Initially crafted as an instrumental for Panamanian vocalist Nando Boom’s “ Ellos Benia,” a close translation of Shabba’s “Dem Bow,” Thompson captured the rhythmic essence of Steely & Clevie’s post-Poco riddim while adding some digital timbales and other touches for extra sabor at the prompting of Ramon “Pucho” Bustamante, the Panamanian manager of Nando Boom who helped engineer the reggae en español movement. A native Kingstonian who apprenticed under King Tubby, Smart moved to New York in the mid-’70s and launched HC&F in 1982 enlisting as house musicians such fellow expatriates as Dennis “The Menace” Thompson, the sole musician credited with “Dub Mix II,” better known today as the Dembow riddim, or in Panama, the Pounda. HC&F was the premier spot for producing dancehall hits at the time, Jamaica notwithstanding. The set of sounds most often identified as the Dembow is instead a version cooked up by Jamaican and Panamanian collaborators in the early ’90s at Philip Smart’s HC&F studio in Long Island. Jamaican studio duo Steely & Clevie deserve credit for the bouncy beat, but not as the creators of the sound recording that is reused so often. It’s true that Shabba Ranks’s anti-gay, anti-imperialist anthem “ Dem Bow” may as well be patient zero for the infectious rhythm that still carries the song’s name, but samples of the track accompanying Shabba rarely actually turn up in reggaeton. For one, the recording most often identified as the origin of the sample is not actually the source of reggaeton’s favorite loop. There are a few things, however, that make the Dembow an unusual member of the sample canon. With such remarkable resonance and staggering frequency of appearance, the Dembow would seem to deserve a place alongside such well-worn loops as the Amen, the Triggerman and the Tamborzao.
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