This week, Billboard is publishing a sequence of lists and articles celebrating the music of 20 years in the past. Our 2003 Week continues right here with the story of the Diwali dancehall riddim — and the Jamaican producer who initially created it — which turned as essential part of the yr’s sonic id as something helmed on U.S. shores.
If you happen to had been listening to pop radio within the spring or summer season of 2003, you’re in all probability very conversant in Steven Marsden, whether or not you acknowledge his title or not. Affectionately referred to as “Lenky,” the Jamaica-born and bred musician, instrumentalist and producer is finest referred to as the mastermind behind the now-iconic “Diwali Riddim.”
Named for the annual Pageant of Lights in Indian faith and tradition, the riddim – simply recognized by dancehall followers by way of energetic synths, a bouncy drum loop and infectious handclaps – will be heard in myriad songs throughout genres. Three songs that includes Diwali (Sean Paul’s debut single, “Get Busy,” Lumidee’s “By no means Depart You (Uh Ooh, Uh Ooh),” and Wayne Surprise’s “No Letting Go”) hit the highest 20 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 throughout a three-month span in mid-2003, undeniably making it the defining beat of the yr. Due to persistence, perseverance and an affinity for doing issues his means, Lenky’s place in dancehall music historical past is indelible.
A self-taught pianist who acknowledged his “pure knack” for music whereas in grade college, Lenky labored as a touring keyboardist alongside veteran Jamaican artists like Lloyd Parks, Blood Hearth Posse, Rita Marley, and his mentors, Sly & Robbie. Although Lenky prides himself on being a musician above all, by the late ‘90s, he was all in favour of producing new sounds – and was inspired by Sly & Robbie to toy with completely different components with the intention to create his personal magic.
“On the time, common dancehall beats had been just like those from the ‘80s,” he explains to Billboard over Zoom. Although dancehall originated within the ‘60s, it discovered its increase in the course of the ‘80s after digital instrumentation, or “riddims,” turned the central focus of the songs. Due to the simple accessibility of digital riddims, many dancehall artists would file songs that includes the identical riddim as different artists, which granted them the flexibility to launch a bigger quantity of tracks, lowering studio time and prices.
“I’m sitting there saying, ‘I’m gonna attempt to do one thing completely different…what would Sly do?’” Lenky continues.
Enter the Diwali Riddim. Created in 1998 with a Tascam DA-88 multitrack recorder, the riddim was initially known as “Ethnic Journey.” This served as an ode to Lenky’s time experiencing new cultures whereas on the touring circuit, particularly whereas in Buju Banton’s band, Til Shiloh. The primary factor developed for the riddim was a kick, adopted by a fundamental synth. However a bassline simply wouldn’t lower it if the beat was to face out.
“We would have liked one thing to get folks to bop,” he remembers. “I’m the kind of one that must get folks dancing, so I got here up with the clap. I did a number of completely different takes of the clap stacked collectively. I wished another factor to make it extra ‘dance.’ So within the authentic lower of Diwali, you hear this Congo drum. And I mentioned, ‘That’s gonna get them on the ground – this appears like one thing Sly would do. [Laughs.]”
Regardless of its hallmark handclaps, the rhythm was deemed “too noisy” and “bizarre” for a lot of artists. On the flip of the century, extra monotonous, bass-heavy dancehall beats just like the Filthy Riddim and Bagpipe Riddim had been taking on, due to tracks like Mr. Vegas’ “Heads Excessive” and Beenie Man’s “Yr 4.” Diwali didn’t match the mould of what was working, making it a particularly exhausting promote, and main Lenky to shelve the riddim. But, after touring all through the U.S. got here to an abrupt halt because of the 2001 terrorist assaults, the musician discovered himself in a bind.
“I simply had [my] first baby, so we would have liked to become profitable,” he remembers. “I’m simply pondering again and saying ‘…however that beat, there’s nonetheless one thing about that [Diwali] beat.”
Although he acquired among the identical iffy reactions to the riddim throughout his second trial run, Jamaican artists like Zumjay and Common Diploma did present Diwali some love. (Their respective makes use of of the riddim will be heard in “Zumjay Is My Identify” and “Inna.”)
“I gave it to artists that I knew, I gave [the beat] to a man from the radio station [in Jamaica],” Lenky says of Diwali’s early-’00s resurrection. “I used to be broke and making an attempt to make something occur. After I got here again [from touring again], it was, like, the most important factor. The riddim is simply throughout.”
Diwali unfold even additional after the file label Greensleeves centered it for the compilation challenge Rhythm Album #27, which options 19 songs with the riddim because the backing monitor. Artists heard on the challenge embody Buju Banton, Elephant Man, and Wayne Surprise, and the riddim’s attraction – particularly in Surprise’s sweetly melodic love track “No Letting Go” – unfold to america. A New York Instances article highlighting Lenky and Diwali resulted in a telephone name between him and the A&R crew at VP Information, who hoped the musician could be all in favour of working with considered one of their up-and-coming Jamaican-bred solo acts: Sean Paul.
“I did [“Get Busy”] very casually – once more, as an experiment,” he affirms. “Sean had some concepts, he got here together with his track, I got here with some melodies. The remaining is historical past.”
After the widespread, optimistic response to “Get Busy,” each Lenky and Sean Paul secured their first No. 1 hits on the Billboard Sizzling 100 in Might 2003. Shortly after “Get Busy” peaked, Harlem-based teen Lumidee’s “By no means Depart You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)” – additionally set to the Diwali Riddim – debuted on the chart, ultimately peaking in August at No. 3. With “No Letting Go” additionally peaking at No. 11 that Might. Diwali Fever had formally swept by way of America, bringing Jamaican dancehall and the “Lenky sound” to the lots.
“[Going] from zero to 100 is a rush,” says Lenky of his in a single day success. “I used to be simply doing my factor, simply residing life, [trying to] make ends meet … Sly mentioned, ‘You’re No. 1 on Billboard!’ I’m saying, ‘what’s Billboard?’ I didn’t have a pc on the time!”
Whereas dancehall artists gravitated to the beat first, the promoting level for the Diwali Riddim for throughout style strains is its versatility, one thing that Lenky made certain of whereas crafting it. Totally different sonic accouterments had been added or subtracted from Diwali songs he has had a hand in producing in-studio, based mostly on the wants of the musician and the vibe of the track itself. Although the rhythm itself doesn’t change, “Get Busy” options the addition of keyboard synths and vocal sound results, whereas the claps don’t seem till the refrain of “No Letting Go,” offering a strictly R&B vibe till then. That is why Sean Paul’s “toasting” over the beat works simply in addition to Wayne Surprise’s crooning over it.
“Listening to dancehall in Jamaica, we have now 20 artists on the identical beat, and it’s boring!” Lenky says. “So for me as a musician, I wished to make each track particular. I wished to make [Diwali] right into a track that was not linear…All of those [versions of the beat] are tailor-made for [different artists].”
Whereas tremendous producers like Pharrell and Timbaland had been typically simply as seen because the artists they produced for within the mid-2000s, Lenky by no means wished to be a front-facing producer. For him, the music was at all times – and can at all times be – the precedence.
“If I’ve to speak about myself, it’s positive, I’ll discuss myself,” he laughs. “However I wouldn’t attempt to put myself on the market, ‘trigger I feel that takes away from the [creativity]. I don’t know anyone else in that place could be as targeted. They’ll see the events and the women, and it’ll throw them off.”
Lenky continued to make beats throughout Diwali’s development and subsequent increase: 2002’s Masterpiece Riddim (heard in Sean Paul’s “Ever Blazin’” from 2005’s The Trinity), 2003’s Time Journey Riddim, and 2004’s Dreamweaver Riddim catching on within the Caribbean. Whereas all of them caught on of their respective rights, Diwali clearly endures because the producer’s signature riddim.
In truth, music lovers and artists alike have acknowledged the riddim’s utility all through the final twenty years, which has allowed it to face the check of time. You possibly can hear the Diwali claps in Rihanna’s “Pon De Replay” and Brick & Lace’s “Love Is Depraved” from 2007, or you could have observed the beat’s kick inside Ed Sheeran’s “Form of You” from 2017. On the prime of this yr, a full-on pattern of Lumidee’s Diwali lower set the tone for Nicki Minaj’s newest Sizzling 100 hit, “Pink Ruby da Sleeze.” (Although Lenky admits his favourite variations of his beat are present in “Get Busy” and “No Letting Go” – because of their manufacturing overdubs and the truth that each had been crafted in Jamaica’s Paddington Terrace Studio “with no finances.”)
Because the beat has taken new form by way of the years, so has dancehall. Nonetheless, Lenky doesn’t have an issue with the ever-changing sound, and subgenres spawned in recent times, like tropical home or reggae fusion.
“I’m only a tiny dot in dancehall,” he notes. “Nothing is ‘killing’ dancehall. You possibly can’t kill reggae, Bob Marley will at all times be Bob Marley. For me, it’s simply completely different branches from the [reggae/dancehall] tree, bearing completely different fruit. I feel it ought to develop, and we must always simply make it occur.”
Today, Lenky (now 52) continues experimenting and rising. He runs Diwali Information, a label based mostly in Kingston. His solo album, Self Taught, was launched in 2018. He nonetheless works with Sly & Robbie, most not too long ago on their 2021 album Pink Hills Street, in addition to on a 2019 collaborative instrumental album, Challenge 1966. He additionally boasts a writing credit score on “Take Me The place Your Coronary heart Is,” the lead single from acclaimed R&B singer-songwriter Q’s main label debut EP, The Shave Experiment. (That wasn’t too exhausting to safe although, as Q is Lenky’s son.)
Lenky’s values haven’t solely labored within the lengthy haul of his profession, however his music-first focus has contributed to his work altering the face of Jamaican dancehall. From the Diwali Riddim’s late-’90s creation, to its early-2000s resurrection, to its 2023 TikTok footwork problem – it’s clear that the beat nobody wished to make use of is the sound we nonetheless can’t get sufficient of.
“I’m not into the lights and the cameras and all that – the sunshine is gonna burn out,” Lenky says of his lifelong dedication to his craft. “I’m into the music, the making of the music and getting it on the market. All people reacting to it wanna know my title, have events, and that’s positive. However, I’m not gonna be part of that, you recognize what I’m saying? I’m creating the music for you guys, and hope you benefit from the music.”
