So, you’re an up and coming Roots Reggae artist in Jamaica and you’re trying to find a way to get your name out to the masses and make yourself stand out from the well crowded pack of your peers. What can you possibly do to make you saying ‘Praise Jah Rastafari’ and ‘Bun dung Babylon’ seem better and more marketable than everyone else saying it? A few things. The first thing you can do is to not say that stuff but under the condition that you’re a Roots Reggae artist, it pretty much comes within the job description. Therefore, what you can do is what people like Sizzla and Lutan Fyah have done and, if you are so SUPREMELY talented (and you probably aren’t) and can lyrically dissect ANYTHING, then your ability will inevitably allow you to come with creative wordplay strong enough which will give you the edge to say the exact same thing, but say it in such a form that has never been said before. Another thing you can do, and something which is easily the most popular form of busting a new artist (even as ridiculous as that may sound), you can get LUCKY. You can make a song, be it incredibly GOOD, or incredibly GIMMICKY and have that tune strike a chord with masses for any variety of reasons and, on the strength of that song, begin to gain acceptance, of course you somewhat may run the risk of becoming a ‘one hit wonder’ of sorts, but in Reggae, ultimately speaking, such things are rare. The third thing you can do is to simply SOUND DIFFERENT. Think about this, how many Roots Reggae artists, in specific, can you think of that have a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT sound from something that you’ve heard before? Who are you listening to these days that is doing something which doesn’t SOUND like it’s derivative of ‘this’ artist or ‘that’ artist. In Dancehall, things are a bit different because the refusal of that subgenre to stay stagnant (or consistent, depending on how you’re looking at it) so you’ll see artists such as Vybz Kartel or Mavado or especially Aidonia who either have styles which exist as completely NEW or styles which exist as marriages of styles of so many other artists (in a completely unrelated sense) to the point where the resulting style is something someone has never heard before. Or, as in the case of both Mavado and Aidonia, simply take something someone else did and exaggerate it to such a degree that, again, what you get is something almost entirely unheard of. But what of Roots Reggae? As much as I’ll champion artists like the aforementioned Sizzla and Lutan Fyah and others like Jah Mason and even someone like Etana. I can’t exactly say that what Sizzla does isn’t similar to what artists like Capleton and Buju Banton did before him, the same thing of Fyah and Mason and while Etana is definitely blazing the trail for female Roots artists, there’s a tangible reason why people were referring to her as ‘the female Luciano’ on her rise to prominence. In terms of STYLE, complete originality is a very rare trait indeed in the spectrum of Roots Reggae music.
But there are some who definitely have it in bits and pieces or in wagonloads. For example, if not the man himself then you who would you say is the father of the style which Midnite front man Vaughn Benjamin displays? The same question could be asked for someone like Chezidek whose ‘style’ may not be so original but you’ll NEVER confuse a Chezidek release with one of another artist, guaranteed. Also, to my ears and yours if they are most discerning, an artist like Natural Black, with the way he very subtly adds PERSONALITY to his music keeps him from being, in my opinion, the Buju Banton clone he was once designated as. So it does exist both in terms of complete style and definitely sound as well (and in terms of strictly sound, we would have to add Jah Cure to that list wouldn’t we? What does that voice sound like!). Now, speaking of a unique sound and, at times, style, think of one former Mr. Perfect. Now dubbed simply as Perfect (a much better name), the chanter has always held somewhat of a special place for me because he comes from the same St. Ann parish that I do (and apparently he still lives there) and not too far from where I’m from either (BIG UP BROWN’S TOWN EVERY TIME!) in a very nice place by the name of Bamboo (where I lived for quite awhile as well). Now that’s the man (Greg Rose), the music, however, is something different. Perfect’s style of chanting is something that can only be described as one of a kind. He ‘chants’ in the very technical sense of the word, but a more appropriate of a description would be to say that he YELLS! Perfect, somewhat like Jah Mason (although less so) can be very MOODY on the microphone, but even if he is feeling at ease if you are at a Perfect show, you aren’t very far away from being yelled at, trust me. This style has worked for him (almost to perfection you might say) as he has acquired a very rare type of standing in Reggae music, one which is typically allocated for artists like Sizzla and Capleton who are much more popular than he is: He is well appreciated both locally and foreign, particularly in Europe and, BELIEVE ME, that is a status, in having audiences on both sides of the pond, which can keep an artist RELEVANT for an indefinite amount of time. Now, in terms of releasing materials, he has had a steady stream of singles since he bust in the business, back in 2003-’04, and he also has three albums to his name, most notably his most recent release from 2008, the ‘concept album’ Born Dead With Life for Austrian based Irie Vibrations. But that wasn’t his first Austrian venture, back in 2006 there was this release, Giddimani, named after his once common call phrase (there was also an album named Rasta Rebel which is very similar to Giddimani, which I believe was little more than a glorified promo) and was released via DHF Records originally (which is the version I‘m reviewing, also from out of Austria). The album was also put into the North American and Caribbean bloodstream via Tad’s (with a DVD) and has since even gone digital on this side of the pond via Perfect’s own Chalice Palace Muzic. This album attracted SO MUCH attention when it was release and was called one of the albums of the year by so many, but was it really that good?
The selling point to this album was that it contained many of the singles on which Perfect built his name and you’ll notice than many of those initial pieces (especially the MAIN one are present; unfortunately so is a lot of other STUFF. But I digress. The ultimately pedestrian string driven Tyme is the song which gets Perfect’s album Giddimani off to a rocky start. Tyme isn’t very impressive in any sense of the word. It isn’t HORRIBLE but there isn’t really a definitive ‘shine’ to it in anyway and for all of Perfect’s DIFFERENT-NESS, sometimes things like this happen and the results are just downright WEIRD and unimpressive. Only slightly better is Market Place which is up next and really ONLY succeeds, in my opinion, because of the fact that is a very well WRITTEN tune, but listening through the ‘muck’ of the delivery in and of itself, definitely requires some work that you’re likely to feel like doing unless you’re a deep Reggae head. Strike two. Things take a much needed turn for the best as a downright CHARMING interlude steps in next and WONDERFULLY sets the stage for the following tune, the album’s finest moment and Perfect’s first BIG single to my memory, the lovely Handcart Bwoy. Just as the interlude does in its brevity, the tune relays a wonderful story of an uptown wealthy girl falling for a mere handcart boy (and a Rastafarian on top of that) in the marketplace selling his things. The song, for me, is every bit as powerful as songs like Isasha’s Don’t You Know and Warriour King’s Virtuous Woman as modern tunes which stand as undeniable lover’s rock CLASSICS. BIG tune and a BIG closer to a very small opening.
THANKFULLY things pick up a bit after the opening to Giddimani. And, besides Handcart Bwoy (and arguably Market Place which did some damage as well) most of the album’s well known tunes come near the middle. Check For Sure, which I don’t think that I’d heard prior to Giddimani’s release. This one definitely has some power, coming in over Down Sound’s Mad Mad riddim (same riddim backed Fantan Mojah’s Corruption). This one shows Perfect’s more aggressive side and does so very nicely and it floated a bit under the radar so definitely check it out here. Simply one of the best tunes you’ll find in Perfect’s entire catalogue, Amerimaka, is up next. This self produced near master class speaks of the difficulty Perfect himself once had in attaining a visa to go to the States so he could do his work. Only wanting to do his shows he states, “Mi nah live Amerimaka. Mi waan do mi wuk and come back yah”. EXCELLENCE Perfect. Excellence. 8 Gangsters is a tune which definitely isn’t one of my favourites but did attract quite a bit of attention as it was a tune about the G8 Summit, the meeting of the leaders of the most powerful country in the world whom Perfect dubbed the 8 Gangsters. For me, the LINE OF THE SONG is definitely, “. . . 8 Gangsters meet without a girl!”. You have a point Perfect. However, I think that should he rewrite this one it may sound different given no longer in charge of the US is ‘the little short boy from Merimaka’ as he puts it. Big tune. Jumping in at tune number nine is probably my second favourite Perfect tune altogether as he uses that crazy style to mine absolute gold on the Marcus Garvey tribute [Talk] Black Marcus. The song arguably gives Fantan Mojah’s EPIC Hail The King a run for its money as the Maroon’s riddim finest showing. Yes, it was that good and it had MELODY which is difficult given Perfect’s style and that one drop nyah drum backed riddim. BEAUTIFUL dedication from Perfect to St. Ann’s most well known citizen. After two very average lover’s tunes Love Has Found A Way (alongside Tony Curtis and the better of the two by far) and Cry Me A River (which is more of a jilted lover’s tune and CORNY AS HELL) the quality on Giddimani registers BIG again with three straight winners. The first, All I’ve Got, is the obligatory herbalist tune for the album. Perfect’s cut of the sugary SWEET Real Life riddim, All I’ve Got is about as impassioned plea on behalf of the herb as you’ll hear this side of Luciano’s Hard Herbs tune as Perfect designs an event of being stopped by an officer and simply (not so simple at all actually) YELLS to the top of his lungs, “MY HERBS IS ALL I’VE GOT!”. Hopefully he has more than just herbs but the tune is large nevertheless. Next is the title track from the aforementioned Rasta Rebel album which definitely took awhile to grow on me but in actuality it’s a very good song and is one of the few (and maybe the only) straight Rastafarian praising tunes on Giddimani and a song which definitely hit well for Perfect, from Irie Vibrations. The last of this small streak of three is certainly the best and simultaneously one of the best on the album altogether, the FIRE BREATHING Nuh Badda Mi. This song will club you over the head and make you like it! Given his style I’d suggest that not even the agitated versions of Sizzla and Jah Mason or even the always agitated Capleton could have sang this one better me as Perfect again yells to the top of his lungs to tell you to LEAVE HIM THE HELL ALONE! The results are downright MAGIC across Pure & Clean’s fittingly titled old school Dancehall tinged Sick riddim. To my opinions, THE Hip-Hop vibed Hit Dem is the last certifiably GOOD song on Giddimani. Following Nuh Badda Mi it definitely does good to keep the intensity going and Perfect evens drowns out the riddim itself. Its good enough to even make up for the (AWFUL) chorus. To my ears amongst the album’s final three pieces. Sersi-T, For Ma Family and Little Old Lady, only the very familiar and pretty delightful For Ma Family really stuck with me to any degree. Sersi-T is a song on which, SHOCKINGLY, I simply have no words for as it is WHOLLY average and Little Old Lady almost falls apart before it gets going and when it does get going it simply goes in far too many directions. Ultimately it goes to make an ending to Giddimani just about as inconsistent and uneven as it’s opening.
Overall, I have to call it overrated. UNFORTUNATELY much like Born Dead With Life which caught on with me quite quickly and fizzled out just as quickly, Giddimani just doesn’t hold up too well to the test of time. I’m not at all calling it a bad album but in order for me to recommend it to ANYONE, that person would have to be such a big fan already of the artist that he/she would probably already have it. With Perfect’s unusual style what I think he has shown is that it works for him under one of two situations: Firstly you put him in the studio and make him go to that level where pretty much only he can go. If you do that you’ll get something intense like Nuh Badda Mi. Or, should you mellow things out and make him actually FIGHT himself sort of to keep calm to effectively ride the riddim, you’ll get something like Handcart Bwoy or Black Marcus or two of his more recent pieces, Son Of Jamaica and 30 Pieces from Born Dead With Life because he will ultimately LOSE to himself and even the bits and pieces where he EXPLODES will be FUN for the track. Ultimately I don’t think that happens on Giddimani and I don’t think its happen on an album in his career at all yet. If/when it does (and he supposedly has a next one coming this year) the results will be much closer to Perfect than on Giddimani.
Rated 3/5 stars
DHF Records
2006
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