A hurricane of turbo-charged, body-buzzing tracks collide on Road Fever, a compilation of razor-produced, road-tested instrumental riddims from St. Lucia, Dominica & Guadeloupe that showcases the producers forging the future of Caribbean music in 2025.
Road Fever draws together instrumental Dennery Segment and Bouyon riddims originally made for vocalists, presented for the first time as stand alone pieces of music. Distilling carnival riddims down to the bare bones, producers push minimal 150+ bpms, FL-percussion packs, DJ/vox samples & synth riffs, bridging trap, drill, dancehall, sped-up Haitian konpa, Angolan kuduro & Portuguese batida.
The compilation features new and established names including Krome Productions, Bad Sound, Ransum Records, Viral Riddims, Veaygel Productions, Slaughter Arts Media, LMT Mafia, Shazdown Mmw, DJ Demafidem, ScarnX, and late trailblazer G6 Productions (RIP).
Ricocheting at the intersection of TikTok culture, best heard blasted through walls of speakers travelled by stage-sized carnival trucks or via bluetooth car speakers, St.Lucia’s ‘Dennery Segment’ sound, (as iconic producer, G6 described in an interview), “sparks your inside; a sound you can’t hear and not move”.
Dominica’s increasingly influential Bouyon sound thrives through ScarnX and Guadeloupe-based Shazdown Mmw & DJ Demafidem. The batida influence is most evident on Bad Sound’s DJ Marfox-sampling anthem “Both Twanche Riddim”, a nod to the origins of the style.
Amsterdam-based, Curaçao-raised compiler Rozaly echoes G6: “Once you hear it, you can’t unhear or unfeel it.”
