Veteran broadcaster and cultural commentator Fae Ellington has strongly condemned the songs on Stephen Di Genius McGregor’s Hill and Gully Ride Riddim, which samples The Jolly Boys’ cover of the Jamaican folk song Hill & Gully Ride as the foundation for sexually explicit dancehall tracks, calling the development painful and disrespectful to the country’s cultural heritage.
Speaking in a video uploaded to her YouTube channel on May 10, Ellington said she had been struggling for days with how to address the issue, admitting she spoke from “a state of disbelief.”
“From about a week or so ago, I’ve been wanting to say something about what I’m about to say, but not sure how to go about it,” she said. “So I’m just going to go about it the way I feel in my gut, in my stomach.”
The discussion comes as the “Hill & Gully Ride” riddim dominates YouTube Jamaica, spawning the platform’s No. 1 and No. 2 trending songs this week. While the riddim has become a viral hit in dancehall circles, Ellington argued that many artists have crossed the line by attaching vulgar lyrics to a melody deeply rooted in Jamaican folklore.
“Folk music is a very important part of our heritage. It’s not just for entertainment,” she said, explaining that Jamaica’s folk songs carry history, social commentary, and stories from the periods in which they were created.
In recent memory, “Hill and Gully Ride” became long-running local television series first premiered on January 1, 1989. The show, was hosted and narrated by the late broadcaster and historian Carey Robinson for over 30 years.
However, the cultural footprint of “Hill and Gully Ride” in Jamaica spans several areas:
Before it was a show, “Hill and Gully Ride” was a traditional Jamaican folk and mento song. Known for its call-and-response style, the song has been recorded by numerous artists over the years:
One of the earliest recorded versions of the song was released by Lord Composer and the Silver Seas Hotel Orchestra in the 1950s.
In the 60s, Hill and Gully Ride was given a Ska adaptation by the Baba Brooks Band, produced by Duke Reid and released via Troja Records. In that song now owned by BMG, the lyrics says, “back to back (hill and gully), belly to belly(hill and gully), feel up feel up (hill and gully). Those lyrics at the time were seen as slack and out of order in many sections of Jamaica.
Still Ellington voiced disgust at the present 2026 use of the sample and interpolations on the song saying, “So when I hear persons changing the lyrics of Hill and Gully Ride to vulgarity, it pains. It hits me in a place that I cannot explain. I get numb.”
Despite her criticism of the lyrical direction, Ellington praised producer Stephen McGregor for modernizing the classic melody.
“What I will say is that Stephen McGregor… has done an amazing thing to take the melody, the folk song, and reposition it in today’s day and age and today’s culture. Congrats, Stephen.”
However, she said some of the writers and vocalist failed to understand the wider cultural implications of what they were doing.
“A number of people have decided to put certain kinds of lyrics to this thing, not understanding that they are defacing our culture,” she said. “That they are putting us in a place where we’ll have to explain to our children.”
Ellington questioned what young listeners would repeat when they hear the melody.
“When a child hears the Hill and Gully melody, what do you think they are likely to sing?”
She also pushed back against the common argument that entertainers should not be blamed for how children are influenced.
“Don’t tell me say you’re an entertainer so parents must take care of their children and raise them that entertainers have no role to play. Lie! You damn well know that you do have a role to play,” she said passionately.
Clearly emotional during the recording, Ellington admitted her frustration got the better of her at one point.
“Pardon my expression there just now, but I’m angry. I’m angry. You’re supposed to know better.”
She accused some performers of sacrificing cultural responsibility for attention and virality.
“It cannot be because you want to get some likes and you want to make some money and you want it to go wide and far,” she said. “Yes, it’s going to go wide and far. And I wonder how you’ll be viewed — all of you who’ve decided to get down in the gutter, all of you who have decided to get slack and nasty.”
Ellington said it is disrespecting a national symbol, referencing a social media post she said perfectly captured her feelings.
“The person said it is like hearing the instrumental version of your anthem and starting to sing all kinds of nastiness on top of it.”
Among the songs already released on the Hill & Gully Ride Riddim are Masicka’s Slip & Slide, which spends its second week at No. 1 in Jamaica, Valiant’s Woi, Chronixx Law’s “Kill & Guh Live,” “Masterpiece” by Kes The Band, “Gimmi Me Coffee” by Prettii Prettii, “Wah Mi Money” by Nigy Boy,
“Service” by Skippa, “Its Bitsy” by Govana and “Hold Him Gyal” by Elephant Man.
