The Best Of The Best: Sizzla Kalonji's Ten Best Albums of All Time

If you have been reading me to any degree and for any length of time you probably know quite well that Sizzla Kalonji is my favourite artist of all time. Why? Take an overwhelming level of intelligence and combine it with an overwhelming level of passion and conviction and you have Sizzla. By far, he has led us into a new generation of Roots Reggae artist who eschew the 'cookie cutter' levels of making Roots music. It's simply no longer acceptable to merely be average anymore. Sizzla has also been quite active, with now more than 40 studio albums to his credit. So I though I'd help you sift through them and give you MY OWN PERSONAL best of the best lists. Thus, I submit for your approval, Sizzla Kalonji's ten best albums of all time.

[note: Studio albums, no compilations. And I fully acknowledge that there are albums not on this list which are, technically, better than albums on this list (like Waterhouse Redemption), but these are my favourites and I fully explain why]

#10 Rastafari Teach I Everything - Greensleeves/2001

What! Yes! Rastafari Teach I Everything is an album which wasn’t received very well at all and I know people whose opinions I NORMALLY respect and agree with who do not like it AT ALL, but this album just worked for me on so many levels. It was kind of funky; songs like It This and Revenge gave it a decidedly Hip-Hop feel at times, but the saving grace on RTIE was this: EVERYTHING Sizzla said here was on point. Not a word was out of place (regardless of however out of place you think the tune itself may have been) and, for what it was, it couldn’t have been any better at all. Call it Michaelangelo finger painting: A rather strange masterpiece and one of his more underrated projects from Xterminator.

Best Song: “The Motherland is so” Beautiful

#9 Taking Over - VP Records/2001

Go back and listen to the Taking Over album and then jump ahead and listen the next album which followed it for VP in 2002 (more on that one later). Very dissimilar albums right? Couldn’t be more different could they? Take another listen and this time start from the middle, or the end of the album. Count the tracks. Then slow it down. Taking Over was probably about as a ‘rough around the edges’ type of an album Sizzla has EVER released, but even in becoming that he managed to score two significant hits off the title which you can still hear him singing in performance today (the title track and, of course, To The Point). It also, to my point, was such a POLAR opposite to the undeniable master class which was to follow it that it kind of shared things with that album. Taking Over was dark, grimy and downright ANGRY at times and the necessary kick in the ass Sizzla fans needed to keep paying attention for one more year, until the BOOM.

Best Song: “Rastaman we” Taking Over

#8 Good Ways - Artists Only/1999 [VP Records/2003 Re-release]

Easily one of the most overlooked, underrated and downright FORGOTTEN albums Sizzla has ever had, Good ways was, essentially, almost a THROWAWAY album. It gets lost in the shuffle so much, yet the credentials behind it were so powerful: Sizzla did three albums with legendary producer Bobby Digital, Good Ways was the second, the third is on this list at number four and the first is the top album on this list. Good Ways was in that class definitely, those two always made STRONG results.

Best Song: “Who to be” Trust & Love “If you cannot be trust, you cannot be loved”.

#7 Bobo Ashanti - Greensleeves/2000

LOADED. The Bobo Ashanti album means so much to me and is actually around the blueprint of why I LOVE Sizzla’s music, as it led me on to my own personal journey and eventually being chosen to walk the path I walk in life. The album also marked a significant shift in Sizzla, going from a once very passive stance seen on earlier albums to Bobo Ashanti which took to the offense with tunes like Courage (“Dem a try pounce you, diss King Selassie and a dead dem a pronounce you!”) and definitely Attack, it along with the Words Of Truth album (from VP that same year) was the first album which featured the August Town chanter with such a stance. Of course it didn’t hurt that it rather quietly contained one of the greatest songs of his career EVER, either and has managed to remain quite popular nearing a decade later.

Best Song: (DUH!) The “whole” World “shall see”

#6 Freedom Cry - VP Records/1998

Another one which has been overlooked throughout the years but, arguably, was a set which began to show Sizzla capable of standing apart from the pack CONSISTENTLY (if you weren’t convinced by the two pieces of brilliance from the year before), because it showed more of a MUSICALLY INCLINED artist on top of the downright dazzling wordsmith he had already proven himself to be. Freedom Cry was ENTERTAINING, it introduced a level of MELODY not only to Sizzla’s music but to an entire generation of young Roots Reggae artists who were, just prior to it, focusing so much on the message that it was like they were poets at times and not singers. Freedom Cry proved you can spread the power of His Majesty and burn Babylon to ash and make people dance at the same time.

Best Song: Saturated “with the system which way they go” (one of the greatest written tunes I have EVER heard)

#5 I-Space - Greensleeves/2007

I-Space was an album which I CHEERED for and continue to cheer for as it, like the next album on this list and his most recent album at the time of this writing, Ghetto Youth-Ology, all come as pieces which seem to exist simply to make a point: Just when you think Sizzla has COMPLETELY lost his way, he’ll pull you back with an album so HUGE that you have to take note and constantly ask yourself if the Sizzla of old has returned, if only for fifteen tracks? I-Space was a very modern and very streamlined album which, although it lacked the melody of an album like Freedom Cry and it lacked the promotion machine behind #4 on this list, may be, from a technical standpoint, better than either of them. It was also very simple and understated at times. Just Sizzla and the vibes. Can’t (and won’t) ask for more. The best Reggae album of 2007, period.

Best Song: REALLY & TRULY! “Jah Jah Rastafari is my shield and guide”.

#4 Da Real Thing - VP Records/2002

DUH. It took Da Real Thing all of about six months or so to become a CERTIFIED CLASSIC in the eyes of many Sizzla fans worldwide. And a strong case could be made, even more so than the top two albums on this list and his major debut release, The Overstanding, that Da Real Thing is Sizzla’s most popular album of all time. So what made it stand out? Well besides the fact that VP Records promoted the hell out of it, making surfing websites in the second half of 2002 and the first half of 2003 an experience in being STALKED by it’s presence, Bobby Digital once again proved to bring the best out of the artist, providing him with top notch and state of the art roots riddims over which to deliver GEMS like Solid As A Rock, Simplicity and, of course, Just One Of Those Days. The MADNESS it spawned carried his name to greater stages and undoubtedly some of you reading this right now jumped on board as a fan right around this time. Excellent choice.

Sizzla - Thank U Mamma video (1)
Uploaded by dofrethehustla

Best Song: (DUH!) Thank U Mamma “for the nine months you carried me throughhhhhhhh!”

#3 Royal Son Of Ethiopia - Greensleeves/1999

Moving into the big three now. I know quite a few people who will swear by anything that the greatest Sizzla has ever sounded was on this DIAMOND from Greensleeves a decade ago and really, I can disagree with them definitely but with what went into this vibe, it becomes harder and harder to make any kind of an argument from a technical standpoint. Royal Son Of Ethiopia was probably the best written Sizzla album ever to be and it was also one of the most introspective and DEEP. This, coming from a 22-23 year old! Songs like Eastern Mountain, In This Time (alongside Luciano), Babylon Homework and ESPECIALLY Ripe Leaf simply showed a human being of a higher level of intelligence who simply got it better than just about everyone else.

Best Song: As “Emperor Selassie I was” In The Beginning “is now and ever shall be”.

#2 Praise Ye Jah - Xterminator/1997

Don’t let that corny, freaky little cover that looks like a five year old made it in a construction paper workshop fool you! For if you happen to overlook Praise Ye Jah you’ll overlook what is arguably the single greatest Reggae album of all time. The ‘argument’ goes between this one and the album I choose as number one on this list eternally and a MIGHTY STRONG case can be formed on behalf of PYJ. Why? This album, in my opinion was the figurative and lyrical ancestor to the Royal Son Of Ethiopia album, meaning that it was just as, if not more so, DEEP and SPIRITUAL and just damn SMART! This is modern INTELLIGENT Roots Reggae music in ALL of its splendor. In these thirteen tunes Sizzla simply redefined what it meant to make Roots Reggae music. No longer was it acceptable to just “PRAISE JAH!”. He did just praise Jah and he told you WHY to praise Jah. Check Hail Selassie I, “Hail King Selassie”. WHO? “Ethiopia’s own divine Majesty”. WHY? “First Ancient King of Creation. From the western hemisphere, searching for repatriation”. No cookie cutter Roots Reggae there and none on the other twelve tracks either. KNOWLEDGE in XCESS!

Best Song: PRAISE YE JAH! “Hail the Emperor, King Of Kings!”

#1 BLACK WOMAN & CHILD - Greensleeves/1997 [VP Records/2002 Re-release]

To my opinion? Sizzla’s Black Woman & Child is the greatest Reggae album ever released. I happen to think that Reggae music is the best music in the world, therefore: Sizzla’s Black Woman & Child is the best album of all time, period! Better than Exodus, better than ’Til Shiloh. On the very first album on this list, Rastafari Teach I Everything, I made it a point of saying that every word Sizzla uttered was ON POINT. What if you took that approach and combined it with, of course, Bobby Digital’s finest backing tracks - all of which were obviously carefully chosen, every lyric Sizzla uses - just as carefully chosen, every note played by every musician (some of the top names in the business including The Firehouse Crew) and every song just as carefully arranged? What you would have is an album which might just make everyone step up their levels and begin to do better. I can’t say that about ANY other album that I know of after Black Woman & Child. It had the beauty of Freedom Cry, the modern feel of I-Space (a decade before anyone ever heard I-Space) and the intelligence of Praise Ye Jah and Royal Son Of Ethiopia. What more do you need? NOTHING. Black Woman & Child is the greatest Reggae album of all time.

Best Song: Hell if I know. The album is full of ‘best songs’.

Meet Mischu Laikah!

Mischu Laikah

Meet Mischulaikah Richardson! A woman after my own heart. This BEAUTY yet another Dutch Reggae artist on the scene and FINALLY a female. This songstress has roots right here in St. Maarten where her mother is from and she was raised partly before returning to The Netherlands where she was born. She definitely is receiving quite a bit of attention on the island and now worldwide even outside of the Dutch stream as she and the label with which she is signed. Stonerich has been keeping the name of the sweet singing beauty going for about a year now.

Stonerich recently released her very first single, the very nice Things You Do which is the first step to an official album which is expected later this year. Laikah is very much in the line of young impressive Reggae singers like Alaine and Tami Chynn and the likes and she definitely has superstar potential written all over her, even outside of the scope of Reggae, because her music is very accessible if you fall into that pop/R&B genre as well.

She has also, while in Europe, worked extensively with Jamaican (St. Ann!) veteran chanter Perfect almost to a curious degree (I'm not saying anything!), which can only be a help (St. Ann to St. Maarten, story of my life) and he may even make an appearance on her album as the two seem to vibe so well together (musically speaking of course).

So keep an eye out for Mischu Laikah (happy belated 25th birthday Queen) because you may just be hearing about her soon anyway, whether you like it or not.

Mischu Laikah (April 11th) Birthday/Release Party on MySpace Music ...

[note: I get notes/emails from her or someone from her label almost every month. I'm paying attention people! OH! And she's sexy!]

The Vault Reviews: Holding Firm by Ras Attitude

As if I needed more proof that I was getting old than the occasional gray hair I find and, of course, the diminutive person who shuffles about my house calling me ‘dada’ or any derivative thereof, within the last few years I’ve also noticed that my musical tastes have been shifting ever so slightly as well. I am now able to listen to and appreciate things which I originally left as ‘BORING’ or ‘UNINSPIRED’ as, I’m sure, the artists and producers had originally intended, seeing the real power of some of these pieces. This is very interesting to me because, I fancy myself somewhat of a modern listener, definitely respecting and spinning the classics, but not to the point of ignoring the new artists as well and that, in and of itself, wouldn’t necessarily be a problem, but as I said, it’s not just with the classics anymore. For example, probably the most significant difference that I’ve noticed is also the oldest and a shift which occurred seemingly overnight. Luciano is a singer that I’ve always listened to but was never able to REALLY appreciate up until a few years back. Prior to that my primary vibsing with the singer came via the fact that he had several tunes like In This Time, Jah Line and Jah Blessings which were combinations with my favourite artist Sizzla Kalonji, which I, honestly, had been overlooking to a degree. Put anyone of them on now and I IMMEDIATELY love the vibes (I happen to be listening to Jah Line right now, big tune). This is also wonderful because, in my buy ANYTHING phase, I picked up quite a bit of Luciano’s catalogue which I am now able to fully appreciate and love. Of course this also led me down roads which led to similarly vibed artists like Bushman and Prince Malachi and, ultimately, to younger singers like Natty King and Prince Theo (and Mikey General, although very different, would definitely be somewhere in there by extension as well). A similar artist, I feel, would be the youthful I Wayne, who doesn’t necessarily fall into the same categories very much as Luciano, but has a VERY high moral code with which he writes his songs for the most part that they take a bit of time and a well educated ear, in my opinion, to really gain a hold of. I find it quite interesting that the tune which brought the Portmore singer to prominence, One Man Can’t Satisfy Her, which, although it did DEFINITELY demonstrate and display that very high ethical level which he delivers his messages, was VERY digestible and easy to listen to. However, many of those same fans haven’t stayed the course with the singer and his status in the game has been a bit diminished since, honestly. Things like these as well as others such as LOVING both Everton Blender and ESPECIALLY Yami Bolo these days (I’ve been on a Yami Bolo streak for like two years now, just out of NOWHERE it began), go to show me that maybe I really am becoming an old ass man.

I also have rather glaring but still (thankfully) quite rare examples of single albums growing on me over a matter of time, in my opinion, for little (if any) other reason than because my tastes have matured over that time. One of the most POWERFUL examples I would point to would be the case of VI Reggae wizard Batch who delivered an album by the name of Jah Guidance in 2005. That album was one of the most SUBTLE which I have ever heard and, initially (and quite awhile afterwards actually) I just didn’t respond to it very much, save for the music (Batch is, by trade, a producer and his music is always TOP NOTCH). Just a few years later and it continues to get better to me day by day as I STILL (and not on a rare situation) reach for it quite often. But then again, perhaps the maturity in my musical tastes had even taken place a bit back then as I would have had to go a little further than head-knocking Dancehall head to get to the point of even picking up an album from Batch. Thus, perhaps it is rather fitting that, in terms of albums, probably an even more glaring example than Batch’s Jah Guidance album would be the case of one Ras Attitude, Batch’s good friend and protégé, whose album LITERALLY had to get up and walk out of my door before I gave it a real listen. Enter Holding Firm. Holding Firm was an album which also came out in 2005 and I got it relatively close to the official release date (that date, in my respect, being the day I saw it pop up on whichever retail website I was ordering from back then) (probably reggaesource.com) gave it a few cursory listens through the first week before finally REALLY sitting down and giving it the attention which it deserved. When I did get to that, I noticed that it wasn’t the flaring MONSTER like the first Ras Attitude album which I had gotten was, Love Life. That album introduced me to a talent which I thought was VERY much like the Sizzla and Capleton and Jah Mason who I had gotten used to and DEFINITELY by then, although my tastes were changing and had already been changing for awhile, when I got to Holding Firm what I heard was something which wasn’t quite up to those standards; at least that’s what I thought at the time. Holding Firm soon disappeared from my players and my catalogue altogether as I passed it off to a friend or someone or another, seemingly NEVER to be seen again. Fast-forward about a year or so down the line and while listening to clips online of a Ras Attitude album by the name of Royal Lionage, I went back and start spinning through clips of Holding Firm and I heard a COMPLETELY different album! Gone were the (a little bit too) mellow singing which couldn’t possibly have delivered the same NATURE that came through on the Love Life album and the entirely too calm demeanour for tastes. They were replaced by some SMOOTH roots music not too much unlike artists I was listening to at the time like Warrior King and even Fantan Mojah to a degree. What I heard, also, were riddims I would quickly become accustomed to hearing on various projects from Lustre Kings, Zion High, I Grade and the likes. Even though it took me until 2007 (I THINK) to get it back. What I heard was MATURE Roots Reggae music. And it sounded NICE.

Holding Firm was released by Zion High Productions, who hasn’t been very active in terms of releasing, but they have been doing quite a bit of production and they currently have a pretty high profile (and EXCELLENT) album out with Breaking Babylon Curse from Messenjah Selah. They ALWAYS put forth fine material and this project was no different (including a STRONG Rebelution album from Yami Bolo). Getting this project, Ras Attitude’s third studio album, Holding Firm, started was the STRONG tune Why. This song is Exhibit A of songs that I didn’t like the first time around but nearly LOVED the second time I vibed Holding Firm. This tune has a very heavy vibes with an equally heavy message and is downright BEAUTIFUL! Excellent start. The next up is one of the highest profile selections on the album, Wrath Of Jah, which features Attitude alongside the aforementioned Batch, which is always primetime listening when the two come together (still waiting on a Batch - Attitude album sometime). Wrath Of Jah is no different as the two weave a vibes aimed at those who walk away from righteousness and His Majesty towards negativity in life over a BEAUTIFULLY understated and almost invisible riddim. One of the album’s finest there (Batch definitely steals the show on the tune). Completing the opening of Holding Firm is Where Did They Come From on which Attitude employs a tone in singing which isn’t necessarily his best, but works PERFECTLY with the vibes and the sound of the tune. The message here, similar to on Wrath Of Jah, is one speaking on the corrupt system working against His Imperial Majesty throughout society and how those who still trod the course shall ultimately do so under His guidance. All in all a big message and big opening to a BIG album.

The biggest difference between Holding Firm and Love Life and his debut album Happiness (which I received later) is that Ras Attitude takes a WHOLLY softer approach on the album. He sings quite a bit more and chants, generally, much slower throughout. And that’s a good thing. To my opinion the greatest example of that approach comes on the HUGE tune Let Jah Be Praised. This LOVELY tune flows over the same riddim which birthed a WICKED tune by the name of Don’t Waste Your Time from Lutan Fyah alongside Yami Bolo from Lustre Kings and a case could be made that it even tops that tune. This song is just a WONDERFUL praise of His Majesty and I say it so much but I always mean it: If Rastafari is the path in life which has chosen you, this song will reverberate throughout you, just as it did for me, as he says, “Praise Jah and everything will be fine”. DEFINITELY. Big tune and the best on Holding Firm. That softer approach continues to work for Attitude on HF. Check Bad Bwoy which comes across another familiar riddim I know (was used on NiyoRah’s big tune Nothing To Prove), and is essentially a warning to the masses (the youths in particular) to turn away from the gun and even if you do happen to find yourself in that life that there is a better way and not to break even the ‘rules’ in that life: Attitude says, “Why do you rob poor people when the rich man have the money “. Good question. All We Need reminded me of another big NiyoRah tune, Globe All Warming, as it rides the same riddim. Attitude doesn’t reach those levels (that entire album was SPECIAL), but he does a good, although unspectacular, show with the vibes and I think that’s something GOOD in this particular case because the message is one so simple that you shouldn’t overstate it definitely. Smile On Your Face (another riddim I recognize from somewhere) is a changeup here as it comes with its addictive BOUNCING style and the wonderful message not only literal (which is obvious by the title) but for the figurative as well: UP your positivity and you’ll feel better for it. Four tracks almost directly in the middle of Holding Firm have REALLY stayed with me and one of them was apparently so good that I remember liking it the first time I had the album. The first is Life Of Love which kind of builds on the MESSAGE (and only the message) of the previous tune to simply ‘spice’ in some love to your life. The next tune, the title track, was the one which I liked even in first run through the album named after it. The song has a very COMPLEX vibes to it and is one of the very few tunes on the album with a discernible ‘edge’ to it (very SLIGHT in this case, but present nonetheless). This song has a message of overcoming the system and maintaining oneself in the eyes of so much negativity and problems which is a big and IMPORTANT message. That, combined with the sounds make it easily one of the best tunes on the album and a clear choice for the album’s title (although I might have named it Life Of Love instead given the vibes, although that may have been too close to Love Life for the label). The final in the string of big songs in the middle of Holding Firm [aka Life Of Love] is the classically vibed Truths And Rights which sounds downright DIVINE at times to my ears. Marcia Ball (who I think may be from out of Jamaica) checks in on the later tune Without You (I think she also did a tune with Pressure Busspipe), a nice lover’s piece which has another classic vibes to it. And leading down the stretch of Holding Firm, Greetings impresses to a degree and is another tune with a noticeable EDGE to it’s building and it is a straight forward praising tune of His Majesty (Attitude also, nicely and fittingly, gives big respect to the Queen as well, Her Imperial Majesty) . Lovely song and one of the album’s finest moments. To close out Holding Firm, Ras Attitude goes biblical and, unsurprisingly, a bit acoustic, for Olive Tree. This one is a very nice tune, another one praising His Imperial Majesty. It takes such a nice vibe musically speaking, however, that it really stands out in a good way from the rest of the songs on the album, even though I’m not calling it the best tune. Its still something special to my ears and a mighty fine way to end Holding Firm, sitting under that olive tree (I testify that my God is there for me!”).

Overall, I shouldn’t have to say that ONLY roots heads need to apply on this one, but I will anyway. And you almost HAVE to have a MATURE and well conditioned ear and tastes to appreciate it. The overall quality of the album is very high as well, so, if you are such a listener I’m not saying it’ll be the greatest thing you’ve ever heard (it won’t be), but Ras Attitude’s Holding Firm will DEFINITELY have something to offer you and on good terms. Hey, it took me YEARS to be able to appreciate it and now that I do, it isn’t the worst he’s done (that distinction belongs to Happiness) and although it doesn’t reach his best work (that honour belongs to Trodding Home in my opinion), who knows? Maybe in the next four years I’ll like it even more? In any regard, at the very least Holding Firm is a very SOLID addition to the catalogues of modern Roots Reggae fans worldwide. Just give it a minute.

Rated 4/5 stars

Zion High Productions

2005

Got More Than Just Soul: A Review of Rasta Got Soul by Buju Banton

Buju Banton is one of a very select group of Reggae artists who has the ability to appeal to such a wide range of people and do so on both the international and local levels. Throughout his career, whether dominated by Dancehall, dominated by Roots Reggae or dominated by scandal and controversy, Buju has managed to retain a seemingly unerring and indomitable appeal which is, perhaps, unmatched by any living Reggae artist today. Not even the slightly more well known artists, for the most part, can claim such a standing as Buju. For example, Sean Paul’s next album when it arrives some time later this year is almost certain to be a BIG seller, doing over a million units pushed and going platinum worldwide in the process. Sean Paul, as much as the hardcore Dancehall heads may hate to admit it, has, in his time in the international spotlight done SO much for Dancehall and Jamaican music which is evident, if by nothing else (and there is so much more ‘else’), how many times you’ll hear Dancehall Artist ‘A’ utter the phrase, “Mi waan tek it to di place where Sean Paul reach”. However, that being said, back in Jamaica were you to hold a show in Sean Paul’s own yard with only two performers, himself and Buju, Sean Paul would have to play the opener and Buju would close the show. You could even take a more difficult case, in that of Beenie Man who has definitely headlined quite a few bills on which Buju Banton has appeared and done so locally and foreign and that’s to his very own credit as, at least in my humble estimation, the Dancehall, in and of itself, has NEVER seen a more talented practitioner than The Doctor. That being said, the ‘average’ Beenie Man fan and the ‘average’ Buju fan, specifically in the local setting (although it may apply to the longer listening fans internationally as well) could not be more different: Buju Banton strikes feelings in a slightly older and mature crowd for the most part, having LONG abandoned the slack and violent world of the Dancehall as his ONLY method of making his music, Buju simply UPS the senses of his fans and the type of individual who REALLY knows about the artist is one who is able to appreciate the Dancehall and the Roots Reggae arenas equally and often simultaneously (such as your‘s truly). Buju Banton’s music, mired in controversy and all, simply DEMANDS MORE from his fans, making him, in my opinion, one of the very few TRUE full Reggae artists today.

Now. Buju’s standing being what it is might just explain why he may have pulled his recent ‘detour’ feeling calmly and confidently that he would achieve on both fronts. The first leg of said venture occurred back in 2006 when the Kingston native released the WONDERFULLY SURPRISING album Too Bad which was his first pure Dancehall venture in nearly a decade and a half. Too Bad was critically acclaimed and, by all accounts, commercially successful but it really wasn’t the original design. The album which so many (including myself) had called Buju’s own personal slap at the tons and tons of critics who had grown in recent times before it released and were that the actual reason for it’s release, we can definitely say that, mission accomplished. It also produced rather SIZABLE international hits like the title track, Long Til It Bend (which really wasn’t a hit, but simply my choice as the album’s finest track), Don & Dupes alongside veteran singer Pinchers and, most notably, Driver A which proved to be one of the greatest Reggae ‘sleeper’ hits in recent memory and perhaps of all-time. However, even with as much work as Too Bad did for Buju and with as much as it even further exposed his name to an even wider range of audiences, things simply weren’t supposed to be that way, as I said, it was apparently simply a rather FANTASTICALLY timed slap at his critics. In the few years between his prior studio album to Too Bad. Friends For Life in 2003, Buju had been telling any and seemingly everyone who would listen, media or otherwise, about the coming of his next project which, in his mind, was set to do for him what his OPUS ‘Til Shiloh, one of the greatest albums of all time, had done for not only himself but the ENTIRE GENRE back in the mid 1990’s. This project had the somewhat sappy working title of Rasta Got Soul and, honestly, it sounded like some kind of molded and crafted attempt at somehow trying to take Roots Reggae music and FINALLY make it as popular and commercially viable in the international market just as much as the streaking Dancehall music was and has been (and still is). However, because of the Too Bad album Rasta Got Soul seemingly Got shelved and shelved indefinitely. Well ‘indefinitely’ also has a ‘shelf-life’ apparently as Buju now delivers what EASILY becomes one of the most anticipated Reggae album releases and perhaps even releases in general for 2009, Rasta Got Soul. The album couldn’t be MORE different than Too Bad and actually in terms of quality, perhaps they couldn’t be more similar. Rasta Got Soul is an album which will certainly be in the limelight and may ultimately give Buju the opportunity to take Roots music to the level where few besides himself can actually take it and in my opinion, the Too Bad album, in retrospect, was a stroke of GENIUS! That album set the stage for an album in Rasta Got Soul which certainly, in terms of the messages it presents, has very little ‘choice’ but to deliver more than Too Bad did right out of the gate. And its already being well received and the buzz, of course is quite high. RGS comes via Buju’s own Gargamel label, with himself (unsurprisingly) taking executive producer honours. But what about the actual music itself? Well, as I said, Buju Banton over the years, whether intentionally or by happenstance, has carved out a virtually PEERLESS place for himself within the grand scope of Reggae music: No artist is able to reach such a diverse and seemingly INSTANTLY LOYAL (he makes BIG fans very quickly) and group of fans as Buju. A big part of that is because when he is on, he could almost do no wrong. On Rasta Got Soul Buju is ON and what he delivers is, at times, downright MAGIC. Corny title and all.

Rasta Got Soul is unapologetically ROOTS Reggae music. If that isn’t ‘up your alley’, if you’re looking for some more strong Dancehall or if you’ve come looking for a mix of sorts, then you need not even pick this one up in the first place. Contrasted to Too Bad which, being Dancehall of course, was VERY much more accessible, Rasta Got Soul IS FOR REGGAE FANS, period. Well it just so happens that I am a Reggae fan (yay me!) and for me and the rest of the Reggae fans of the world Buju Banton’s Rasta Got Soul gets started in an absolutely DIVINE way. The first of the opening ‘trinity’ is the BIG sounding Hurt Us No More. This song is just SPARKLING! The tune has a very march-like vibes to it and it really shows off different styles that Buju runs throughout not only RGS but his career in whole and there are times here which he sounds very close to Marley and the vibe on this one just really gets things going on a high note. EXCELLENT opener. The next tune is TECHNICALLY the first single and a track that I used as a litmus test for the album of sorts, the BEAUTIFUL Magic City. This tune must have originated in around 2004-05 or so and was marked as the single for the upcoming RGS album and I’ve LOVED it since the first time I heard the song. Magic City is one of the first examples I point to when I say that Roots music can be ‘entertaining’ as well as the melody on this one is just as strong as the messages. With a video already in the can I’d love to see if the song gets any kind of international push because I think of all the tunes on RGS, it has the ability to damage worldwide. As I said, I also used Magic City as a litmus (or a standard) for the rest of the RGS album to see if it could outdo it or if I were simply to write a review proclaiming it the album’s finest tune. It isn’t. One of a few tunes which tops it follows it immediately, the BRILLIANT I Rise! I know I’ve heard this song somewhere before sang by someone else but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Who cares! The song is wonderful and so inspirational and I just love the kind of mid-tempo ‘sway’ it generates and I’m not ashamed to say it all, it made me cry the first time I heard it. MASSIVE tune, but still not the album’s best completes a fantastic opening.

Were you to just continue in succession on the album (and I will) my choice as Rasta Got Soul’s finest tune altogether comes in just next, the MIGHTY Rastafari. Now I may be biased, because the title of the song also identifies the path in life I walk, but I don’t care AT ALL. Rastafari is about as beautiful a song as Buju has EVER made in his entire career. The song just reached me to my foundation and built this Afrikan style chanting vibe which had me singing along the entire way and you will too! PEERLESS vibe praising His Majesty. As I said the type of fan, whether Roots, Dancehall or just in general, to my experience, who REALLY vibes to Buju is a more mature type of person and ‘mature’ (and INTELLIGENT) is a very nice way to describe the vibes that go into Rasta Got Soul. Perhaps never more mature than on the very understated but definitely powerful ska-ish A Little Bit Of Sorry. Buju has quietly been keeping the genre of ska in his rotation throughout the years and he probably has NEVER delivered such a shot in that vibe as A Little Bit Of Sorry which just so simply makes a powerful suggestion of proper usage of MANNERS and HUMILITY to one’s daily life routine. As he says, “If you think you’re bigger than saying ‘I’m Sorry’, then you have a problem in life”. He shouldn’t have to say it, but he does and it never sounded better. Mirror is another very mature tune with a very old school (cabaret sounding) and mature Reggae sound. This song suggests a bit of internal examination of oneself but it also wonderfully relates the product of such self-examination the external world so nice. You REALLY have to get into the lyrics on that one definitely. I could go down the line and keep going: Lend A Hand is another very intelligent song and it actually takes the next step because it’s one of the best tunes on RGS altogether, leading into the second half, on a BEAUTIFUL and simple one-drop. And Optimistic Soul just SOUNDED mature even before I started listening to it (doesn’t it). The song itself definitely doesn’t disappoint as it may just be one of the (if not THE) best written tunes on Rasta Got Soul. I love the chorus and just the vibes and messages in general as Buju in a very unifying stands just opens it up for people from all walks of life, regardless of their faith and practices. LOVE IT! You will too. And I have to quickly mention the obligatory lover’s tune Make You Mine which is more than just decent. As Rasta Got Soul winds down it saves two very standing out tracks, Bedtime Stories (which is suddenly VERY popular these days) and Sense Of Purpose which are the two combination tracks from the album. Bedtime Stories, another very MATURE tune, features Haitian American superstar Wyclef Jean returning the favour Buju delivered on his album, Welcome To Haiti from 2004. Bedtime Stories is a demented Bedtime Story, produced by Jean (who says on the tune’s intro, “This is the saddest bedtime story”), which relays the telling of a story that a child’s father won’t be coming home tonight, or any other night, because he has been killed. And Buju and Wyclef then takes the message to a biggest stage and really deliver a downright MOVING tune which is already creating such a buzz and definitely will continue to. Sense Of Purpose features Buju along another Reggae legend act, Third World and it is admittedly awkward at times (and kind of corny) but it’s growing on me. Both set the stage for two equally nice closers. The first is the WONDERFUL Be On Your Way. The tune is a thinly veiled slap at those who turn away from righteousness (in all of its forms), telling them to be on their way. INDEED. Big tune and one of the album’s best. Closing shop on Buju Banton’s Rasta Got Soul is the appropriately titled Lights Out. Lights Out isn’t an exceptional tune by any means but it fits in SO well with the vibes of the album and comes of as little more than a straight forward tune of prayer and giving thanks, but in actuality were this album DESIGNED and crafted down to every letter and note (and given how long its been in the works, it probably was) I don’t know if you could have even hoped for a more fitting vibes to close things out.

Overall, NO, I’m not prepared to say that Rasta Got Soul is as strong of an album as ‘Til Shiloh but it may just have the same impact and probably more. To my opinion, ‘Til Shiloh was an album, leading into others like Unchained Spirit and, of course, Inna Heights, which REVOLUTIONIZED all of Reggae music. Rasta Got Soul MAY have that effect as well as it has the opportunity to crossover without even trying to, based simply on the fact that it is a Buju Banton album. It has the POTENTIAL to push PURE ROOTS Reggae music to the mainstream audiences and see such a video playing on MTV or BET someday for this one. Also, to the new fans who just caught on at Too Bad, they’ll also be open to this music as well. And for those hardcore and dedicated, you, like me, will absolutely LOVE it. Rasta Got Soul, had such incredibly large shoes to fill indirectly through Til Shiloh and just the history in general, but it doesn’t even really try. Instead what it does is role in so undeniably POWERFUL that if you love Roots Reggae music, you’ll love Rasta Got Soul. Guaranteed.

Rated 4.5/5 stars

Gargamel

2009

Buju Banton on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures ...

The Ten Most Overrated Reggae & Dancehall Albums of The Past Decade

Given the nature of our music, where so much significant music doesn't receive it's rightful credit and it is rare even that the music is so rarely TRUELY given the respect it deserves in terms of sales and the likes, Reggae music isn't the first which one may think of when picturing 'overrated' albums. However, we have definitely had more than our fair share and for a variety of reasons. Thus, I submit for your approval, the most overrated Reggae and Dancehall albums of the last ten years. [note: No compilations, so you won't see almost every edition of Reggae Gold and I tried to keep it amongst albums that the hardcore Reggae heads paid substantial interest in, therefore you won't see Elephant Man's last album]

#10. So Many Things by Ziggi

In retrospect, So Many Things was an album which brought Ziggi so much attention but it was little more than a misguided table-setter for what was to come. His next album, the WICKED In Transit, was the one which should have done what So Many Things ended up doing in terms of getting his name out there. So Many Things was a rough around the edges Dancehall ‘experiment’ which, quality wise, didn’t live up to the hype surrounding it. Thankfully, since it’s release, Ziggi has more than righted the ship with In Transit and is on one of the best streaks in Reggae music these days, period.

#9. Yes We Can by Cocoa Tea

Call this one strictly a matter of circumstances: Yes We Can is an album which has received SO MUCH publicity due to the strength of a couple of (overrated) songs. Yes We Can took the anticipation of a HIGHLY significant historical event and threw it into an album. Unfortunately, the album was not only not the veteran’s best material, it didn’t even live up to standards set by his two previous releases (Save Us Oh Jah & Tek Weh Yuh Gal), but again, you won’t find much discussion on that around this album, given the circumstances.

#8. Loaded by Busy Signal

This is one which was, more or less, a ‘victim’ of the questionable direction which it took. Loaded is an album which is slightly ahead of its time and not in a good way: Had you brought this one even as the next album after Busy had even further solidified his name with the most casual of Dancehall heads, Loaded would have been ENTIRELY more forgivable. As it stands, however, for the HARDCORE heads as well as casual fans who knew his name Loaded was a definitive step down from his debut album, Step Out and really outside of showing them his face, didn’t even REALLY give the international audiences a TRUE taste of one of the most skillful Dancehall artists in the game.

#7. I Can Feel Your Pain by Gyptian

Like Loaded, I Can Feel Your Pain from young superstar Gyptian is yet another piece which was ahead of it’s time in a not so good way. In terms of this album, while it didn’t necessarily set itself up as an attempt at trying to cross over Gyptian, what it did was to take an unfortunate musical direction and tried to set up the singer as the new generation’s Beres Hammond, Reggae’s new ladies’ man. However, it wasn’t/isn’t a role which he is capable of taking just yet. This is a choice which is so difficult to make, but I would think that from the uneven nature of his debut, My Name Is Gyptian, the people at his record label, VP Records, would have gotten the point that his strongest suit and the appeal of Gyptian was FINDING his real direction, not doing what I Can Feel Your Pain did: Give his direction to him.

#6. Friends For Life by Buju Banton

As much as I hate to put Buju on this list, I have to. Initially, I was one who opened up the waves of love and honouring the quality of Friends For Life, but it really didn’t live up to his standards. It was certainly not that it was a particularly BAD album, but it was sparkled up as the return of the great Buju and that actually didn’t occur until a few years later with the surprising Too Bad album (and is supposedly about to happen again next week with Rasta Got Soul). Friends For Life definitely gave a few nice bits (the nicest of which remains the MASSIVE Up Ye Mighty Race), but in the end, Buju Banton is an artist for whom so much more should be and is expected.

#5. Born Dead With Life by Perfect

The internet sensation. Perfect’s famed ‘concept album’ really didn’t live up to the near hysteria created in its coming arrival and, although initially I left it as a very nice album, it hasn’t withstood the (rather short) test of time since it released. Also, when compared to Perfect’s far less ballyhooed debut album, Giddimani (which was nearly SPECTACULAR), Born Dead With Life needed all the help it could have gotten. What it did get was a somewhat ‘loosely mechanical’ type of vibes which didn’t go to show off the rather brilliantly TOXIC (and I mean that in a good way) and loud voiced ST. ANN’S chanter at his fiery best.

#4. Notorious: The Album by Turbulence

This was just wrong! In retrospect, Notorious is the only album you’ll see on this list which I would actually call BAD. Having finally catapulted himself into the Reggae limelight amongst hardcore Reggae fans by garnering the HIT which was much needed, the title track, VP and Turbulence decided to ‘capitalize’ on the success of Notorious the song which was HUGE, with Notorious the album, which was NOT. They re-recorded the title track with resulted in a tune which I would call, at best, UNCOMFORTABLE. And with only ten other tunes on the album (most notably his other hit, Want A Natty alongside ex-girlfriend Sasha), Notorious: The Album had all the FEEL and makings of an incredibly rushed and hurried project seeking only to build on the success of the song. Mission unaccomplished.

#3. The Overstanding by Sizzla

If you were going to pick one single artist in Reggae who would be THE MOST difficult to crossover into the international mainstream you probably couldn’t pick a more likely candidate than Sizzla Kalonji. Although The Overstanding made a pretty good attempt at it but ultimately, as expected, it came up short. Between generally AVERAGE tunes and re-recording HITS like Black Woman & Child, Solid As A Rock and Thank U Mamma, it never became one to stay with you (although it did kind of give us Take Myself Away) and apparently it didn’t catch on internationally either.

#2. Gideon Boot by Richie Spice

What happened to Richie Spice? Following another album which could have DEFINITELY been on this list (even in the place of this one), In The Streets To Africa, Gideon Boot was definitely not the answer which Richie Spice’s fans were seeking. Richie Spice, in spite of making very good music all the while, hasn’t delivered a certifiably GOOD album since the MONSTER that was Spice In Your Life. What was odd with this one was the fact that it came just one year after In The Streets, again seeking to build on popularity, but it REALLY didn’t offer much in the way of anything NEW in terms of vibes. Stand it next to its predecessor to any casual fan and I’d dare to believe that they could tell any substantial difference between the two. Two years in a row, entirely TOO average.

#1. Radio by Ky-Mani Marley

It’s easy to get overly critical when it comes to the Marleys, but you’ll notice how, besides this one, no other albums from the Marley clan appears on this list (and I DEFINITELY could have plucked Time & Place from Julian with its ODD vibes and its even ODDER following) but Radio is a special situation. Following a full blown explosion to the general public with appearances in very popular films One Love & Shottas which definitely showed off his acting chops, Ky-Mani Marley returned to the studio to produce Radio, his first album in seven years, following the Grammy nominated and downright BRILLIANT Many More Roads. My ears hear ONE substantial tune on the album in its entirety, surrounded by admittedly not so bad, but definitely nothing special. That song, Royal Vibes, is ABSOLUTELY DIVINE. Radio, as a whole, however, is simply the definition of ABSOLUTELY OVERRATED.

Lyrics to We Are The Creator by Norris Man

Rise.
I & I is the first. Black is the colour.
We know. That we are the first.
Always doing our best.

We are the creator.
They are the separators.
We are the true generation.
Keep on multiply.
Black people no stop from rise!

We are the creator.
They are the separators.
I and I the true generation.
Black people no stop from rise!

They take us from distant seas oh and distant shores.
We gotta lotta love even though we are poor.
Those who try to harm us want to make things rough
There is no other way than to show them that we tough
Corruption inna the system, yet dem still a cover up
Dem chat a bag of lies so dem a go dung inna di rug
Pollution inna di air so it a mess dem up.
Dem system no real so Rastaman a bun dem up.
Mi deh yah fi si di greedy man a get him throat cut.
Colonialism dem a use to rule, but wi no trust.
Rome! Much less fi drink from dem cup.
Selassie man praise, but in god they trust!

We are the creator.
They are the separators.
I and I the real Black Mau Mau warriour
Keep on multiply
Black people keep on rising

We are the creator.
They are the separators.
I and I the real generation.
Black people no stop from rise!

No time to give up
Mi say no skin out, no laugh
Cuz a nuff a dem a come wid all pagan talk
Watch it!
Mi find some nuff nuh clean from di heart
Nuff a work wid slave master from the start
Pope paul have dem brains, and di devil got dem heart
Dem study all type a witchcraft and such thought
The journey is so long, yes it is a tough task
How you gonna cope when the Gideon start?
I tell you this:
Every Black man haffi march!
Is a unification!
Chant Congo CHANT!
Roots and culture, it has always been so.
Let your love grow so!

We are the creator.
They are the separators.
I and I the real generation
Black people rise!
Yes. I want you to rise!

We are the creator.
They are the separators.
I and I the true generation.
No stop multiply
Black people no stop from rise!

A system a set around us
Many victim wi see around us
Innocent.
Have been slain, have been framed
For what they never have done
Many go beyond the bars!
See they wanna hitch up with all the movie stars
Dem set up like a fish pon di hook
Bait dem up and then dem end up like a crook
Longtime Rastaman a tell dem LOOK!
Dem a jam and a jooks
Neva stop until dem get rooks
Dem neva set aside, to meditate and read di HOLY BOOK!

We are the creator.
They are the separators.
I and I the real generation
No stop multiplay
Black people no stop from rise!


Taken from Norris Man's album Home & Away [Produced by Byron Murray]

http://www.myspace.com/norrisman1