Currentzicks blends dancehall and mento on new Hill And Gully single

Currentzicks has joined the latest wave of Jamaican artistes drawing from mento, releasing Hill And Gully on the Inviting riddim. The track, produced by Spanish Town-based Most Wanted Records, uses the old Jamaican folk style as a base while giving it a dancehall treatment.

Speaking with Observer Online, Currentzicks said mento has long appealed to him. The genre, known for its rootsy folk sound, rose to prominence in the 1940s, and he said his aim with Hill And Gully was to make that tradition connect with younger listeners.

“It was always an idea I had to remix some of the old school dancehall music with a fusion of the new school sound, preserving a cultural expression in my own way. I am here to cater for different genres, but for now I am aiming for the ‘die-hearted’ dancehall souls,” he said.

The single arrives at a time when mento is enjoying fresh attention in Jamaica. Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor’s Hill And Gully riddim has helped pull more ears back to the genre, which still has loyal support within Jamaica’s cultural spaces.

For Currentzicks, who was born in Manchester, the connection to mento began outside the studio. He said the sound was part of his early life because of a popular television series. “I grew up watching the Hill And Gully Ride programme, so it (mento) was embedded in my childhood,” he said.

Hill And Gully Ride, which aired on Television Jamaica, travelled into some of the island’s more far-flung communities and highlighted how residents kept traditional ways of living alive. Its theme song is recognised as a mento classic.

Currentzicks has spent more than a decade recording music. His earlier releases include Bull ina Pen and Top Johncrow.