There is an unfortunate trend going on and has been going on for quite awhile now which even I myself am guilty of perpetuating of having Reggae artists (and Caribbean artists in general) who have a more ‘soulful’ quality to their voice being thought of as Pop, or R&B sounding. Such is the case to an extreme now where, even if it is a new artist who hasn’t developed his or her style to ANY degree and are just the happenstance of nothing else besides themselves (and mother nature), the discussion amongst even the most harsh of Reggae heads (again, your’s truly included) will deem those artists as having a more American style and literally start (figuratively speaking, of course) fitting that artist into a far more international genre. To my own self, I’ll admit to having done the same thing with two artists recently, both Mykal Somer and Claudette Peters. Somer is a WONDERFULLY soulful vibed artist from out of St. Kitts who, although he hasn’t had much success as of late, (and we DEFINITELY are anticipating his conquering return) has, in the material he has put out, like his excellent debut album, Element Of Surprise, demonstrated himself to be an artist with SOUL who can surely fit into a Reggae landscape with absolutely no problem. In the case of Antiguan Soca Monarch FIREBALL Claudette ‘CP’ Peters, her voice is simply so far off the charts that people have wondered if a career in gospel might not prove to be just as successful (if not even more so) than her already crowning achievements in Soca from the diminutive Taxik front woman. And while I doubt highly that either will cross the guard into a next genre of less Caribbean intensive music (at least not in the immediate future), THANKFULLY there are MANY talented voices on vocalists of whom there is virtually NO QUESTION of where they truly belong. Of course, my first choice of artists who were seemingly born to sing Reggae music is Jah Cure. My main point of reference to the efficiency of the Cure’s talent is the number of friends, many of whom were longtime R&B fans, that I’ve played his music for and I used to be flat out SHOCKED at how they responded by saying that either they weren’t impressed or that (and I heard this a few times), they thought he sounded “like a computer”. in Reggae music, however, the Cure’s rather ridiculous and martian like tones are absolutely perfect as he continues to build a catalogue full of tunes which no one besides someone named Jah Cure can sing. I’ll also say the same ting for someone like Bushman oddly enough, because on the surface at least he is simply a baritone voiced singer. However, that RICH and FULL voice would be doing the world an absolute CRIME were he not using it to sing the wonderful brand of Reggae which he currently does. Add to those two names like Luciano, Warrior King, NiyoRah (especially) and Mavado in the Dancehall and you see certain artists, although they definitely have a certain universal APPEAL to them definitely belong full time in a Reggae arena.
And sometimes those talents come with ‘twists’. Such would be the case with a singer who rose to significant prominence throughout the Caribbean with hits over the lest couple of years or so, Jah Hem, who, to my ears has all the makings of someone who was specifically CREATED (like in a warehouse somewhere) to sing Reggae music but chooses to deliver in a DELIGHTFUL style which incorporates a bit of R&B into his own style. Of course, it’s not a very heavy level, so much to interfere with his still Reggae heavy vibes but when you can successfully meld the two genres (R&B and Roots Reggae in particular) you potentially have something special (think Alaine). This apparently has been the case with Jah Hem as he has become one of the most powerful voices (if not THE most powerful) in his native Bahamas in Reggae and his popularity within the last year has began to explode throughout the Caribbean. I actually hadn’t even heard his name until earlier last year/late 2007 for the most part I believe, my previous experience in terms of Reggae artists from out of the Bahamas probably began and ended with the same name, Monty G, who is a Reggae/Dancehall/Gospel artist who has been on the scene for quite a long time and is a very respected artist throughout the genre. Last year, besides Hem, I also became aware of a Hip-Hop/Reggae hybrid artist by the name of Jah Doctrine and another WICKED chanter name Jah Nyne, both from out of the Bahamas and are solid Reggae artists as well (might be a next album from Doctrine pretty soon, also). With the amount of attention Jah Hem attracted in such a relatively short time (at least on my radars, maybe he was pining away for years, but after reading his bio, it only says he moved back from Florida to the Bahamas in late 2003), it made his solo debut album, Love Is The Way for Cutting Edge Entertainment, which is a label he apparently owns and runs with a group of others, one of the most anticipated REGION-SPECIFIC releases of 2008. And thankfully Jah Hem and the people at Cutting Edge have made it available worldwide as well. Now, Jah Hem has a very SOULFUL style like I mentioned, but in my opinion, it is one which is PERFECT for Reggae music. I’ve heard several people disagree with me, but I definitely hear a little bit of Jah Cure in Hem’s vocals. Although he can’t exactly reach that stratospheric type of levels as the Cure in terms of range and tones and such (NO ONE DOES), Jah Hem definitely adds a more ‘translatable’ style to the vibes, almost to the point of being Gyptian-like (thankfully his lyrics are better than young Gyptian’s however). I have to say that Love Is The Way has been one of my favourite albums for the better part of the last year and it has been doing quite well for the single apparently as it was VERY well promoted throughout the Caribbean, as far as albums go. But how about the music? It is a little bit R&B and a little bit soul, but more than enough EXCELLENT Reggae vibes to impress an old Reggae head like me.
This project is very well put together so definitely credit goes to Jah Hem and Cutting Edge for pushing a very PROFESSIONAL looking product to the masses. The album ends up going in a few directions and it WONDERFULLY throws a few surprises into the mix as well. Mixing it up first on Jah Hem’s debut solo album (his bio says that he previously had another album as part of a group in Florida which never was released) Love Is The Way is somewhat of an R&B type of vibes in a Reggae song (DUH), but very nicely done on The One. The tune is a lover’s track with a SWEET vibes which later adds a kind of winding keyboard, which to me at least sounds like an R&B type of ‘freshness’ in the song. Regardless, however, you categorize it, at the end of the day you’ll have to call it a big opening for the album. Next up is the first of two REALLY BIG surprises on another very R&B type of Reggae tune, Call Me, which features Jah Hem alongside none other than superstar Ky-Mani Marley. As a former R&B head, I can tell you that the sound of a phone ringing is the CLEAR sign of a forthcoming R&B song and that’s sort of what happens here, but after the intro to the tune (which runs a little too long for my tastes) what develops is a beautifully LUSH riddim with a hard nyah drum behind it. I was actually quite surprised, musically speaking, what happened with Call me in a good way and although I don’t rank it all as one of the class pieces of Love Is The Way, it’s certainly isn’t a bad tune, but I do feel that Hem himself could have added more to the tune earlier than he ends up doing while giving Marley the lion’s share of the tune for himself. Decent enough lover’s material there. The third similarly vibed lover’s tune in a row to start the album, Tonight Is The Night is my choice as the best of the three and is the first of the small bunch to offer a DIRECT forecast on the BRILLIANCE which is to come later on Love Is The Way. This tune in itself, however, is VERY strong. This is the type of material you’ll find coming on one of Don Corleon’s downright ENCHANTING pieces every once in a while with its smooth and romantic type of vibes. Easily one of the album’s best tunes altogether and a strong opening for the album in total.
Love Is The Way is clearly a tell a two albums in one. The first being a more romantic lover’s rock set which drifts in between Reggae and R&B vibes and the best of this bunch is BY FAR the previous single Come Here Girl which is downright MASSIVE! The tune was the lead of the bunch which attracted a great deal of attention to Hem and it’s no wonder why, it truly is an excellent vibes. That first half of the album also ends with a pretty nice tune, Missing You which actually flows on the very familiar Guardian Angel riddim from Jamaica’s super producer Arif Cooper. I don’t know if Hem actually got the riddim from Cooper or just did the works himself, regardless it is another big tune and another on a riddim which features basically NOTHING BUT big tunes. By time the title track hauls in, in the seventh position on the album, suddenly the vibes have changed and we’re now listening to a Roots Reggae album! Love Is The Way, the song, is one which urges society as a whole to focus more on love and righteousness than the violence and the corruption in the world (it actually sounds VERY Jah Cure-ish at times). It is a very nice message of course, and perhaps more importantly it sets the table for the tune which follows it, Love Is The Way, the album’s, finest tune overall. Enter the Wickedest Time. LOVELY! BEAUTIFUL! ENCHANTING! All are words which can accurately describe this tune, Wickedest Time, which was definitely one of my favourite tunes of 2008 altogether. Really it is an IMMACULATELY sang tune and the message gains much more amenability and palatability when you literally douse it in the richness of this song. I have been just so affected by this tune and I’m sure so many people have all over the world and when you pick up this album, you will be too! Holding the unenviable task of following Wickedest Time is a song which just may be the entire album’s second best tune or at least the album’s second best Roots tune, Be Strong. This one is just an uplifting message for the masses to put our trust in His Majesty and to keep faith in HIM for things, one way or another will get better and it is such a nice song with that CRAWLING riddim supporting it. Definitely check it out. As Jah Hem’s Love Is The Way begins to wind down, it saves the final three of it’s four in total combinations (including the aforementioned Call Me with Marley) and it just so happens that ALL three are definitely big Reggae tunes. The first of them, oddly enough, with the least known artist, previously mentioned Bahamian chanter Jah Nyne, may just be the best of all three. Nyne links with Jah Hem on an SUBLIME tune, The Most High. This song is bouncing vibesy praising tune to His Imperial Majesty and the two make strong duo. Nyne, for his part, is one of the more impressive unknowns in the Caribbean today in my opinion (check a next artist, Daniel Bless, from out of Trinidad as well) and I have been high on his potential for quite awhile as he reminds me a great deal of Jamaican chanter Bascom X. The Most High just may, fittingly so, be the most ADDICTIVE tune on the album. Next, is another superstar alongside Jah Hem, Luciano who checks in on another praising tune, Make A Joyful Noise Unto Jah. If Love Is The Way wasn’t spiritual enough for you in the previous ten tunes, then this ends on this Make A Joyful Noise DEFINITELY. I’m also happy to say that even with Luciano sounding in fine form, Hem manages to hold his own, vocally, with the legend, although that chorus which is one of the finest on the album is what most sticks with me throughout with Luciano’s PEERLESS voice riding the spectacular one-drop riddim and Luciano goes on to steal the show with a dazzling speech near the end of the song. HUGE tune and one of my favourite here. Closing shop on Love Is The Way by Jah Hem is the only ‘official’ two acts of ‘business’ to take care of. The album sans the tune Mama not only lacks an obligatory ode to Mama track, but it also lacks a combination with Monty G, both of which are taken care of here. Of the last three, this one is probably the least in terms of quality, although it picks up as it goes along and seriously, you know this was a NECESSARY tune for this album and a nice choice to end things here as well.
Overall, I have to say that the song placement here is quite interesting and, although I sometimes frown on something that isn’t necessarily a somewhat ‘random’ form of track placement, which, at the end of the day ends up helping the vibes along in the album move better by setting up the following tune. Here, however, the OBVIOUS trick which they did was to separate lover’s and straight Roots Reggae and if you notice very carefully, you’ll see that the big tunes, or potentially big tunes come right near each other in the middle of the album, surrounding the title track which brings attention not only to said title track, but the tunes around it as well with the others being surrounded by tunes already certain to receive attention because they’re combinations. Besides that technical bit, what we have here is an artist so CLEARLY talented and so clearly inclined to just reach A LITTLE outside of straight Reggae. However, as I said, I don’t think leaving Reggae is in Jah Hem’s best interest and I don’t think that is his goal. I THINK his goal was to make a HUGE impression on the Reggae listening community and just give a taste to the outsiders who’ll certainly get just that. If that was the purpose of Love Is The Way from a technical aspect: Mission Accomplished. From a musical standpoint? Mission more than accomplished. Top notch, one of the best albums of 2008.
And sometimes those talents come with ‘twists’. Such would be the case with a singer who rose to significant prominence throughout the Caribbean with hits over the lest couple of years or so, Jah Hem, who, to my ears has all the makings of someone who was specifically CREATED (like in a warehouse somewhere) to sing Reggae music but chooses to deliver in a DELIGHTFUL style which incorporates a bit of R&B into his own style. Of course, it’s not a very heavy level, so much to interfere with his still Reggae heavy vibes but when you can successfully meld the two genres (R&B and Roots Reggae in particular) you potentially have something special (think Alaine). This apparently has been the case with Jah Hem as he has become one of the most powerful voices (if not THE most powerful) in his native Bahamas in Reggae and his popularity within the last year has began to explode throughout the Caribbean. I actually hadn’t even heard his name until earlier last year/late 2007 for the most part I believe, my previous experience in terms of Reggae artists from out of the Bahamas probably began and ended with the same name, Monty G, who is a Reggae/Dancehall/Gospel artist who has been on the scene for quite a long time and is a very respected artist throughout the genre. Last year, besides Hem, I also became aware of a Hip-Hop/Reggae hybrid artist by the name of Jah Doctrine and another WICKED chanter name Jah Nyne, both from out of the Bahamas and are solid Reggae artists as well (might be a next album from Doctrine pretty soon, also). With the amount of attention Jah Hem attracted in such a relatively short time (at least on my radars, maybe he was pining away for years, but after reading his bio, it only says he moved back from Florida to the Bahamas in late 2003), it made his solo debut album, Love Is The Way for Cutting Edge Entertainment, which is a label he apparently owns and runs with a group of others, one of the most anticipated REGION-SPECIFIC releases of 2008. And thankfully Jah Hem and the people at Cutting Edge have made it available worldwide as well. Now, Jah Hem has a very SOULFUL style like I mentioned, but in my opinion, it is one which is PERFECT for Reggae music. I’ve heard several people disagree with me, but I definitely hear a little bit of Jah Cure in Hem’s vocals. Although he can’t exactly reach that stratospheric type of levels as the Cure in terms of range and tones and such (NO ONE DOES), Jah Hem definitely adds a more ‘translatable’ style to the vibes, almost to the point of being Gyptian-like (thankfully his lyrics are better than young Gyptian’s however). I have to say that Love Is The Way has been one of my favourite albums for the better part of the last year and it has been doing quite well for the single apparently as it was VERY well promoted throughout the Caribbean, as far as albums go. But how about the music? It is a little bit R&B and a little bit soul, but more than enough EXCELLENT Reggae vibes to impress an old Reggae head like me.
This project is very well put together so definitely credit goes to Jah Hem and Cutting Edge for pushing a very PROFESSIONAL looking product to the masses. The album ends up going in a few directions and it WONDERFULLY throws a few surprises into the mix as well. Mixing it up first on Jah Hem’s debut solo album (his bio says that he previously had another album as part of a group in Florida which never was released) Love Is The Way is somewhat of an R&B type of vibes in a Reggae song (DUH), but very nicely done on The One. The tune is a lover’s track with a SWEET vibes which later adds a kind of winding keyboard, which to me at least sounds like an R&B type of ‘freshness’ in the song. Regardless, however, you categorize it, at the end of the day you’ll have to call it a big opening for the album. Next up is the first of two REALLY BIG surprises on another very R&B type of Reggae tune, Call Me, which features Jah Hem alongside none other than superstar Ky-Mani Marley. As a former R&B head, I can tell you that the sound of a phone ringing is the CLEAR sign of a forthcoming R&B song and that’s sort of what happens here, but after the intro to the tune (which runs a little too long for my tastes) what develops is a beautifully LUSH riddim with a hard nyah drum behind it. I was actually quite surprised, musically speaking, what happened with Call me in a good way and although I don’t rank it all as one of the class pieces of Love Is The Way, it’s certainly isn’t a bad tune, but I do feel that Hem himself could have added more to the tune earlier than he ends up doing while giving Marley the lion’s share of the tune for himself. Decent enough lover’s material there. The third similarly vibed lover’s tune in a row to start the album, Tonight Is The Night is my choice as the best of the three and is the first of the small bunch to offer a DIRECT forecast on the BRILLIANCE which is to come later on Love Is The Way. This tune in itself, however, is VERY strong. This is the type of material you’ll find coming on one of Don Corleon’s downright ENCHANTING pieces every once in a while with its smooth and romantic type of vibes. Easily one of the album’s best tunes altogether and a strong opening for the album in total.
Love Is The Way is clearly a tell a two albums in one. The first being a more romantic lover’s rock set which drifts in between Reggae and R&B vibes and the best of this bunch is BY FAR the previous single Come Here Girl which is downright MASSIVE! The tune was the lead of the bunch which attracted a great deal of attention to Hem and it’s no wonder why, it truly is an excellent vibes. That first half of the album also ends with a pretty nice tune, Missing You which actually flows on the very familiar Guardian Angel riddim from Jamaica’s super producer Arif Cooper. I don’t know if Hem actually got the riddim from Cooper or just did the works himself, regardless it is another big tune and another on a riddim which features basically NOTHING BUT big tunes. By time the title track hauls in, in the seventh position on the album, suddenly the vibes have changed and we’re now listening to a Roots Reggae album! Love Is The Way, the song, is one which urges society as a whole to focus more on love and righteousness than the violence and the corruption in the world (it actually sounds VERY Jah Cure-ish at times). It is a very nice message of course, and perhaps more importantly it sets the table for the tune which follows it, Love Is The Way, the album’s, finest tune overall. Enter the Wickedest Time. LOVELY! BEAUTIFUL! ENCHANTING! All are words which can accurately describe this tune, Wickedest Time, which was definitely one of my favourite tunes of 2008 altogether. Really it is an IMMACULATELY sang tune and the message gains much more amenability and palatability when you literally douse it in the richness of this song. I have been just so affected by this tune and I’m sure so many people have all over the world and when you pick up this album, you will be too! Holding the unenviable task of following Wickedest Time is a song which just may be the entire album’s second best tune or at least the album’s second best Roots tune, Be Strong. This one is just an uplifting message for the masses to put our trust in His Majesty and to keep faith in HIM for things, one way or another will get better and it is such a nice song with that CRAWLING riddim supporting it. Definitely check it out. As Jah Hem’s Love Is The Way begins to wind down, it saves the final three of it’s four in total combinations (including the aforementioned Call Me with Marley) and it just so happens that ALL three are definitely big Reggae tunes. The first of them, oddly enough, with the least known artist, previously mentioned Bahamian chanter Jah Nyne, may just be the best of all three. Nyne links with Jah Hem on an SUBLIME tune, The Most High. This song is bouncing vibesy praising tune to His Imperial Majesty and the two make strong duo. Nyne, for his part, is one of the more impressive unknowns in the Caribbean today in my opinion (check a next artist, Daniel Bless, from out of Trinidad as well) and I have been high on his potential for quite awhile as he reminds me a great deal of Jamaican chanter Bascom X. The Most High just may, fittingly so, be the most ADDICTIVE tune on the album. Next, is another superstar alongside Jah Hem, Luciano who checks in on another praising tune, Make A Joyful Noise Unto Jah. If Love Is The Way wasn’t spiritual enough for you in the previous ten tunes, then this ends on this Make A Joyful Noise DEFINITELY. I’m also happy to say that even with Luciano sounding in fine form, Hem manages to hold his own, vocally, with the legend, although that chorus which is one of the finest on the album is what most sticks with me throughout with Luciano’s PEERLESS voice riding the spectacular one-drop riddim and Luciano goes on to steal the show with a dazzling speech near the end of the song. HUGE tune and one of my favourite here. Closing shop on Love Is The Way by Jah Hem is the only ‘official’ two acts of ‘business’ to take care of. The album sans the tune Mama not only lacks an obligatory ode to Mama track, but it also lacks a combination with Monty G, both of which are taken care of here. Of the last three, this one is probably the least in terms of quality, although it picks up as it goes along and seriously, you know this was a NECESSARY tune for this album and a nice choice to end things here as well.
Overall, I have to say that the song placement here is quite interesting and, although I sometimes frown on something that isn’t necessarily a somewhat ‘random’ form of track placement, which, at the end of the day ends up helping the vibes along in the album move better by setting up the following tune. Here, however, the OBVIOUS trick which they did was to separate lover’s and straight Roots Reggae and if you notice very carefully, you’ll see that the big tunes, or potentially big tunes come right near each other in the middle of the album, surrounding the title track which brings attention not only to said title track, but the tunes around it as well with the others being surrounded by tunes already certain to receive attention because they’re combinations. Besides that technical bit, what we have here is an artist so CLEARLY talented and so clearly inclined to just reach A LITTLE outside of straight Reggae. However, as I said, I don’t think leaving Reggae is in Jah Hem’s best interest and I don’t think that is his goal. I THINK his goal was to make a HUGE impression on the Reggae listening community and just give a taste to the outsiders who’ll certainly get just that. If that was the purpose of Love Is The Way from a technical aspect: Mission Accomplished. From a musical standpoint? Mission more than accomplished. Top notch, one of the best albums of 2008.
Rated 4.5/5 stars
Cutting Edge Entertainment
2008
http://www.myspace.com/jahhem
http://www.jahhem.com/
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