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Comment by sequoia | Hacker News Reader

For people wondering "what's the sleng teng riddim?" here's some examples:

Original "under mi sleng teng" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjw7m-BKmQ8

One of my favorites, "The Don" by peter metro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnZuTOH2zoc

90 minute sleng teng mix (here's a bunch): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwLKc61dVWQ

Under mi sensi (doesn't actually use sleng teng riddim but it's a riff on the sleng teng chorus): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_dwpUrWkE4

A different riddim (bookshelf), but great example of seeing the DJ at work on a riddim mix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyGhjR7CE3k

If you want to explore other popular riddims, the punanny riddim is a good next stop! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UkJRGIpzYM

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Don't forget Moby's ‘dancehall’ remix of Prodigy's ‘Everybody In The Place’: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWHc7rSv03Q

I bet that this is where many thirty-something people heard it for the first time.

Joey Beltram, ooooh the feels

Now we're just left wondering what's a "sleng teng". Teng is maybe "thing", so we're left with what's "sleng". Searching for it I'm corrected to "slang", and if I force "sleng" then all I can find is the song itself.

It's just a euphemism for marijuana. "Unda mi sleng teng" is being under the influence of marijuana.

See also Barrington Levy's "Under mi Sensi", with the same riddim played on actual drums and bass: https://youtu.be/yFEvdWHK7GA

Lots of reggae/ragga is slang for ganja.

But not all. So quite offtopic, but it reminds me of a related topic, but not as funny or peaceful.

In my youth, this song was popular in the clubs we went

TOK - chi chi man

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xCrhfXjIEvY

We loved it. Very energetic. (my body still wants to dance hearing that riddim)

It was much later, that I learned, what "chi chi man" and "bun them" means.

Burn the homosexuals.

To which the artists say, it is only meant in a metaphorical, spiritual fire. Burn the filthy, gay thoughts. But since gay people get murdered and burned for real in jamaica, I cannot really enjoy it anymore.

(but I did enjoy the dark humor a bit, witnessing real homosexuals sing and dance to that song, while still being ignorant of its meaning)

Very good story, thanks for sharing. There's dissonance in every culture and we must take a good look at things like this, if we want to understand our human nature.

Oh no way.. we danced so much to that song. Thanks for teaching me that even though it makes me sad. I would totally randomly put it on to liven up a party.

If "teng" is "thing" then "sleng" has to be "sling"? Sling thing? This [1] gives the definition as marijuana cigarette, so semantically it checks out.

[1] http://wiwords.com/word/sleng-teng

Facebook recently used a version of this song in their first ad for the Meta rebrand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2W9YVkkn9U

"Way in my brain"

That is SL2 - Way in my brain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtoCjkZYxJ8

Or the infinite number of drum & bass ragga tracks to use this bassline e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t7x1FASMJ4

One of the YouTube comments makes an interesting observation that this is an entirely digital rhythm.

I like to tell people that reggae artists (more specifically dub artists) created electronic music. I don’t know if it’s entirely true, but there is some evidence to suggest this.

Well, electronic music in the broad sense is at least thirty-five years older than Sleng Teng. I doubt, say, Schaeffer and Xennakis were very clued in to what was happening in Jamaica.

But it's absolute true that you reggae and dub had a profound impact on dance music music in all its forms from the 90's onwards, both culturally and in the production methods and sound. I'm not sure I've ever heard any of the original Detroit artists reference Jamaican music as an influence, but the entire European side (which then moved back North America) is steeped in Jamaican influence, both directly and via the UK.

> I'm not sure I've ever heard any of the original Detroit artists reference Jamaican music as an influence

Agreed, I've never read anything from Atkins and his progeny regarding Jamaica at all, frankly.

For those interested, though, the cross-pollination of "dub techno" that happened later is quite wonderful (and makes for great programming music). Moritz von Oswald brought reggae to Germany in the 90's and a dubbed out and cold brand of techno flourished from it. I recommend artists like Moritz's own Basic Channel[1] and the newer Echospace[2]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLr52XxTfCc

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnubPGFQzPQ

Also,

"That UK Sound - Roots Of UK Jungle"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J88JmcrAVI

yeah, British punk is heavily influenced by Jamaican music because of this, while similar American music doesn't have that influence at all until much later. Bad Brains being the only real exception I can think of.

And a track related to honoring Hiroko’s contribution to reggae: https://youtu.be/VLZDucQFnuQ

and for anyone who's looking for just the actual track from the Casio keyboard by itself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhsjL8FHXbY&t=13s

MAFFI's "Bad memory" riddim seems to be a variation on the sleng teng, for example here with Peter King's vocals: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sZo-EPEOIo

> A different riddim (bookshelf), but great example of seeing the DJ at work on a riddim mix: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyGhjR7CE3k

that's awesome. he's actually mixing! :D

as a vinyl DJ myself, i have to say mixing break beats is the most fun. you can really bounce rhythms around on the 2s and 4s, and the relative sparseness of the percussion lines lets you do some neat things by mixing in and out the highs and mids of two tracks while just playing the bass line of one.

fun stuff, and super cool story. thanks for the links!

Myself, I got down this rabbit hole when reading about Sublime history. "Caress Me Down" features the sleng teng riddim.

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