Selecta

Album: 2 RUFF, Vol. 1 (2023)
Charted: 27
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Songfacts®:

  • "Selecta" is a high-energy drum and bass track with a dancehall-inspired vocal delivery from British rapper Stefflon Don (she is of Jamaican descent).
  • Call di selecta fi play a dove cott
    Caz a boy body drop true him fulla tuff chat
    Tell di selecta fi come a dove cott
    Tell di selecta a boy just drop


    In Jamaican dancehall culture, a "selector" is the person who controls the music at a dancehall. A "dove cott" or "dub plate" is a special pressing of a vinyl record used by DJs to play an exclusive mix or pre-release tracks. "Tuff chat" is boasting or bragging.

    Stefflon Don is talking about a boy who is confident in his abilities and ready to party. He is asking the selector to play a dub plate of a song so he can show off his dance moves.
  • "Selecta" samples the distinctive distorted guitar riff from Ashanti's 2004 hit "Only U." "I've always wanted to use the sample from Ashanti's 'Only U,' so we replayed that," Saul "Chase" Milton told Apple Music. "It's got a real feel of grandeur to it, and it nods back to an era where we really fell in love with music of all genres."
  • Stefflon Don's participation came from a track Chase & Status originally wrote for her record. "Maybe we should steal these lyrics from Stefflon and put them on our song and mold it together," they told BBC Radio 1's Clare Amfo. "And we obviously stole them but with our permission. It's kind of worked out."

    "You know what we try and work with people we haven't worked with in the past," Chase & Status added. "And also we try and work with people who haven't really done much drum and bass. And so it was such a coup getting Steff on a drum and bass song."
  • "Selecta" is a track on Chase & Status' second mixtape, 2 RUFF, Vol. 1. They released it as a single on November 10, 2023, the same day they dropped the mixtape.
  • Chase & Status use the track to open their live shows. "It sets the pace for the whole set," Saul told Apple Music. "The massive guitar riff at the beginning [combined with] Steff's iconic vocal really make this a special record for us."

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