Fyah Roiall (pronounced "fire royal") teams up with Miami-based, Jamaica-born dancehall artist Lincoln 3dot and super producer/rapper SOS Dynamikz to drop some serious lyrical shade on bragging about "choppin'" in your music. This recent trend in Jamaican music begs the question, would one really admit to committing a crime and brag about it in their music? Everyone in Jamaica knows... "real badness a nuh supn fi show off."
"Choppin'" is patois for how Jamaicans refer to participation in the 'lotto scam' -- a practice where unsuspecting Americans receive phone calls congratulating them that they have won a large sum of money, but first, will need to send a small fee to 'release the winnings.' Choppin' is a growing economic practice, associated with skyrocketing unemployment rates in Jamaica, especially amongst the youth. One needs to understand the root of choppa culture to understand why it's seen as a socially acceptable solution as opposed to a crime.
The essence is about Jamaicans' relationship to hustling and not letting poverty hold someone down even if it requires 'more creative' and 'unbecoming' measures. In Jamaica, where the average laborer makes US$400 a month as a cashier or grocery clerk, it's hard not to see why struggling folks opt for a hustle.
Hustle culture has always had its place in Jamaican music, from the days of singing about ganja smuggling with Sugar Minott in the 70s and Eek-A-Mouse in the 80's to 2020's anthem 'Brik Pan Brik,' when Skillibeng says, "don't ramp wid mi madda food," letting listeners know that poverty is not an option.
Roiall, 3dot & SOS all acknowledge choppin' has its place in the culture... but bragging about it in your music? They'd like to disagree, as seen in these lyrics:
"The choppa ting have a vibe - Mi naa guh lie it bad.
But if yuh chop and put it pon a track. You're f**king mad!"
Roiall and SOS have teamed up before. On Roiall's debut album -- UNDERRATED -- released back in June, SOS & Roiall co-produced tracks like the lead single 'Nobody' and 'One Day.' SOS raps for pleasure, but is a super-producer by trade, having produced hits for superstars Koffee and Chronixx. SOS says that Roiall's energy while making music is contagious, which has encouraged him to start DJing more and using his voice as an additional instrument in his own productions. Now SOS wants to make his mark in trap and grimehall music.
While SOS and Roiall have collaborated recently and extensively, 'Choppa' marks the first officially released pairing between Lincoln 3dot and Roiall. The two met in the studio in 2014 and hit it off immediately - "real knows real," as they say - but only recently began recording anything together. With 3dot based in the US now, it's been harder to connect regularly. 3dot made his mark as "every gyal man" with his hit song in 2016. 'Choppa' truly fuses trap and dancehall by combining this trifecta of Jamaican talent.
Fyah Roiall (pronounced "royal") is one of Jamaica's most exciting rappers at the forefront of the emerging "grimehall" sound (also sometimes referred to as "traphall"), a new forward-facing subgenre of Jamaican music that combines American trap, UK grime, and dancehall. UNDERRATED can be streamed and purchased at
http://www.fyahroiall.com. Roiall is in a unique position to bring the legacy of hip hop and bass music back to the tiny island where it all began decades ago. He is more in touch with the current global market than his dancehall-centric Jamaican contemporaries, and he is more authentic than the foreign producers and artists that capitalize on the trendiness of Jamaican-derived genres. Jamaica may not be comfortable with his look or creative freedom yet, but, with this new project, UNDERRATED, it won't be long before the entire world realizes how underrated Fyah Roiall is.
Stream Choppa -- out across all DSP's December 4th, 2020
Listen to the Debut Album 'UNDERRATED' here
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