Word Sound & Powerful: The Best Reggae Lyricists

Whatever it is that goes into writing a song, these artists are the ones to ask. Throughout the genre's still relatively short lifetime, we've seen artists (and those behind the scenes as well) who are able to separate themselves from the pack by virtue of the words they choose in compiling their work. In the Roots Reggae arena, it isn't only about "creating havoc inna Babylon", or "tingz getting fyah red!" and in the dancehall, it's not just "Di gyal dem luv mi so" or "my gun ah fi kill 10". Thus, I submit for your approval, the ten that overstand that the most (or if they don't they make you love them for their ignorance); The Ten Current Best Lyricists in Reggae Music).

{note: This was REALLY hard. So, I'll mention that the final two cuts were Busy Signal and Batch}

#10. Saïk - “Problems”

In compiling this list, I had it set down, nice and trimmed to 10 WONDERFUL names. Then I remembered the rather slight and childish looking Gwada native with the INSANE flow. Saïk is an artist who has actually completed doing what the next artist on this list is poised to do in outshining his mentor. You won’t find Admiral T’s name on this list but as for Saïk, a young artist who has proven in his brief time that his skill with the spoken word is already amongst the best in the Dancehall, if he delivered in English, he may already be the best overall. Hopefully 2009 will see the follow-up to his 2007 debut album Face à La Réalité, should he outdo that effort, the next time I make this list, top five belongs to him.

#9. Aidonia - “Seh wah?”

If you follow the line of succession in the Dancehall’s reigning bad guy/villain then Aidonia would be the next to fill the role and he would fill in such a STRANGE way, the likes of which the Dancehall has never seen before. Aidonia strings together these downright befuddling stretches of lyrics that will make even the most hardened of Dancehall heads have to rewind the tune over and over again. It’s almost FUNNY at times listening to him go really and when you look at his two ‘predecessors’ Aidonia has kind of taken the best of them both and combined it to his own NUCLEAR levels. As he ages and progresses, should Aidonia add any level of CONSISTENT roots to his music, even the top place on this list is within his grasp.

#8. Vybz Kartel - “The King Without A Crown”

It’s strange that Vybz Kartel, easily one of the most talented wordsmiths to EVER hold the mic in the Dancehall makes this list but its still somewhat of a disappointment in my opinion. To look at his career as a whole, in my opinion, shows gaps to where he didn’t develop as an artist. Back in the 2001-2003 range when people were hailing him as the next big thing (and he did honestly prove to be that, giving credit where its due), the thought was that he would someday develop outside of the 3 G’s of the Dancehall - Girls, Guns and Ganja. Well for the most part he didn’t! Still, what he did develop was the fact that should you just want some morally corrupt and downtrodden and, at times, downright EVIL ass song, you’ll link Kartel - at least until Aidonia catches him. . .

#7. Damian Marley - “The Natural”

How long did it take us to get past the ‘Bob Marley’s son” phase in regards to ‘Jr. Gong’ to realize that the man has SKILLS! Damian would probably be higher on this list if he were to further ingratiate himself in the current Jamaican Reggae scene (I.e. jumping on the next riddim from Don Corleone, Big Ship or No Doubt) which would be a BEAUTIFUL thing. Marley combines the crazy rapid-fire style of the first three individuals on this list with a HEAVY rootical twist. The results are probably the most unique and creative set of vibes for a Roots artist in the game right now. Period.

#6. Assassin - “Da Fucha”

Who would have thought Assassin would someday outrank his more notorious counterpart and ‘classmate’, the aforementioned Vybz Kartel, a few years back when both were the two new and young potential champions on the scene. Kartel was clearly at an advantage as far as being outwardly more skillful but in the long run Assassin began adding more and more facets to his game to the point where right now he may have a claim as being the most talented Dancehall artist in the game overall at this point. Assassin’s still young future is SPARKLING should he be able to continue his ascent, he may be the next King Of The Dancehall.

#5. Lutan Fyah - “Evolution”

I’ve been speaking about people like Aidonia, Saïk and even Kartel to an extent, who have simply improved on the vibes at the current time to a level which offers them their own individuality (and thus, their places on this list) and quietly, here’s another. People like the next artist on this list and the top two names on my list have set a stage in Roots Reggae which, at times, either waivers from the point or kind of confuses the point (due to COMPLETE AND UTTER STRANGENESS). There ain’t no damn waiving or confusion with Lutan Fyah! This is 100% Roots Reggae BRILLIANCE and CONSISTENCY. Since the Fyah bust on the scene he has only dropped a few substandard verses in songs, much less songs in full. He most likely won’t get his due respect until his prime is done, but if you’ve been paying attention for the last couple of years, you’ve heard an artist near lyrically PERFECT.

#4. Buju - “Champion Emeritus”

Buju Banton is bound to take months and even full years off from recording and just spend his time sitting around his house or doing whatever he does with his time, but when he returns you could make the case that he would be the tops on this list. Instead, one of the most talented PEOPLE the Reggae world has ever produced remains somewhat of an enigma in the minds of fans all over the world. When he’s on his game he makes the most BEAUTIFUL and uplifting songs the genre has produced since the original Marley, while at the same time, taking the offense in a way that Peter Tosh himself would be proud of. One artist, a direct lyrical descendant of both Marley and Tosh? A MUST for this list or any other like it.

#3. Tanya Stephens - “Poet Laureate”

It’s almost downright IMPOSSIBLE to lyrically IMPECCABLE in any musical genre, much less one as trendy as Dancehall and for all of my credits thrown at someone like Assassin, I would have to admit that he still is a work in progress. That’s just not the case with Tanya Stephens. Stephens has a really ridiculous quality, which she shares with the number one on my list in that, she can APPEAR, at times, when she is at her best to be grasping for words, almost in a freestyle sounding type of thing, but magically it appears that she always chooses the right word. If you can make something sound like you’re making it up off of your headtop and make it sound FLAWLESS, you’re something special. Add to that, when she clearly takes her time and pushes her top material, her pieces are peerless in the Dancehall and although she may still be underrated today, pick up either of her two last albums, Gangsta Blues or Rebelution and what you’ll find are tunes which have a POINT and most of them bubbling somewhere around perfection. Poet indeed.

#2. Vaughn Benjamin - “The Flood”

The second artist on my list also has a quality which he shares with the number one artist in that you simply have to wonder how they manage to maintain a normal life because of the sheer VOLUME of material he does. You also have to wonder if there isn’t a ghostwriter (or two) somewhere in the shadows because what he Vaughn Benjamin, lead vocalist/song writer of the famed Midnite band from out of St. Croix, does seems downright inhuman. Assuming that somehow, someway he does write everything he utters on his six+ album per year schedule then what we’re dealing with here is an artist who is simply ahead of his time. I often speak of artists who are able to transcend their era and seem to have a talent which is as timeless as the genre in which they ply their trade, however, in Benjamin’s unusual case, I’m not so sure. What in the hell would fans from the 1970’s have thought of Vaughn Benjamin? Brilliant? Yes. But would he have fit in? I don’t know and I’m sure he doesn’t care either way but fitting in this list isn’t so problematic for him. If Vaughn Benjamin weren’t so damn weird at times and I weren’t so damn partial to my number one, he would have absolutely strolled to that spot, no problem.

#1. Sizzla Kalonji - “Hidden Away”

Sizzla is the best football team in the world who only plays his starters when they get to the playoffs. He is the best fighter who only bothers to fight back when he gets rock. And he is the best writer on the planet who only releases a book once every two years. ABILITY and not consistency being the hallmark characteristic of my compiling of this list is a HUGE factor which allows him to be at the top of it: If you sift through all of the violent, slack, rude, crass and just downright meaningless material Sizzla pushes out and you’re patient enough to do that, you reward becomes a stream of tunes from a lyrical master whom I feel is PEERLESS in the annals of music as a whole. Sizzla at his best is simply capable of MORE than anyone whom I’ve ever heard. Sizzla NEAR his best is capable of more than most and even the harshest of his critics would have to admit that OCCASIONALLY he scores with one of those crazy Dancehall tunes doesn’t he (see Karate)? His Roots levels, however, are SPRAWLING diamonds of tunes which speak of Afrikan upliftment and redemption with such a RAW and UNREFINED quality that you start to see that he has both of those qualities in MASS amounts but only in his own way. In my opinion he redefined the emerging genre of Roots Reggae chanter and also inspired and continues to inspire a class of artists, one of which is #5 on this list, who grew up, like I did, hearing this artist, a little younger than most of his peers, ATTACK wickedness on every street corner, gully, trench and House of Parliament where it existed. All these years later and not a SHRED of wear is present, only diminished focus. Flatly put, whenever he wants to, Sizzla Kalonji can write a song or an entire album which can change the entire landscape of Reggae music. WHENEVER HE WANTS TO. The finest lyricist in Reggae right now and maybe of all time.