Rising dancehall king Gyptian has made a definitive bid for the song of the summer with "Hold Yuh," his inescapable song built on that tinkling piano riddim coming out of seemingly every car. It's spawned any number of remixes -- the most famous with Young Money darling Nikki Minaj -- and wound up on countless mixtapes. So where, exactly, did Gyptian and "Hold Yuh" come from, all of a sudden?
Apparently, it was all the handiwork of a Brooklyn producer named Ricky Blaze, who recorded Gyptian over the beat in what was then regarded as a throwaway session, all the way back in the summer of 2008. New Times' sister paper, the Village Voice, talked to Blaze to get the whole scoop on the track's ascent:
Blaze--a/k/a 21-year-old Ricardo Johnson, whose production credits include Jamaican choreographer Ding Dong's "Bad Man Forward, Bad Pull Up," Chelley's "Took the Night," and his own "Cut Dem Off"--says "Hold Yuh" was recorded on the quick two years ago, and released as an afterthought in a DJs-only email blast. "When Gyptian came to see me, after he'd do the generic [reggae] stuff people wanted from him, I'd mess around and play him random pop records with different vibes," Blaze recalls of the summer 2008 session. "I was about to skip over the ["Hold Yuh"] rhythm because it was never finished, but when I played it for him, he said, 'Go back to that, what a ping ping ting?'"
Despite its unremarkable origins, Gyptian is now riding "Hold Yuh" all the way up until the release of his debut album in the fall. In recent months in South Florida he's performed at Best of the Best, and, more recently, at Ten Palms at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale. This Sunday he returns to Miami proper to perform at Mansion's weekly Strip Tease Sundays party.
Full details are below.... And click here to read the Village Voice's full article on the origins of Gyptian's "Hold Yuh."
Gyptian, at Strip Tease Sundays. Doors open at 11 p.m. Sunday, August 22. Mansion, 1235 Washington Ave., Miami Beach. Tickets cost $20 in advance from wantickets.com. Age 21 and up. 305-531-5535; mansionmiami.com
