Ropeadope

There's a great scene in the classic Jamaican film Rockers when all of the main characters are gearing up to pull off the big heist in the climax, and there's shot after shot of the guys strutting down the sidewalks and back alleys of Kingston. It's set to the Peter Tosh song "Steppin' Razor." They all have distinctive walks -- they bob and pop while they step, coming across like a gang of joyful peacocks. Except Jacob Miller, who looks sleepy in his fatigues with one leg rolled up, and Gregory Isaacs, who is dead serious with his briefcase full of lock-picking tools.

This mix is a set of music for strutting. It's all roots and dub reggae in the Rockers style, lots of horns and "flying cymbal" splashes. Somewhere in there is a song by I-Roy called "Sidewalk
Killer" that gives the set its name (A "sidewalk killer" is what you call a guy with a particularly badass walk). It has nothing to do with the display of a sidewalk killer, but it's a DJ cut of Tommy McCook's
"Sidewalk Doctor" -- itself an instrumental take of Marlena Shaw's "Woman of the Ghetto". Such a great groove, I had to name the set after it. Enjoy!