Dancehall doesn't ask for permission. Enter with the riddim in front, with the artist at the microphone and with the massive answering each line. Since it stopped being "reggae's aggressive cousin" and became one of the most influential genres of the 21st century, dancehall has crossed borders, languages and scenes. In this section we follow it step by step: the riddims that matter, the artists who put them together and the culture that surrounds them.
What is Dancehall?
Dancehall emerged in Jamaica in the 1980s as a more urban, faster and more direct evolution of roots reggae. Less Biblical, more from the street. The sound went digital with King Jammy, the vocals became more aggressive with Yellowman and Shabba Ranks, and by the '90s it was a global phenomenon with Beenie Man, Buju Banton and Sean Paul taking the genre to stadiums around the world.
What makes it unique: theriddim. A riddim is a musical foundation upon which dozens of artists record their voices. It's not a generic beat — it's a shared universe. The Diwali Riddim, the Coolie Dance, the Summer Long... each one has a history, has artists that define it and has a place in the culture.
The Riddim as an Ecosystem
To understand dancehall is to understand the riddim. A label produces the base, distributes it to artists around the world, and within weeks there are 20, 30, sometimes 50 different voices on the same riddim. It is industrial collaboration, it is artistic competition and it is a form of distribution that does not exist in any other genre.
At Pull It Up Radio we cover the most relevant riddims of each season: which artists do them best, which ones become classics, and which ones are worth following.
Dancehall in Latin America
Dancehall arrived in Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica and Argentina with its own force. Artists like Lión Fiah, Ras Jahonnan, Lion Big Mao, Carlos Thunder, Frikyboy, Toledo, Jahricio, Gymario and the entire Latin American reggae-dancehall scene demonstrate that the genre does not need translation — it needs adaptation. And that adaptation is happening right now, in garages, home studios and sound systems that do not appear in any mainstream magazine.
They cover us all.
What You Find in This Section
- Reviews and analysis of the most important riddims of each season
- Artist profiles: those who come from Jamaica and those who are building the scene in LATAM
- Coverage of bashments, events and sound clashes
- Dancehall History: From King Jammy to the Artists of 2025
- New releases: singles, EPs and videos