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Released on January 16, 2026, it has that modern roots-dancehall polish BroadYard has been leaning into lately, but there’s a lighter, more playful edge here than on some of their more straight-faced productions.
Dread rides the cut with enough attitude to make the hook stick without overworking it, which is exactly the kind of restraint that suits this label. In a BroadYard catalogue that’s been building out single by single, this feels like another sharp entry rather than a throwaway.
Heartical keeps its hand on the roots pulse with Ras Beethoven Riddim, a 2026 one-riddim set anchored by Sergio Marigomez’s long-running Paris-based Heartical operation and its deep link with Basque Dub Foundation. That pairing has been part of the label’s identity for years, and this release sits neatly inside a catalogue that has repeatedly gone back to vintage Jamaican foundations while recutting them with a modern, heavyweight sound. Heartical started as a sound system before becoming a label, and the BDF connection has produced plenty of dubwise roots work over the years, so this project lands like a continuation of a familiar conversation rather than a one-off experiment.
The riddim has a stately, classically minded feel without losing the grit that keeps a reggae juggling alive. The title alone signals the angle: Beethoven as a nod to arrangement and drama, then the roots side of the bandstand in the rhythmic weight and melody-led bassline. The vocal cuts move across generations and styles, from elder statesmen to more recent European and international voices. Cornel Campbell’s Too Many Soldiers brings that unmistakable silky tenor grace, while Carlton Livingston’s Robbery and Macka B’s Robbery Of The Century? push the theme into social commentary and streetwise wit. Joseph Cotton’s Show Time and Owen Knibbs’ Danger Zone give the set a sharper sound-system energy, and the pairing of Ernest Wilson and Papa Kojak on Chant Dem Down feels especially natural for the rub-a-dub spirit that Heartical has always favored.
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The European side of the lineup gives the riddim extra color. Rootsamala bring their Malaga roots credentials, Straika D adds a French-language cut in Dans La Stéréo, and Colour Red with Clive Hylton widen the reach again on Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Basque Dub Foundation also close the circle with Classical Roots and the dub version Ras Beethoven In Dub with Darren Jamtone, which is the kind of finishing touch that makes the whole project feel properly assembled for selectors and dub fans alike.
Throughout the programme, participating record stores will serve as collection points where consumers can return damaged or unplayable vinyl records regardless of artist, label or condition.
Collected materials will be aggregated and evaluated through recovery partner, Virterras Materials. The pilot will assess factors including participation rates, material quality, transportation and processing requirements, and potential recovery outcomes.
While vinyl has experienced significant growth over the past decade, there has been limited industry-wide exploration of what happens to records when consumers no longer want them.
“By examining both the practical and economic realities of collection and recovery, the pilot aims to help stakeholders better understand what infrastructure, partnerships, and investment may be required to support future recovery pathways for physical music products,”
"Independent record stores have long served as gathering places for music fans and stewards of music culture," said Madeleine Smith, senior director, ESG, Warner Music Group. "The pilot brings together retailers, recovery partners, and music fans to explore an important question: what would it take to create practical pathways for recovering unplayable or damaged vinyl records? It’s a vital first step in understanding what’s possible."
The pilot will run from the end of June to September.
The initiative follows a May 2026 manufacturing study by WMG, GZ Media and Abbey Road Studios, which demonstrated that unsold, obsolete records can be successfully reprocessed into high-quality, commercial-grade new pressings while maintaining audio quality and a reduced carbon footprint. This pilot takes the next step by exploring how unplayable and damaged records from consumers can be collected and moved through the recovery process at scale.
The pilot is supported by the Vinyl Institute, which awarded funding to Virterras Materials.
Participating stores include:
Amoeba Hollywood (Los Angeles, CA)
Antone’s Record Shop (Austin, TX)
Country Line Records (Keller, TX)
Criminal Records (Atlanta, GA)
Easy Street Records (Seattle, WA)
Home Rule Records (Washington D.C.)
Red Zeppelin Records (McKinney, TX)
Rough Trade NYC (New York City, NY)
Spin Me Round (Easton, PA)
Reckless Records (Chicago, IL)
Sweat Records (Miami, FL)
Reggae artist Ras-I is encouraging aspiring musicians to invest in themselves as he continues building a successful career through independent music production and live performances.
Ras-I’s musical journey began in his youth as he frequented his mother’s workplace, the Tuff Gong record label in Kingston, Jamaica. While there, he witnessed the creation of the Chant Down Babylon album and met several artists, including Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill. Unaware of their global influence at the time, he says his perspective shifted after seeing them perform at a concert in St. Ann Parish. The audience’s reaction ignited his aspiration to perform on stage, a desire he shared with his mother.
Ras-I – Recording Artist: “I want people to remember that the best experience for you with reggae music will always be live. Live drum, live bass, the live feeling, the live band effect. The horns played how the music should be played in fullness.” Furthermore, having a band is not the sole factor that has amplified his career. Ras-I has assembled a team that includes a publicist, with all expenses being covered by him.
Ras-I – Recording Artist: “Are you backed by any major record label? I have a distribution deal, so that’s it. Everything else is in-house, independently.” He says the independent route is a road less travelled, but for those who decide to take it, he offers this advice. Ras-I – Recording Artist “Who better to invest in you than yourself? Who better to trust in your product than yourself? Who better to speak highly of your product than yourself? I will always bet on me.”
Dub Revolution explores the most innovative and sonically adventurous sub-genre of reggae: dub. Dub emerged in the early 1970s through the work of legendary producers like Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Prince Jammy, Scientist, Mad Professor, and in particular the late King Tubby, who was tragically murdered at a young age.
Adopted by punks in London and later a crucial influence on underground dance music culture both there and in New York, the culture and legacy of dub still echoes and resonates today, reverberating from sound systems in Kingston and around the world. It's no exaggeration to say that without dub, there would be no hip-hop or house music.
The evolution of dub marks the birth of the remix and the emergence of the studio as an instrument in itself, a place where songs and their constituent parts could be pulled apart and re-shaped into wild new cosmic sounds.
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The history of dub is also inseparable from the often violent and troubled history of post-colonial Jamaica, gang culture and Kingston's relationship with Britain and the USA. David Katz's monumental and forensic history of a musical form that continues to astonish and sound like the future five decades after its inception stands as the authoritative book on a form that continues to fascinate generation after generation.
Sean Paul and Brushy One String link up on “Burn Dem Down, ” a blunt-title dancehall cut that feels like it was made to ride a sound system. The song sits in Sean Paul’s Dutty Rock Productions camp, with Milk and Honey Records attached on release listings, and it lands in 2026. That alone tells you the lane: heavy on Jamaican identity, built for impact, and fronted by one of dancehall’s most globally familiar voices.
Sean Paul hardly needs a long introduction. From the breakout of “Gimme the Light” through the crossover era that made Dutty Rock a worldwide reference point, he has spent years balancing patois-heavy dancehall with pop reach, without sanding off the Jamaican edge. Brushy One String comes from a very different corner of the culture, but one that carries its own weight. The Jamaican singer and guitarist built his name on a stripped-down one-string setup, turning minimalism into a signature sound that is part roots, part blues, part street-corner performance. Put those two together and the pairing makes sense: Sean Paul brings the polish and momentum, while Brushy brings raw texture and that rough-hewn roots feel.
“Burn Dem Down” sounds like a chant built for pressure, not polish. The title suggests confrontation, and the combination of Sean Paul’s clipped, melodic delivery with Brushy’s earthy tone gives the track a more organic edge than a straight club single. Rather than chasing gloss, it feels aimed at grit, bass, and repetition, the kind of song that can sit comfortably in a dance while still carrying that old-school fire-and-brimstone energy that has always had a place in Jamaican music. The appeal here is in the contrast: a global dancehall star meeting one of the scene’s most distinctive outsider voices on a record that sounds made for the road, the speaker box, and the pulse of a forward crowd.
