In all of Reggae but perhaps Dancehall in particular, it can be very interesting to study and track back the musical ‘lineages’ of certain artists. With there being so many artists in such a small market space and seemingly only so much attention and credit (and CASH) to go around, you’ll often hear such varied stories of exactly where an artist came from and, perhaps most importantly, who helped them. In the Roots Reggae spectrum, where things are a bit less muddled and competitive on the surface, you still see rather convoluted or just downright strange stories of where someone came from (even if its true). Probably the easiest ones to link and to comprehend are, of course, the case of the Marleys. Going all the way back to Bob, himself, and probably beyond, there are prevailing questions and constant research being done. Between the brothers, Ziggy, Damian and Ky-Mani (who were all, at least supposedly, born in Jamaica) and then Stephen (who was supposedly born in Delaware) and Rohan (WHO!) and not to mention all the of the women. Its all very interesting and you can be sure that the truth (whatever it is) is probably far more interesting than the rumours which have now become regarded as the truth. Then you have the two rather intertwined cases of Shabba Ranking and Patra. Its almost RIDICULOUS how many emails I’ll get in any average month regarding the whereabouts of both but FAR more interesting is exactly how they came to be where they came to be in their careers, respectively. Shabba, in particular, is most often lumped into the Beenie Man and Bounty Killer type of situation where you pinpoint his location of birth as “somewhere in Kingston”, of course that isn’t true, he, in fact, comes from the sweetest place on earth, St. Ann. I use Shabba, specifically, to move myself closer to the subject at hand, which is MUSICAL lineage, of course. The stories you’ll hear of this artist or that artist (regardless of how old he/she might have been at the time) going to school with a next artist and that’s how they gained attention of a producer or whoever, is just comical at times, but again, perhaps not as comical as the honest truth. One of the most interesting stories you’ll here is definitely about [Baby] Cham. Somehow, someway, Cham attracted the attention of arguably the greatest Dancehall producer of all time, Dave Kelly of Madhouse Records and he supposedly linked with any and everyone beforehand with the TRUTH probably being he did so after attracting the attention of Dancehall star (and good friend) Spragga Benz who led the Sherlock Crescent prodigy to Kelly. Spragga himself is the subject of interesting musical line as he supposedly with NO actual practicing whatsoever just picked up the mic on his own sound and was suddenly a natural (and this is one of the stranger ones that I believe is pretty true having the artist himself speak on the matter). You can find pretty much every big name artist and see how DAMN interesting their rise to prominence was in almost every situation.
And even some of the lesser known ones too fall into that range definitely. You can take ANY name of ANY current (or former) member of Bounty Killer’s famed Alliance Crew (even Bounty himself) and trace their lineages to some strange source or another: There’s Einstein who was once booted out of producer Scatta’s camp in favour of Aidonia who then booted himself out of that same camp only to be subsequently booted from the Alliance along with Vybz Kartel who probably actually booted himself (got all of that?). And while Bounty has definitely been the artist of this generation most credited with giving next artists their starts, a look at what Bounty’s musical ‘cousin’ Buju Banton has been doing reveals some quite interesting bits as well. Like Mitch! Now Buju won’t get the credit for having discovered Mitch and whatever level of popularity the singer ultimately attains (or doesn’t attain) will be to his own work (or lack thereof) but he may deserve a bit of credit in getting him identified outside of the bunch. Watch this: As artists (especially those in the Dancehall) tend to like to ‘roam’ in packs such was also the case for Mitch. The first time anyone ever heard of him (and didn’t know that he was actually named Mitch or Mitchigan) would have probably been in one of the most highly regarded groups within the last decade or so, ARP. The short-lived group, which also included now star Da’Ville, in retrospect was VERY respected, voicing for some of the biggest producers around and that wouldn’t be the only group Mitch would reach (more on that in a minute). Most notably, after ARP (A Raw Perspective) ended, Mitch has gone on to link with Buju’s Gargamel imprint and alongside loud mouthed (and BIG talented) DJ, New Kidz, has comprised the talent consistently in that camp behind the Gargamel himself. Mitch, like New Kidz, was afforded the opportunity to develop as a solo artist and tour the world on Buju’s PLENTIFUL bills and has definitely formed a place for himself, of respect, within the industry and amongst the fans who know his name. THUS, I imagine the time as good as any to deliver a debut solo album, the atrociously common titled Original Yard Man. Mitch, like Da’Ville and another current Dancehall vocal group, Voicemail (and notice how I didn’t say anything bad about them) (I’m learning), chooses to go Japanese with his first release for Pony Canyon (I THINK) (I have the digital version) and he probably even more so than Voicemail or Da’Ville had a pretty good excuse to. Although Da’Ville is apparently quite the star in Japan now, Mitch has been, for years, quite popular there as he was part of a group, Passenger 7, which is apparently now finished which was made by the Taxi Gang, Sly & Robbie, specifically for the Japanese market. After apparently running its course (in one way or another) with an album also to their credit, Mitch now reaches back into that same VAST region to hype his debut. The album also (which is something that REALLY needs to continue) is available digitally worldwide, courtesy of One Pop Music (whoever they are). So how is it? Well its not horrible. Its better than Voicemail’s debut (or any other thing they ever don. . .) (Sorry) but Original Yard Man VERY much so comes with a twist and a twist which I have a pretty hard time enjoying. Lets examine.
I, myself, have never REALLY been a big fan of Mitch’s. To me, like quite a lot of fans actually, he has a bit of mysteriousness with him. He sounds almost EXACTLY like Afrikan R&B superstar Akon, which is okay, and honestly he pops up in some pretty unusual places and on some pretty nice riddims (most recently Don Corleon’s BIG Changes riddim) and I’m usually happy to see his name on the riddim and likewise usually happy with the results. Thus, I wasn’t too surprised that I found myself enjoying Want No More (because I’d heard it before) which gets Mitch’s debut album, Original Yard Man off to a start. The tune socially conscious tune floats so nicely across the Taxi Gang’s (who run the show on Original Yard Man) newer cut of their own timeless Baltimore Riddim and Mitch did quite a nice job of it, actually. It definitely sounds so nice backing his vocals (which makes a bit of the rest of the album all the more perplexing by comparison) and, right here it’s a very nice start to the album and one of it’s bigger tunes actually. Then things kind of get crazy. Next up is a remix of a tune by the name of Follow Me which features Beenie Man and Elephant Man. Now, here’s the catch: The ‘original’ Follow Me actually isn’t Mitch’s song but was Passenger 7’s tune and also joining the mix (or mess) is Scantana, another member of the group. The tune was apparently quite the hit in Japan (and Beenie actually references Japan by name) and the remix would definitely be welcome on such an album but, for me, its quite harmless and just very average with a slight lean to the pop or Hip-Hop side. Completing the opening for Mitch’s Original Yard Man album is previous single, Ghetto Heaven. This tune is pretty decent and it sounds pretty good as Mitch dedicates the tune to those brothers and sisters who have left the world before their time and in unfortunate circumstances. And Scantana (who LIVES on this album) once again makes a go at the riddim. I think the tune would have been better, however, sans Scantana actually.
Scantana apparently didn’t know that Original Yard Man was Mitch’s solo album and not the sequel to Passenger 7’s debut album, 1st Generation (also on Pony Canyon in 2007) as he appears on no less than four different songs. After the aforementioned two, the rapper (and when I say ‘rapper’, I MEAN RAPPER, US style) also appears on the catchy Silly Jamaican Love Song and brings female singer Jadae (another member of P7) with him. I could have dealt with a bit more Jadae and less Scantana on the tune but its clearly aimed at the dance floor and in that respect, its DEFINITELY successful. Scantana also joins in on the remix version of an earlier tune, the double entendre laden Grown (which isn’t bad in its original form), and this time brings none other than old school Dancehall DJ Flourgon with him. Again, the tune isn’t GREAT on any case but is better with just Mitch going after it alone, minus the dramatics that follow Flourgon wherever he goes and always have. And quickly, the other two combinations here are Bounce which features Haitian superstar Wyclef Jean and the aforementioned Bounty Killer and the EXTREMELY radio-friendly Too Good which features female singer Thya. Both are OKAY, I guess, but nothing special with the only highlight between the two, for me, being when Bounty FIERCELY jumps in on his verse on Bounce, as only he can (sounding a bit like Baby Cham actually!). Unsurprisingly, for me the best tunes on Original Yard Man are the Reggae/Dancehall sounding tunes. The best tune here is the title track, which doesn’t exactly ‘WOW’ you but that RIDDIM. The tune comes across a rather bouncing version of the Bam Bam (Murder She Wrote) and it sounds so DAMN SWEET! The tune itself also is pretty good as Mitch gives due credit to the place that gave him his life. Nice, not spectacular, but nice. The very familiar Trouble is another pretty nice vibes although not on the level of the title tune, nor the tune which follows it. But the vibes on this one are ALMOST heavy. I was kind of waiting for the tune to go somewhere where it didn’t quite reach (they probably should’ve called Bounty back into the studio to give it that extra boost) but it gets a lot closer than the lion’s share of Original Yard Man. That aforementioned tune which follows the track does get across that proverbial border which Trouble didn’t and its definitely aided by the flat out BRILLIANT Darker Shade Of Black riddim. Mitch caught the riddim’s rebirth a couple of years back in the same batch which included Cherine Anderson’s EPIC Kingston State Of Mind (Beenie’s Pardon was nice also) and he uses it to make a general (and slightly generic) music uplifting tune, again, one which is aimed at the dance floor, rub-a-dub style definitely here however. Also, I’ll mention Come Back Baby, another tune where probably the riddim (the SWEET There For You riddim in this case) is probably the best part of it. As things wind down on the album it continues to just kind of bob along without really doing too much. The folksy/gospel acoustic sounding Fall From Grace is the only tune on Original Yard Man that I actually dislike (you listen to it and you’ll know why). Borrowed Time on the Pretty Baby riddim is Pretty good and thus qualifies as one of the best tunes on the album and Reggae heads will definitely recognize the riddim on Special For You (and hopefully you don’t have trouble remembering the name of it like I am right now) and twenty years from now it will STILL be familiar to you, unfortunately Mitch’s tune won’t be, because it just doesn’t do too much; kind of a microcosm of Original Yard Man as a whole before turning things over to the previously mentioned Grown remix to end things.
Overall, the album kind of comes with a condition to it that I just can’t recommend very much. The album has two different styles which are almost polarizing and I find the Reggae fan who could REALLY enjoy it to be VERY rare. On one hand is the casual fan who would seemingly enjoy the kind of ‘poppish’ vibed tunes on the album and then you have the complete antithesis of that with the heavier and traditional Reggae vibes. If you REALLY think about something like that, the inclusion of one will bother the fans of the other. Either it will be ‘too Reggae’ or ‘not Reggae enough’. And, besides that, Mitch has simply better material. The songs he’ll generally voice as singles, in my opinion, are better than what you’ll hear on Original Yard Man and they NOTICEABLY so. Hopefully in the not too distant future he can go after another one but as for Original Yard Man, if they like in Japan - They can keep it.
Rated 2/5 stars
Pony Canyon [Japan]
One Pop Music [Digital]
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