Deportee, Ricky Ten link up again

After releasing their collaboration Bad Mamma Jamma, which took the Internet by storm in January, recording artistes Deportee and Ricky Ten are set to drop separate singles on the 'Melodies' rhythm on June 1.

Both artistes are on the Akbar Record Label out of Boscobel, St Mary. Deportee's single, Pressure Point, is a smooth R&B-dancehall fusion with an international flavour. Ricky Ten's single, Melodies, is a hard-hitting dancehall banger with plenty of street appeal. Both songs are 'gyal tunes', complementing the rhythm's romantic and sensual sound.

" Melodies is not the type of song you'd expect from an artiste like me," said Ricky Ten. "A lot of people will say I, as a Rastaman, am not supposed to do a song like this. But if you check it, Rasta artistes have always expressed this side of themselves, going back to songs like Kinky Reggae by Bob Marley and even earlier." Speaking on Pressure Point, Deportee said he channelled his "inner lover" in making the song.

"I reminisced over some of the best intimacy I have had in my life and what made it great, and the chorus and the concept just flowed from that," he said.

The rhythm was produced by Z1M (pronounced Zimm), a 26-year-old producer out of St Mary.

"The riddim actually came about because of a request," he said. "A friend reached out saying they wanted a riddim that would allow them to show emotion, something that was smooth. They also wanted something with a Jamaican style but also sounded like an international Drake-type record." He explained that he tried building a few different melodies before deciding to look for a sample.

"I found the melody used in the riddim and immediately fell in love. I added a drum pattern that had both hip-hop and dancehall elements and the rest is history," said Z1M. He lauded Ricky Ten and Deportee, calling them "naturally unorthodox and experimental".

"So I think they were perfect for an alternative type of riddim like this."

Deportee is a Detroit-based dancehall-reggae fusion artiste who fell in love with reggae as a teenager in the former Soviet Union, where his mother was stationed as a US diplomat. Ricky Ten is an artiste and producer who began his career in music as a child prodigy, participating in deejay competitions in the Grants Pen community in St Andrew. The two began working together in 2022 when Deportee, visiting Jamaica from the US, stumbled onto Ricky Ten's studio, which was then located on Main Street in Ocho Rios, St Ann. They quickly bonded over their musical tastes and creativity, and ultimately decided to form the Akbar label in 2023.