Riddim
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An instrumental version of a song in Jamaican or Caribbean music, usually with a drum pattern and a prominent bassline, meant to be reused as a backing track in other productions. countable, uncountable
"From very early on ‘riddims’ have been the core of reggae music, and been seen as reusable. But deejay and later dancehall has taken this tendency to what some people consider an obsessive extreme. The apotheosis, or nadir, of the recycled riddim came in 1985, the year of ‘Sleng Teng’, which gave birth to the hard, modern dancehall sound of the computerised, digitalised, drum machines."
- 2 A subgenre of dubstep known for its heavy use of repetitive and minimalist sub-bass and triplet percussion arrangements. countable, uncountable
Example
More examples"From very early on ‘riddims’ have been the core of reggae music, and been seen as reusable. But deejay and later dancehall has taken this tendency to what some people consider an obsessive extreme. The apotheosis, or nadir, of the recycled riddim came in 1985, the year of ‘Sleng Teng’, which gave birth to the hard, modern dancehall sound of the computerised, digitalised, drum machines."
Etymology
From Jamaican Creole riddim, from rhythm.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.