Gabriel Heatwave
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gabrielheatwave.bsky.social
Gabriel Heatwave
@gabrielheatwave.bsky.social
🎧 Dancehall DJ/Producer
⚡ Founder: The Heatwave / Hot Wuk
Pinned
25 years of collecting dancehall 🤯

I’ve built a huge collection of rare and classic dancehall vinyl 👀
Can I mix these two records smoothly? Let's see 👀

Out of the original Pliers (no Chaka Demus) version of ‘Murder She Wrote’ into the sweet voice of Leroy Gibbons ‘Four Season Lover’ 🪻😎🍂⛄
November 25, 2025 at 8:09 AM
It’s been heartbreaking seeing the devastation wrought on Jamaica by Hurricane Melissa over the past couple of weeks – but also beautiful to see the efforts to rebuild and pull together 🖤💚💛

Jamaica is a small country that has given so much to the world and it’s important that we offer our support 💷
November 13, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Big things going on for Mr Vegas 💥

But not so much going on musically – the minimal production is key to the success of the Black Widow riddim 🕷️

The crisp, clean drums and bare bones melody leaves space for the melodic vocals and perfectly complements Mr Vegas’s style 🥁🎹🎙️
October 30, 2025 at 8:20 AM
@footballcliches.bsky.social Can a move leading to a goal – rather than a classy albeit ageing Dutch defender playing for Liverpool – be described as a Rolls Royce?

"It was a Rolls Royce of a move" – Adrian Clarke on Sky when Ethan Nwaneri scored for Arsenal against Brighton in the Carabao Cup
October 29, 2025 at 9:06 PM
When did you first realise Vybz Kartel was a musical genius? 💡

This record is from 2002, the year of his first hit - New Millennium with Wayne Marshall 🎯

I remember seeing a video of him voicing this on YouTube a few years later and being blown away by his flow and the way he rode the riddim 🤯🔥
October 23, 2025 at 11:09 AM
This record has been sampled sooo many times. What’s your favourite version? Choose one 😆

It’s tough to beat the original. Cutty Ranks on top form, hitting out at the idea he might be past it and laying into a new generation of dancehall artists including Buju Banton, Ninjaman, Capleton and Cobra 🔥
October 16, 2025 at 10:35 AM
What’s the biggest tune for Notting Hill Carnival? 🔊

Here are my favourites 💚

🇬🇭🇯🇲 Shake It To The Max - Moliy x Shenseea x Skillibeng
🇯🇲🇺🇸 Dansa - Klassik Frescobar
🇹🇹 Greatest Bend Over - Yung Bredda
🇯🇲🇭🇹 Tip - Ayetian
🇯🇲 Pretty Baby - Elephant Man

📹 when I played the Mangrove truck a few years back 💥
August 23, 2025 at 6:24 AM
What's your favourite tune on the Filthy riddim? 💦

Released in 1997 on the Juvenile label, Filthy is one of the elite 90s dancehall riddims, spawning a huge, career-defining crossover smash for Mr Vegas alongside hits for multiple other artists including General Degree, Lady G, and Spragga Benz 💥
August 13, 2025 at 3:26 PM
This is a flawless record 💯

🎙️ Sweetest voice in reggae
💫 Timeless songwriting
🎛️ Classic riddim
✨ Crisp production

I'm gonna listen to it on repeat now 🔁

🔊 Tempted To Touch – A Love I Can Feel Riddim (1990)
🎤 Beres Hammond
🎵 Donovan Germain
🎚️ Penthouse Records
August 11, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Where is the protest music in dancehall and reggae? 🤔

I remember as a kid often hearing that political or socially conscious music was too worthy, boring, not fun, or variations on this theme 😒
August 7, 2025 at 6:52 AM
I swear any tune with “oh na na” lyrics is an anthem 💯

This is probably top of the pile though 🔝1️⃣

Beenie Man is a master when it comes to vocalising with no lyrics 🙌🏼

🔊 Romie – Punaany Riddim (1997)
🎤 Beenie Man
🎵 Steven 'Lenky' Marsden - Andrew Thomas
🎚️ Shocking Vibes
July 31, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Come record shopping with me! Let’s see what I ordered 👀

I made a late-night purchase on Discogs and by the time it arrived, I had forgotten what I’d bought 😂

The Spragga Benz cut on Pocoman Jam aka Dem Bow riddim has been a favourite of mine for years, but I’ve never had it on vinyl 📀
July 30, 2025 at 6:43 AM
What’s your favourite Shabba Ranks tune? 🤔

This record was a huge crossover hit when I was a kid and was all over the radio 💯📻

For years I refused to DJ it because I thought of it as “too commercial” but I’ve grown to love it again 😎
July 29, 2025 at 7:45 AM
Mixing modern reggae classics on 7" vinyl 🎧

Out of Junior Kelly's anthem 'Love So Nice' into a message for the haters as Collie Buddz sings, "I'm blind to you" 🎶🎵

I've been enjoying remembering how to mix vinyl again for Bluespot Records every month at Dreamhouse in Leyton 💥🔥
July 22, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Is there a better combination than this duo? 🤔🎶

Mr Vegas is elite when it comes to catchy hooks and the contrast between his ‘singjay’ style (halfway between singer and deejay/MC) and Mr Lexx’s deep voice is perfect – they complement each other so well 💯🎤
July 21, 2025 at 4:11 PM
What’s your favourite dancehall tune by a jungle MC? 🎤

Like all the best junglists, UK Apache – the voice behind the massive Shy FX anthem ‘Original Nuttah’ – started out making dancehall and his name is a reference to Super Cat aka the Wild Apache 🇯🇲
July 17, 2025 at 11:14 AM
I’ve been DJing this tune for nearly 25 years and never noticed where the melody comes from 🤯

Last week my friend told me he’d played it to his girlfriend years ago and she had started singing another song 🎵🎶
July 16, 2025 at 7:11 AM
What would you do if you heard this at a party? 🔊

Dancehall meets opera courtesy of “world-renowned tenor Andrew Bradford” as he’s labelled in the intro – also known as Buccaneer 😁

It’s based on ‘Figaro’s Aria’ from Rossini’s 1816 comic opera, The Barber of Seville 💈
July 15, 2025 at 6:53 AM
What 80s pop tune are TOK borrowing here? 🪩

I love the contrast between the sweet melodies on the hook and Bay-C’s deep voice verses 🖤💛💚

The production is so good too and there’s a brilliant cut by Sizzla on the same riddim 🔥
July 10, 2025 at 10:54 AM
What would your dancehall karaoke song be? 🎤

This was one of the tunes that got me into dancehall in the early 90s 💚💛🖤

In that era, dancehall artists like Chaka Demus & Pliers, Shabba Ranks, and Red Dragon would be in the charts and I'd see and hear them on Top of the Pops and Capital FM 📺📻
July 9, 2025 at 7:39 AM
St Pauls Carnival wasn’t “officially” on this year, but everyone just set up their soundsystems and stalls anyway and it was the best day I’ve had there for years 💚💛🖤

I didn’t hear as much dancehall or soca as I would’ve liked but the 2000s bashment selection on Grosvenor Road was on point 🎯🔥
July 8, 2025 at 7:10 AM
What’s your favourite UK dancehall tune?

This classic from Top Cat is right up there for me 🔝🎯

I love the sunny bounce of the riddim and Top Cat’s catchy melodic flow ☀️🎙️

He doesn’t repeat any verses, just pure new lyrics right to the end of the record 🔛💯
July 3, 2025 at 11:28 AM
Let me give you some love and affection! ❤️💛💚

Massive tune from Pressure Busspipe which never fails to get a big singalong from the crowd 🎶🎵

And there’s only one thing to do after a singalong like that 🔄 🔙
June 30, 2025 at 11:12 AM
What’s your favourite Red Rat tune?

I love his hyper delivery – the distinctive higher pitched vocals and audible excitement ⚡🎉

His “ohh noo” catchphrase is so much fun too. My kids love echoing it whenever we listen to Red Rat 🔴 🐀
June 26, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Come record shopping with me! Let’s see what we find 👀

I popped into Analogue Music in Rochester after stumbling across it on a weekend away. They had a nice selection of 7” reggae but I’m usually looking for dancehall, plus old reggae singles can be pricey! 💰💸
June 25, 2025 at 7:19 AM