Although I’m probably late in the process, I’m beginning to notice something quite important going on currently in Reggae music. Just as, a few years back, when the flood gates opened of artists emerging from the Virgin Islands and fans began noticing how PURE the type of Roots music was, I’m seeing a similar thing going on with artists from France and the French Caribbean and Afrika. Of course, these artists make up a large variety of styles (unlike those from the VI as I’m STILL trying to find a big Dancehall artist on the scene) and it is there where you’ll find a large majority of the Dancehall artists of substance from outside of Jamaica but that’s not what I’ve been noticing. Instead, it seems to me as if ALMOST EVERY single French/French Caribbean/Afro-French artist who rises to any type of prominence at all has such an impressive level of refinement and just all around skill. Its very strange that I can say such a thing about the region(s) but not necessarily even about Jamaica itself! I would probably say that I first noticed it with one of the first French based artists that caught my attentions, the Guinea born ULTRA talented Lyricson. This artist has such a COMPLETE style that it pretty much ‘disguises’ the fact that he probably has one of the better voices you’ll hear in the game (think Turbulence) but, as I said, the man can do pretty much anything. Lyricson also heads a very fine collective of artists known as Black Unite who have some very talented members also, most notably the WICKED Suga Moss. On that same level would be an artist like Saël from out of Martinique who is predominately a singer/chanter but also exhibits such a refined style that you simply have to take notice of his material (even though it seems few and far between these days). An, to my opinion you can’t keep a discussion on ANY type of decent level of talented Frenchies without mentioning the SCATHING Tiwony who, in my opinion, is probably the best of the entire bunch. And that’s just on the Roots side. Dig into the Dancehall of the French and French West Indies artists and, at the top level and strictly from an ability side, you’ll see a handful of artists who can rival some of the Kings & Queens of the Dancehall in Jamaica. Admiral T definitely comes to mind as the million words per minute DJ from out of Guadeloupe has a similar style to the Vybz Kartels and Aidonias of the world and in maintaining such has managed to rise himself to a near superstar level in France amongst Dancehall and Reggae heads. And of course, Admiral T talk leads the arguably even more skilled young Saïk and strangely a group of artists alongside Saïk, Genesiz, some of whom used to be in Admiral T’s Gwada Boys and, even them, some of whom (like SamX) can be VERY RAW but are still talented. And not to mention the incomparable Lady Sweety, Mighty Ki La, Paille and others, all of whom show such an impressive level of talent for what they do.
And, of course, I’m always on the lookout for new and exciting talents and with me still being relatively novice level in terms of my knowledge of the French artists, I still, pretty regularly, learn of just that. And WONDERFULLY, it just so happens that the ones that I hear of who impress me to any great deal come with albums not too long later. Just last year it was Guadeloupe native Cali P who brought forth his WONDERFUL debut album, Lyrical Faya. And back in 2007, it was the aforementioned Saïk, Lady Sweety, SamX, Baby G (all of whom had albums), Methi’S (like to see one from her soon too) and so many others. However, so far in 2009, either I haven’t been paying as much attention as in previous years or maybe I’m not such a novice on the genre after all as, save for just a few names here and there (like Speedy) no one had really stuck out up until now. “Now” of course happens to be quietly one of probably the most all around talented artists that I’ve heard on the French scene up until now, the VERY cool Blenda (aka Supa Lee). I do have a bit of experience with Blenda I THINK as I’m all but sure I saw him very briefly on a stage in Martinique late last year. And regardless of that, I’ve definitely noticed some of his music spinning here and there and from what I’ve heard thus far, unsurprisingly, I’ve been quite impressed by the Martinique native. Apparently he’s also been around quite awhile doing a few things that you would probably know of if you were DEEP into the vibes and his experience definitely shines through in his music as Blenda makes some SUPERB vibes and although he clearly shows either a preference or a skill dominance on one particular side, the Shaggy look-a-like is one of the more versatile artists on the French side that I’ve heard. All of that made and makes me even more thankful that, not too long after I learned who the artist was, Blenda brings forth his debut (at least to my knowledge) album, Operationnel for SL Music (which is probably his own label). Operationnel has been one of my more anticipated pieces for the last month or so and even just spinning through it a bit, it definitely doesn’t disappoint as Blenda (alongside a few friends who were familiar to me as well) fulfills on exactly what I heard in the pieces beforehand. The album becomes, in my opinion, one of several high profile releases from out of the French Caribbean at the current time with Tiwony having a current album out (Tiwony & Bredrens - Viv La Vi, which I‘m still working through and is potentially MASSIVE), as well as Saïk with a (WICKED) street album named M-10 Strict as well as others like TokTone G and the aforementioned Speedy. Also apparently set to release in the second half of the year are studio releases from both Lady Sweety and Admiral T shaping up a big year for the genre. They all, to my opinion, will have quite a bit of work to do if they are to overcome what Blenda drops on Operationnel. From beginning to end this album proves to be not just a BIG introduction but potentially one of the biggest Reggae albums of 2009, period.
As I said, Blenda definitely seems to prefer one certain style - the more melodic and laid back Roots, but he definitely represents as a well versatile artist throughout the well colourful Operationnel. And although I’d probably best describe him as a chanter, ‘Supa Lee’ (which I think he prefers) does have quite the singing tones at times. Blenda gets his album, Operationnel started digging deep into his bag of tricks with the OUTSTANDING shot for the Afrikan Woman and just Black relationships in general, An Malad Ou. This song! While it definitely has a heavy message and one we need to listen to and follow, the vibes are just so SWEET that I find myself getting caught up in it from a purely entertaining aspect of it (especially the chorus). Big start! The next tune, Roots Rock Reggae finds Blenda calling in the first of a few friends, big man Yaniss Odua also (I THINK) from out of Martinique. Odua is a favourite pretty much for anyone who vibes French Reggae and definitely has been one of my very own for awhile so merely seeing his name no the bill for Operationnel was exciting for me. Thankfully he doesn’t disappoint with the HEAVY message on the tune for the uplifting of the music and by extension the worldwide community and Odua steals the show by BLAZING his verse later on in the tune. Another big tune and probably bigger than the first. And although it doesn’t eclipse Roots Rock Reggae, Je Parcours La Terre which completes the album’s opening definitely gives it a run for its money and comes very close. The tune is a praising tune for the Motherland and its BIG. Its one of the tunes I feel that really shows off a very unique talent of Blenda’s, that he can kind of making slower tunes seem faster than they really are. Guyanese chanter Natural Black has a similar skill and it always livens up different vibes and simply with the particular artists being themselves. Big tune there and big opening in full.
It is this same type of veiled quality that permeates the best tune on Operationnel in my opinion, another combination, the MASSIVE Reggae Music Cé Planète Love alongside another VERY talented Martinician, singer Straika D. The tune definitely isn’t slow and Straika more than carries his own (he may actually do better than Blenda) but Blenda just SHINES on the song with an artist in Straika more equipped as a straight singer. The song is just LOVELY throwing praise to the greatest musical art form on earth! Also showing up with Supa Lee on Operationnel is hip-hopper Keny who checks in on the nicely vibed One Minute tune. Of course I’m partial (as hell) but I think the tune probably would have been even better sans Keny. Big tune still. Songstress Auria and Kris Daddy (who also has an album out now, Kris Daddy Aka K.DA Blackman, on which Blenda (and Keny & Auria) returns the favour) check on the SOLID social commentary La Ghetto Fume. Kris Daddy also returns later on the album with Skanky D (WHO!) on the even better Dépi Ten. The vibe on this one is just so high that it definitely ranks as one of the finer tunes on the album altogether and the kind of rock voiced Skanky D (whoever he may be) does very good job also before setting the table for Kris Daddy who crawls ALL OVER the riddim. The veteran Valley also appears on the album and I was really happy to see his name here as he is an artist that I should really spin more than I do. The tune, Musique, is a very upbeat and almost electronica styled vibes at time which I, surprisingly, enjoyed and the two neighbours make quite the nice duo. Lastly joining Blenda is another Martinique artist and unfortunately one I don’t particularly like AT ALL, Mali, who repays the favour as Blenda appeared on his album/mixtape from 2007, Flow 55°, on the decent tune Nina Gwada. This tune, Lavi Cé Lavi, is another kind of electric sounding tune and it was probably the first song I heard from the album and heard it even before I knew who Blenda was. The song is OKAY and Mali does sound better to me than he usually does. Outside of Roots Rock Reggae and Reggae Music Cé Planète, however, Blenda REALLY takes care of things better on his own. Check En Péyi A, Blenda’s BIG tune for his homeland and his extended community. The vibes on this one are nice and smooth but kind of ‘hide’ the true strength of the tune which are really in the lyrics and it also has a very nice ‘sing-a-long’ kind of style to it as well which goes a great deal of the way in making it one of the more attractive pieces on Operationnel. The same (on the bottom line) can DEFINITELY be said for the old-school Dancehall vibed Ma Rime En M. I was quite surprised to see Blenda even draw for something like this (even though One Minute is kind of similarly vibed, Ma Rime En M is even ‘older’ sounding and, of course Blenda takes it on his own this time) but I’m glad he did! This is just BRILLIANT tracking for the album as something like this comes up and you’re not expecting it and it WORKS, making the artist seem even better. Great way to add some colour and take a risk! Natty Princess, a tune about the special woman in Blenda’s life (DUH) is another standout as is the tune which immediately follows it the BIG Lagué Kôw. The latter being so big obviously that Blenda’s own son couldn’t help himself and had to jump on the track. Survival Everyday is another big tune (and sounds better following the similarly vibed Dépi Ten but, again, gets ‘extra credit’ from me as Supa Lee goes after it alone. It sets up the final stretch of Operationnel quite nicely with yet another nice effort, Give Me The Wonder (addictive one-drop riddim and all), closing things out with a nice inspirational vibes, sending out an unarguably BIG project.
Overall, I’m just thrilled with Blenda, Supa Lee and whoever else on Operationnel. The album, like any trying to showcase an artist, REALLY shows the best of the man and as a listener you just can’t help but be impressed as the vibes are just that strong, particularly on the first two combinations which are, in my opinion, worth the price of admission on their own. The subsequent tracks (after not only the first two combinations but the first four songs on the album completely) really show you that you’re dealing with an artist who has kind of perfected what he does and has gotten to the point where he’s venturing out into the other things and while I’m SURE he’s not as good at some of them as he might be after not too long (otherwise I would have heard of him already) Blenda seems well on his way to being a SERIOUS name to watch out for on ANYTHING that he does. As it stands, however, you need to watch out for Operationnel, another strong effort from the well talented artists of the French West Indies and simply one of the best Reggae albums you’ll hear in 2009.
Rated 4.5/5 stars
SL Music
2009
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