he returned to the studio after having left following the recording of Murder She Wrote, and told the Riddim Twins that he would love to record a version of Toots’ Bam Bam on the beat, but pointed out to them that he did not know all the lyrics.
“Why I didn’t put it to Sly earlier as I done record Murder She Wrote is because I didn’t know all of the lyrics. I know a few of the lyrics. So I said to dem, bwoy, I woulda love put Bam Bam on di riddim and dem seh ‘sing it man’, so mi say I don’t know di lyrics,” he had said.
“Di man dem say, ‘How yuh mean? Sing weh yuh know!’ To me it coulda even better but mi jus sing weh mi know as him seh,” he explained.
