Ward 21

Ward 21 appeared in the late ‘90s with a radical new spin on dancehall reggae. The genre was already in a process of stripping down, swapping out the overdriven sonics of the first half of the decade with queasy keyboards and clipped digital rhythms, but Ward 21 turbocharged that evolution: Their mix of spindly drum machines, gravelly baritone vocals and staccato synths was almost spartan in its minimalism. The group of Kunley McCarthy, Andre “Suku” Gray, Mark “Meandawg” Henry and Ranaldo “Rumblood” Evans first came together as proteges of King Jammy, putting out riddims like “Bada Bada” on the dub legend’s label and lending their brittle signature to cuts like Capleton’s “Slew Dem”. They took their name from a Kingston psychiatric ward and leaned into their reputation for unhinged energy on their 2001 debut LP, Mentally Disturbed, dropping almost comically menacing chat over brutally pared-back beats. In the wake of Evans’ 2008 departure, Ward 21 confirmed their enduring status as dancehall mainstays in 2013, when Major Lazer tapped them for the group’s anthemic EDM-dancehall crossover single “Mashup the Dance”.