Sister Nancy: Bam Bam (7") [VP]

Why you'll love it

This 7-inch puts the Winston Riley production back on a 45, with the "Stallag Version" instrumental on side B. "Bam Bam" is one of the most sampled reggae records of all time and has been certified silver in the UK.

This edition

• 7" single
• 45 RPM

About the album

Dancehall in the early 1980s was a man's microphone, and Sister Nancy took it anyway. Following her brother Brigadier Jerry onto the sound systems, she became one of the first women to make a name as a dancehall DJ, and in 1982 she cut "Bam Bam" for producer Winston Riley's Techniques label. It became the standout of her album One Two.

Riley built it on his own Stalag riddim, one of the most versioned rhythms in Jamaican music, and Sister Nancy rides it with total confidence, her toasting light on its feet and impossible to forget. The flip, "Stallag Version," strips the track back to the riddim so the sound system selectors can do their work.

Hip hop has never let go of it. Kanye West sampled it for "Famous" and Jay-Z built "Bam" around it with Damian Marley, and it has turned up in films and adverts ever since. Forty-odd years on, it still gets a whole room shouting the title back at the speakers, which is about as close to a census as dancehall gets.

Also at Kops: more Sister Nancy on vinyl · browse Reggae & Caribbean

Tracklist

Listen

On Techniques / VP, a reissue of the 1982 album.