Red Robin presents Outta Road / Dem A Fraud

From the remote township of Te Mata, in the rugged hills of New Zealand, comes a new imprint following in the tradition of mid-80s rub-a-dub from an often overlooked corner of dancehall culture. The brainchild of local farmer and radio personality Red Robin – alongside the deadly production duo Naram and Art – the first 12” features two heavy-like-lead riddims with discomix cuts from four unsung heroes of the 80s with conscious, street-level lyrics. Side A finds legendary singer Winston 'Midnight Riders' Powell rise again on a synth-infused piece of classic rub-a-dub. Despite being his first release in decades, he delivers a cutting edge vocal from his Kingston 9 borough about life “Outta Road” in the Jamaican capital. He then crosses live to special agent Speng Bond for a deejay report on the current state of Britain in “Dread Outta Road”. With a more uptempo riddim, the flipside sees Toronto-based 80s star Steve Knight fire some timely shots at corrupt politicians with “Dem a Fraud” before Los Angeles-based MC Tippa Lee comes correct with a self-affirming deejay cut on “Salute the Veteran”. Both sides are served with one-away dub mixes from Naram and added textural touches from Disrupt. Six cuts on one record, strictly limited pressings.