Orlando's dancehall round-up: January 2016

As well as being a perfectly well-rounded producer and founding father of New York based label Escape From Nature, Orlando Volcano is also a dancehall obsessive. Kicking off a new monthly round-up on Dummy, he shares January's hottest offerings, which you can peruse below.

Vybz Kartel celebrated his 40th birthday this month and as per usual, he didn't let his imprisonment stop him from putting out some of the best tracks of the month. Highlights include the jagged, yet emotional refrain of Bet Mi Money and a beautiful collaboration with Mon Cherie on Gates of Heaven.

Following Kranium's voicing on the instrumental to Justin Bieber's Sorry last month, Mr. Vegas started the year well with a much stronger effort on Worry. Playing further with dancehall's relationship with American pop music, Vegas released his homage to the popular dance, with his video for Dancehall Dab. 

Posthumously releasing Cannot Refuse My Love, J Capri (whose death shook the dancehall world last month) delivers on this emotional track, proving that she really went out at the height of her career.

Shauna Chin (aka. Chin Chin), previously known as the manager/ girlfriend of overnight sensation, Gully Bop, released singles My Life and Why (a Gully Bop diss), showing a lot of potential. In addition to that, she signed a production deal with Diamond Music Entertainment, which could mean her showing up a lot more this year.

Spice and RDX blow the competition out of the water with their voicings on the Gyalla Park Riddim, which offers little outside of these two tracks, with most artists failing to deliver much on this uptempo riddim.

Despite the presence of dancehall giants Beenie Man and Kalado on this riddim, the show was stolen by the younger generation in the form of Demarco with Tilt Ova and Vershon with Body Feel Good.

Although not released in its entirety, two songs off the Best Position Riddim were revealed this month. Popcaan continues his roll with Tight Pussy Wine and a strong effort also comes from Jafrass in the form of Best Position.