The Best Reggae Albums Of The First Half Of 2009

The first half of 2009, like both halves of every year before it, is GONE. It will never come back, it's time to let it go. Thankfully, the first 182.5 days of the year have left us quite a bit of material to work with in terms of albums and while I'm still trying to make out the overall vibes of the year, things have probably been better than most people have been noticing. Its definitely been surprising and to the degree that I was wondering just how Buju Banton's Rasta Got Soul managed to get as 'low' on the list as it has. However, as we still have another six months to debate the actual details of the place, I submit, for your approval, the Best Reggae Albums of The First Half of 2009.

{note 1: Only albums OFFICIALLY released in the calendar year 2009 and before July 1st qualify (sorry Mr. Thompson)}

{note 2: Only studio albums qualify, no compilations (sorry Flava)}

{note 3: No Soca (sorry Destra)}

{note 4: Albums are listed in order or placing on this list but not numbered so as to give me even more room to change my mind (which I almost certainly will) come the end of the year}

{Honourable Mentions go to King Of Kings by King Hopeton, Motherless Child by Teflon and I'm A Winner by Spanner Banner}

Sojah - Modern Revolution [Irie Vibrations Records]

In retrospect it wasn’t so surprising that Modern Revolution was as MATURE sounding as it was originally. This album was SLEEK and at the same definitely fed more into more SOLID tunes from the duo like Winner. Still calling it the dark horse of the year and even though I’ve SLIGHTLY diminished my tastes for it in the time since (and that’s not necessarily true, I just have spun it much because of so much other things I’ve been listening to), I’ll still be rather surprised to see this list sans Konshens & Delus come December.

Jah Cure - The Universal Cure [SoBe Entertainment]

The very fact that this album is so low here and probably will be this low on the final count goes to show how BIG the year has been in retrospect. The Universal Cure, while definitely not The Cure’s best work to date was full of so many HUGE tunes that, even though so many of them were very familiar to longtime listeners you still had to love it. Also, the reported very favourable commercial success of The Universal Cure was very promising and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the Cure on this list again next year.

Buju Banton - Rasta Got Soul [Gargamel]

Could Buju POSSIBLY finish as low as the fifth best Reggae album of the year? The most interesting thing here is that it was OFFICIALLY released on the same day as the album which precedes it on this list as well as the one which follows it and between the three, choosing the strongest is like drawing straws as there was very little to separate the three so expect any type of change between them come December. What Buju did with Rasta Got Soul, which we didn’t know was even coming after the Too Bad album, was to turn back the clock to the age of Til Shiloh and set it so FIRMLY that he would leave people wondering if he had, in fact, done the seemingly impossible and outdone himself.

Sizzla - Ghetto Youth-Ology [Greensleeves]

Take this with the knowledge that my partialities to this album over the two preceding albums released on the same day would probably be only equaled by those of Sizzla’s most immediate family members and friends but its not only my preference for Sizzla as an artist which would make him place so high on this list. The strangely titled Ghetto Youth-Ology was a return to the Sizzla of yesteryear when the man gave downright PEERLESS rhymes which presented such wonderful (and MELODIC) messages over riddims laid down by some of the best in the business and it’ll take a MASSIVE shot to knock this one out the first half of this list.

Daweh Congo - Ghetto Skyline [Gold Heart Music]

See how this works: I had finished this list in my head and then this album popped right into my head and after an hour or so having convinced myself that it indeed had been released in late 2008, I finally decided to look it up and I was wrong. Whichever year Ghetto Skyline was released in, it would be all but guaranteed to make a list like this. Certainly Sizzla, Buju or Jah Cure (or all three) threaten to catch him at some point in terms of placing but you can’t deny its overall power and that DUSTY and RAGGED sounding vibes which absolutely has stayed with everyone who has heard it.

Mad Cobra - Helta Skelta [DJR]

Call it simply the most GUILTY of guilty pleasures in the Dancehall in 2009. While Mavado seemed to try to change his image with his squeaky clean (compared to previous efforts) A Better Tomorrow, Ewart Brown, aka Mad Cobra, made no such concessions on his long awaited Helta Skelta album. This thing was HUGE, it was evil at times, it was slack, crude, violent and offensive as hell, everything that’s wrong with Dancehall music these days. Right? Then why did we love it so much. . .

Queen Ifrica - Montego Bay [VP Records]

Call this one 1b at this point but no album on this list is currently building ‘momentum’ than Queen Ifrica’s rousing VP debut album, Montego Bay. Ever since the label announced the signing of the diminutive Mobay native, her inevitable release for the largest Caribbean music label in the world has been one of the most discussed albums in the game and when it finally reached, it arguably SURPASSED those expectations. While we definitely wish it would have been a bit longer, what the Queen gave us was SPARKLING, absolutely flawless modern Roots Reggae and maybe even the best Reggae album of 2009.

Nereus Joseph - Real Rebels Can’t Die [Sirius Records]

Whether or not Real Rebels Can’t Die ends the year as number one, two or even three on this list doesn’t really matter. What does is that when Nereus Joseph and the people at Sirius put the ribbon on the album and announced it finish and ready for public listening what he did was to release what is DEFINITELY the surprise of the year. Real Rebels Can’t Diewas HUGE in praising His Majesty and did so with such a SWEET vibes that you need to add it to your catalogue immediately. And while I feel that the Queen may indeed catch Nereus Joseph, if the year ended right now, Real Rebels Can’t Die is the Reggae album of the year.