Told You So! Told You So!: A Review of I Grade by Chezidek

As wrong as I undoubtedly am for doing so, I like to take a little bit of credit for having something to do with the word being spread of the talents of certain Reggae artists. These are names who I, for one reason or another, seemed to gravitate to fairly early in their respective careers and, having been won over by their vibes and their displays to some extent, I began telling ANY AND EVERYONE about them and to check them out. And while, again, I’m sure my influence has been minimal, virtually not a day goes by without me getting an email something along the likes of, “Thanks Achis for telling me about ______, the artist is mad!” Right now, I consider my greatest ‘piece of advice’ to DEFINITELY be Lutan Fyah. I’ve been telling literally everyone about Spanish Town’s finest for maybe seven or eight years now. Now what’s really interesting is that, around the same time I came across Lutan Fyah’s music (which would have been 2002 or so, while I was in college in the States), I also came across the name Chezidek as he dropped his very first album back in 2002, the STILL wicked Harvest Time. That was an album which didn’t do much damage (apparently) in terms of commercial successes, but I wasn’t the only one paying attention to the album from the very strange sounding singer from out of ST. ANN’Z (!). I didn’t push Chezidek’s name as hard as I did Fyah’s (or Queen Omega, Turbulence or some of the others I would have been just recently high on and expose to at the time), because of his “very strange sound” as, despite the fact that he came through not only my home town but my favourite label of all time (Xterminator) as well, honestly I just didn’t know what to make of him back then. Then, when you take into consideration that Harvest Time, while still big material (albeit short big material at only eleven tracks), was followed a few years later by what I still regard as Chezidek’s worst COMPLETE piece of work, the very strange and just DULL Rising Sun album, which definitely gave me and I’m sure many other fans a cause for concern. Since then, however, Chezidek has established his name as one of the most TALENTED and in-demand Roots Reggae artists worldwide. His subsequent releases (for the most part) have impressed and you could even make the case (although I’m probably not going to) that he’s managed to outdo the Harvest Time album at some point as well. So, again, as someone who’s been running the name Chezidek (and I even think he was billed as ‘Melchezidek’ at some point), for over seven years, allow me to gloat a little by saying, I TOLD YOU SO.

Along with the amount of excellent work Chezidek has done, he’s also made some very nice contacts. Besides doing work with and originally getting his start with ‘Fattis’ Burrell’s famed Xterminator camp, Chezidek has not only voiced with, but has recorded full on albums with the likes of Al.Ta.Fa.An, In The Streetz, Massive B and, of course, Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor’s No Doubt Records. I wouldn’t even bother to go through with whom he’s scored singles with, but trust there’s a virtual ‘who’s who’ of producers and not only locals, with whom Chezidek has voiced and voiced extensively. Earlier this year Chezidek added another producer and label for whom he’s released albums when the very strange Herbalist was released through Tad’s. And while I’ll spare you the exact circumstances of the strangeness of the album (although such information might be revealed to you through the process of clicking that link), the album was well high profile for the singer and undoubtedly opened even more ears to his vibes and his potential. Well, apparently Chezidek had a bit more to say in 2009 than was present on Herbalist (which was only like a half of an album or so) (biggup Al.Ta.Fa.An), as he now does his Lutan Fyah impression and releases a 2009 followup, the very SOLID I Grade. While Japan is slowly but surely (maybe not so slowly) turning into a hotbed of Reggae music and Reggae album releases, you also have to look at the European market and the European producers and labels in general who are now very steadily building more and more releases through Jamaican artists. With labels such as Pow Pow from out of Germany, of course Cousins from out of the UK (who released Chezidek’s aforementioned piece with Flava, Firm Up Yourself) Irievibrations from out of Austria, Gold Hear from out of Sweden (who did the MASSIVE Ghetto Skyline earlier this year from Daweh Congo) and just a seemingly endless stream of others. France has arguably been the single largest operator in this fashion as labels on top of labels release albums from great Jamaican and Caribbean Reggae artists. Not only do you have my favourites like Special Delivery, Makafresh/Makasound and Irie Ites but you also have some others who continue to make their presence known, such as Tabou 1. This label (who I was pretty sure was loooooooong gone) made itself known in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s via some very strong album releases which were largely produced by the Taxi Gang, Sly & Robbie (the biggest of which has to be considered Yami Bolo’s Freedom & Liberation which featured the SWEET Love My Woman). Well, apparently Tabou 1 is now picking up where they left off as they helm the new Chezidek release, I Grade, produced almost exclusively by, of course, Sly & Robbie. That’s the BIG DEAL here; Chezidek records an album with Sly & Robbie! So much so that Tabou 1 even mentions it on the cover (and if you dig up some of their old album covers (like Freedom & Liberation) you’ll see it pasted on a few of them “Sly & Robbie” in large blocked letters) as “Sly & Robbie Present”. So what exactly does Sly & Robbie present in I Grade? Well, the pretty bad title notwithstanding, what you hear on the album is a vibes which, although it takes awhile to grab onto you, is just SO nice, that from a strictly sonic appeal point of view, has to be regarded as one of Chezidek’s finest album to date. Of course there’s some substance here as well and such a combination of factors may just make it turn out to be just a very nice album in general.

It’s very interesting (and quite rare actually) that I don’t get any one particularly prevailing vibes from this album. Of course, musically it has a general SOUND, but it doesn’t really come away with any ONE sentiment and it’s pretty much all over the place in terms of subjectry, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing (though, if you know me well, you know I‘ll probably be looking for a unifying vibe here for the rest of my days). The first evidence of Chezidek’s versatility (or ‘globality’) of vibes on his new album I Grade (his sixth by my count) for Tabou 1 Records, is the VERY nice tune ‘Change’. The first thought to come to my mind on the very first time I spun through the tune was ‘STANDARD’. However, and this, as I said, is pretty common for I Grade, the more you listen to it (and this one in particular) the more the tune’s inherent dazzling and colourful nature reveals itself. The song is definitely message music, but you really get a strong vibes from it musically as well and good luck getting to that message. Big tune and a big start for the album with one of its undeniable highlights. ‘Tonight‘, although not as strong as the opener, had no such ‘growing pains’ with my tastes. This tune is nearly lovers MAGIC. Oddly enough, I think that’s an under-explored topic in Chezidek’s music (and if anyone (not named Jah Cure) had the voice for such a tune, it would definitely be Chezidek) and if Tonight is any indication, he needs to invest more time in that vibes as well (there are other such tunes on the album also, quite a few of them actually, with maybe one being stronger than Tonight even) as the tune is just so SMOOTH that you have to pay attention. The final tune on the opening bit is also the best of the three, ‘Border Line’. This song has a very nice old school vibes to it and it really comes off nicely IMMEDIATELY. The tune kind of struck me as a bit strange lyrically as you already have in your mind what such a tune named Border Line is about, but it didn’t hold itself into that same “reach the borderline” and “time to overcome” type of discourse. Instead, Chezidek declares himself to be without a border line and not the type to be fenced in by any means (basically saying that he’s a grown ass man and can do as he pleases). I couldn’t agree more with the very interesting tune.

If you follow things along in a sequential order (and we do) the tune immediately following Border Line jumps in (very timely, on a great streak on the album) and does so as the biggest tune I heard on I Grade altogether. ‘No Surrender’ is an EPIC tune! It almost sounds like something (in terms of the vibes, certainly not the voice) that someone like a Mark Wonder would sing, as it’s this BIG sounding anthem-like tune. Chezidek OBVIOUSLY can do the same thing! HUGE tune. The tune ‘Who Start’ kind of caught me off guard a bit. I’ve gotten to the point where I can pretty much look at titles and know, more or less, what a tune is going to be about, but I had no ideas on Who Start. What the old school vibed tune is about, WONDERFULLY, is tracing back the plight of the Children of Afrika and doing so in support of WHO Chezidek says started the war. It’s so interesting that he would have come with such an approach, and of course, it doesn’t hurt that musically speaking the song is also very good. ‘Devil You Cah Bully We Out’ is another tune which reaches the heights of I Grade in terms of quality. There’s just something about this tune that I can’t quite put into words (maybe it’s the title) that’s really captivating to me and I’ve checked with just a few other people who’ve vibed the tune and have also heard two or three similar reactions. Speaking of titles, also check ‘Keep I Rolling’ which is, essentially, the title track for the album. I don’t enjoy it as much now as I did the very first time I heard it (it was actually my favourite here for awhile), but it’s definitely still well strong. The tune, as you might imagine, is the obligatory herbalist tune on the album (and you would have expected more, given the title), but it also speaks of NATURE in far more general terms which is a nice touch as well. And I’ll mention the potentially MASSIVE ‘Righteous Name’ which is probably my second favourite tune on I Grade. This one is SPARKLING as Chezidek urges all to give thanks and praises to He with the righteous name, His Imperial Majesty of course. As I mentioned before, there are quite a few lovers and lovers vibed tunes on I Grade (and you wouldn’t have expected to see that development on an album named I Grade, or at least I wouldn’t have), two of which even lead the album out. The first of the lot (after Tonight) is the decent enough ‘It’s You Girl’. This tune is fairly unexceptional, but I did notice the nice drumming in the background which is always a favourite sound of mine to hear (and it works in the overall composition of the song as well, it’s not just random drumming). ‘It’s Not Over’ has a much nicer vibes and isn’t the stereotypical love song (even though it sounds like it) as it has much more spiritual overtones and inflections and I’d actually probably go as far as to call it one of the better tunes, altogether, on the album. ‘Girl I Like You In My Life’ (is another title that’s entirely too long) definitely is that stereotypical love tune and I’m not really complaining about that AT ALL. This one has a nice SWEET vibes and is definitely one to play for the special someone in your life. The two final tunes on I Grade are also (kind of) lovers tunes. The first is definitely the strongest and probably the strongest such tune, period, on the album, ‘Black Woman’. This one is kind of two dimensional as it has both a laid back and dynamic vibes and it just SOUNDS GOOD. It doesn’t have that type of formulaic and stale approach (if you played the riddim out alone, it wouldn’t even sound like a love song riddim to my ears very much). And lastly is the corny and sappy and just lame sounding tune ‘Alone’ which sounds like tune from the 1920’s ‘doo-wop’ era. All of that being said I’m kind of miffed that I actually LIKE IT quite a bit. . . Yeah, I’m kind of ashamed but Alone is NICE and a very strange probably BAD way to end the album, but I can’t tell.

I should also mention that I Grade comes with a second piece which includes dubbed out version of the tunes. This is a nice idea and I’d like to see more of it going on (and maybe even on a digital level, as in an album is released and you can go through some of the digital retailers to get its dub or acoustic versions), so biggup Tabou 1 for that as well.

Overall, I’m fairly comfortable in calling I Grade Chezidek’s third or fourth album to date. I’d CLEARLY place both Harvest Time and Inna Di Road over it ultimately, but those (in my opinion) are the only two which clearly top it (its pretty close to the levels of Firm Up Yourself and I can’t quite pick between the two at this point). The thing about I Grade is its SOUND. Musically speaking (biggup Sly & Robbie), this album is top notch material. We’ve heard Chezidek, himself, in better form, but not much better and he’s so close to those levels that I would think it’s pretty imperceptible by those who aren’t HEAVY fans. While I lack to find a complete and gathering type of vibes on I Grade, maybe it lies outside of the album itself. This is the type of project which will only go to help to further his name (as all of his projects have done for the most part) as it’s very solid. Chezidek is definitely an artist to be mentioned with the ELITE of modern Roots Reggae and he’s well on his way with material like I Grade. Hate to say ‘I told you so’, but I did.

Rated 3.75/5

Tabou 1 Records

2009

Well Look Who's Back!: A Review of Love Is In The Air by Warrior King

I think that if I were about six or seven years younger and an aspiring Reggae artist, I would have a pretty good idea as to how I would want my career to progress, knowing everything that I know now. First of all, I would try to find a nice manager with whom to align myself and preferably one who has things locked down on the side of production as well, someone like Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor or Shane Brown, for instance. After that, I’d attempt to keep myself physically and mentally prepared at all times, in order to take advantage of the sometimes strange situations Reggae artists (and musicians in general) often find themselves. From a musical point of view, although it’s impossible I know, I’d try to remain on point each and every time out in order to attempt to score as many early hits as possible to establish my name. Somewhere along this road, DEFINITELY, the mention of ‘VP Records’ has to occur if I wanted to help myself to progress along an international level through means of having an album. VP tends to favour artists who, although they may be young, have shown themselves to POTENTIALLY be in store for long careers through scoring a somewhat steady stream of local hits of varying degrees. Should you do so and ultimately sign with the label, you throw what is virtually unarguably the single greatest CONSISTENT brand of promotion within the Reggae community behind your name. Your face will plastered across posters across the globe, you’ll have albums released and not in a very long order (for the most part) (biggup Ding Dong) and with the thought being that Reggae artists don’t make very much money from album sales, but do their real business on the touring end, you’ll also have AMPLE opportunity to support your album by touring worldwide. Not to mention the money! Someone who could tell you quite a bit about how that entire operation might go for you would be one Mr. Mark Dyer [bka Warrior King] from out of Clarendon. The once EXTREMELY promising young chanter/singer established his name on the strength of several VERY successful big tunes (one in particular, more on that in a minute) and on the strength of the same body of work captured the attentions of Reggae heads worldwide, including those of the fine folks at VP Records. The label swooped down and signed up the young artist and, just as they had with so many before and with so many since, helped to push his name globally as his talent would have seemed to deserve. The union would also spur on two albums (of course), 2002’s debut Virtuous Woman and 2005’s Hold The Faith. Both albums were very well received (even though it took me awhile to catch on in terms of the latter), and, again, pushed Warrior King’s name even further.

The single relatively tangible downfall to signing with the big label that I’ve seen (and I’m not just ‘picking on’ VP either) is the blunted activity levels which seem to go with the deal. Not surprisingly at all, labels tend to want NEW(er) material. They don’t want an album with each and every tune a previous single, if they can help it, so a lot of times you get situations where some of the big artists aren’t always on the big riddims and just generally aren’t very active. Warrior King was DEFINITELY a ‘casualty’ of that. Like you currently see someone like Gyptian (to a degree) or I Wayne (PERFECT example) going through, if the King wasn’t very close to an album release, he just didn’t seem to be very active in terms of pushing new material. Also, as he signed SO early into his career, we never REALLY got to know him as an artist who could voice for almost anyone, thus, the mystery remains as to whether or not some of his inactivity in the studio was by Warrior King’s own choice or his recording status with his label. Regardless of the source of his past inactivity, the thing that we do know now is that WARRIOR KING is back and in a very very interesting way. I don’t actually know when his deal with VP was completed, but, again, not to stay on his inactivity, but even as a signed artist, Warrior King produced two albums in the last six years and not a single one in almost four, at this point. Just within the last few months or so, however, he’s had an increased presence within Reggae music. I was so delighted to see him featured on a tune, ‘Bad Boys’ alongside the legendary Linval Thompson (on which he uttered the unforgettable line, “can’t take ‘ini’, can’t take the ‘quity’ Rasta nah go dwell up inna Babylon city”) on his own comeback album from late 2008, the wonderful Ghetto Living. That album was distributed (digitally) through the peerless Zojak Worldwide and now Warrior King is doing the exact same thing as now ‘under new management’ Warrior King delivers his third studio album to date, Love Is In The Air for said new management, under a variety of labels such as Higher Level Promotions, Jadons Entertainment and Roots Warrior Records (which I would assume to be his very own imprint). What’s so interesting about Love Is In The Air is exactly what you might surmise from the album’s title: it’s predominately a lover’s album. Apparently the young veteran has either met a special lady or he has simply done something which he may have wanted to do for quite awhile which was previously not in the cards for him at VP. In either case, I’m SO less concerned with the King making such a move as I was when the oft-mentioned (around here) Perfect did so, with his album Karma (also on Zojak, incidentally) as Warrior King’s style has always been one which was far more easily transferable to the love song. Although both artists did originally rise to prominence on the power of a pair of STRONG lovers singles (Virtuous Woman and Handcart Bwoy, respectively), the King’s style, in all of his music, has been big and vibrant and beautiful and just something one would associate with a love song so, hearing him take this route isn’t something TOO far out of his skillset. That fact and the fact that the artist is and has always been just all around WONDERFUL to listen to helps to make Love Is In The Air, as brief as it is, a real winner by its end.

The first thing you might notice, as I did, if you just skim through the selections here is that the album has a very fresh vibes to it. I’m not saying that you’ll hear things that you haven’t heard or that this album is coming to “change the game” (whatever that means), but the vibes here are very new refreshing feeling to my ears definitely (and that’s coming from someone who is still WELL basking in the glow of the MASSIVE lovers rock piece that was Tell It Like It Is by Stevie Face, so you know that’s saying something). Up first to try and sooth your ears on Warrior King’s spanking new album Love Is In The Air is the title track which is very nice. It features an unnamed (on my copy) songstress who well compliments Warrior King (she sounds a bit like US R&B singer Syleena Johnson). The song does suffer a bit from the “love, dove and above” phenomenon lyrically speaking, but I like the duet style combination and it is a setup which is (kind of) revisited later on the album. SWEET opening. Things take a dip in the next tune up, ‘Pretty Lady’ which definitely isn’t one of my favourites on the album, but it isn’t too bad and I like it more each time I spin it. The tune has a bit of a Hip-Hop vibes to it which I don’t melds too well to the King’s style, but again, it’s not necessarily a bad tune and should I keep listening to it, it may actually grow on me someday. Not having a similar situation AT ALL, is the final tune at the birth of Love Is In The Air, the increasingly MASSIVE ‘I’m Cold’, which to my ears is the single best tune on the album. TEARS! If you, for whatever reason may not be able to be with the special person in your life (or you just don’t have a special person at this time) then you shouldn’t even listen to I’m Cold because it is my prediction that it will BREAK YOUR ASS DOWN! Period! The tune punctuates and uplifts and otherwise decent start.

Two of the songs on Love Is In The Air are apparently getting quite the push from Warrior King and company. Both tunes come complete with videos (even before the album drops, they’re two videos already) and, luckily are pretty good. The first to appear on the album is the COOL ‘Wanting You‘. This tune has a very kind of hypnotic and dazzling vibes to it and although it too tends to fall into the same lyrical pitfalls as the title track (“love, dove & above”), it doesn’t REALLY hold the tune back so much and it also seems like Warrior King had a very nice time singing it as well (and check the CUTIE who appears in the video). The other pushed tune ‘Wanna Give You Love’ is probably the better of the two songs (another CUTIE in that video also) as, although it lacks the sonic appeal of Wanting You (and that’s not to say it doesn’t impress on that level, because it does), is simply a more FOCUSED vibes. Wanna Give You Love is a ‘DEAL CLOSER’, if you know what I mean *(**wink wink**), trust me, I know. It’s also a very good tune and one of the strongest on the album. Similarly, the tune ‘Girlfriend’ is one which I was familiar with even before the two aforementioned singles as it was (I THINK) a piece from Max Romeo’s Charmax label (it even appears on their album ‘Charmax Allstars‘). And, you could make the case (and I will) that it’s even stronger than both of the other two. The vibes here are just so laid back and so ‘healthy’. I love the subtle Nyah drum almost hidden in the backdrop and it’s one of two or three songs here which made me question if my favourite tune, I’m Cold, was really my favourite tune. Yes, it’s that good. Although my wife liked it almost instantly (she’s a bit smarter than I am) the kind of frantically vibed ‘Hold Me’ is one which took a few spins to REALLY grow on me. I PROBABLY still wouldn’t call it one of my favourites, but again, each time I spin it back there’s something that I find I enjoy more and more (and I recognize this riddim or something about it from somewhere, I just can’t quite figure out from where). And then there’s the VERY interesting ‘Loneliness’, another tune which could give I’m Cold a run as the album’s finest tune. This tune is not only produced by Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor of Big Ship (which I THINK marks the first time the King has voiced one of his riddims) as it utilizes his SPARKLING Forever Riddim, but it also features [Nateesha] Stream, the First Lady of House of Hits who I can’t seem to escape these days. These two sound EXCELLENT together as they deliver a message which not only speaks about the unfortunate condition of being lonely, but also how we should seek in The Almighty, for He is always with us. That’s a big tune. As Love Is In The Air begins to wine down, it saves two very strong tunes for last. The first, ‘Girl’ is guaranteed to have old school heads (and shoulders) bobbing and swaying IMMEDIATELY as it comes through SO nicely and sweet. The tune was literally made for the slow dance floor and it’s one of those types of tunes that will (or at least should) strike a chord within you if you LOVE Reggae music (it also, arguably, features THE line of the album, “Every female knows that dissatisfaction is the reverse of a reaction”) and it’s clearly one of the best songs on the album. Lastly is the HEAVY ‘Yesterday’, which comes across Lazeme’s nice Riverwalk riddim. This tune speaks of the closeness you have in a relationship and takes it to a broader degree and not just within specific moments in time. It also features a RIDICULOUSLY addictive saxophone which is constantly present on the tune, but also gets a nice little solo segment near the end of the song. Beautiful song and an equally beautiful ending for the album.

Overall, the only thing that I can say is that I wish Love Is In The Air had a little more ‘love’ to give. At just ten tunes, you kind of finish (especially with the final two tunes being two of the best) just when you REALLY get on a good vibes and, definitely I would have loved to see this one stretched to at least twelve or so. However, that being said, this album isn’t apparently the only piece on the trail for Warrior King as he reportedly also has already completed a Roots album for veteran producer Colin ‘Bulby’ York as well (which I cannot wait to hear at this point). It would also be nice if he could throw himself out there a bit more, Flava has an entire catalogue of riddims basically which I would absolutely LOVE Warrior King to voice (that’s not happening, but a man can dream). But for Love Is In The Air, it’s solid, it’s not the best I’ve heard from the artist, but I’m just so happy to see him back that almost anything would have sufficed. Luckily Love Is In The Air does a bit more than just “suffice”, the album is very well done, as sweet as could be and marks the return to action of one of the more talented faces on the Reggae scene who obviously isn’t doing too badly for himself post VP days.

Rated 4/5

Roots Warrior Records/Zojak Worldwide

2009

Zzzzzzzzzzz: A Review of Pon Di Gaza by Vybz Kartel

The list of artists of whom I have been very critical, at least in my opinion, is very short and I always like to think that I have good reason for it. Almost always the situation which is most likely to draw my ire is simply making BAD music or, even more likely, an artist who has proven him/her self capable of doing much better, making BAD music. The ‘perfect’ case and point (watch this now) would be Perfect, the somewhat radical chanter from out of ST. ANN’Z (!). It is my opinion that, up until very recently, Perfect’s material was very substandard and, unlike many of his peers, there’s not much of a middle ground with Perfect’s music, his style, itself, almost prevents him from being AVERAGE, thus, when he’s not good, he’s generally BAD and that. Perfect’s (in my opinion) bad streak bottomed when released his most recent work Karma, however, as I said, his troubles seem to be in the past these days and the few pieces I’ve heard post Karma have been more of the obviously and unusually talented chanter in a finer form. I’ve been even more liberal with throwing around critiques for Turbulence who was once one of my favourite artists in the game and one who is just so talented, considering his ability to chant, DJ or sing (and do so in a VERY powerful voice) that I felt (and still do) it was a real shame that the now nearly thirty year old artist spent his time in the studio singing INCREDIBLY mediocre love ballads and not doing the BEAUTIFUL Roots music through which he earned his stripes (and even better love songs back then also). There have definitely been others on similar situations and scales, such as Norris Man and even Sean Paul to a lesser degree of whom I’ve had to think once or twice that, “something simply isn’t right here”. That being said, however, by far one of my STRANGEST ‘targets’ of critique over the past year or so has been Vybz Kartel. This is true despite the fact that over the relatively same period of time, Kartel has enjoyed some of his biggest commercial success (especially locally) in his entire career, as with a seemingly endless supply of chart toppers being dropped, he has almost unarguably propelled himself to Jamaica’s number one Dancehall artist at this point. Yet, while I’ve been sure to give due credit to the DJ when he’s done well (as he DEFINITELY did with his most recent album, the MASSIVE The Teacher’s Back, which was easily one of the best hardcore Dancehall album that I’ve heard in quite awhile), to my ears there has been a noticeable shift in his music, which hasn’t exactly met my tastes so well.

So what’s been this “shift”? Well, awhile back the hanging question was always whether or not (and, by extension, HOW) Vybz Kartel could evolve his music. How can you go from a lyrical master of the ‘Three G’s’ of Dancehall subjectry (Girls, Guns & Ganja) as Kartel was, to being an artist who places his proverbial hat into several different things musically speaking. And what Kartel evidently came up with was this very mechanically vibed style which, at least to my ears, made less usage of his main talent (which is, of course, his lyrical ability) and I would even go as far as to say that he did it largely because of the backlash he received from countless upon countless people telling the artist just how much power he had and just how much positivity he could spread. The style he adopted offered only occasional glimpses into the UNDENIABLE BRILLIANCE he once exhibited and more closely resembled the rather ghoulish slow style of vibes you’d hear from Bugle. The difference being that the style is exactly what Bugle is and, unfortunately, it’s what Kartel has become. Apparently I wasn’t in the majority with my thinking because, as I mentioned, Kartel’s popularity hasn’t suffered at all and his ‘empire’ continues to grow for the most part and he’s now attempting to add a jewel to his crown as Vybz Kartel releases his fifth studio album (by my count), Pon Di Gaza and he does so under the most unusual set of circumstances. The album, Pon Di Gaza is apparently (at least initially) only offered to the world digitally, which isn’t very rare these days, but it’s also being pushed by his own Adidjaheim label (in conjunction with the label of his new favourite producer Notnice) and Kartel is an artist who most likely would need only to say ‘Yes’ in order to have a deal with the industry’s leader, VP Records. But, always the trendsetter, Kartel is doing his own thing, as usual and the result is what IMMEDIATELY became one of the year’s most anticipated Reggae/Dancehall albums the SECOND it was announced. However, musically speaking, Pon Di Gaza is a (very) poor man’s version of The Teacher’s Back album as, although it similarly vibed to a degree, it’s literally light years away from that downright destructive piece. I had such a bad feeling about this one going in because, listening through the initial sound clips, the first thought I had in my mind was “BORING”, and as polarizing as Vybz Kartel and his music can be that’s simply a word you should associate with him AT ALL (even if you hate the tunes, it shouldn’t be BORING) and having spun through it extensively by this point, my first thought in reflection is that. . . Well it is boring and it’s kind of flawed also. Vybz Kartel is one of a very select group of artists that we have today who, by virtue of simply being himself, creates a vibes to his music which is his and his alone and, even if you may have not liked them all (and I pretty much did, for the most part) what you’d have to say about his previous albums (Timeless, Up 2 Di Time, JMT and The Teacher’s Back) is that NO ONE in Dancehall could have made those same vibes sound anywhere near as good as he did. Not that he’s just this insane talent (and he is), but that Kartel’s music, like I said, is so categorized by the elements of his own style which is his and his alone at this point. Pon Di Gaza? I could probably name you more than a couple of artists who could have not only made this album but made it BETTER than Vybz Kartel at this point unfortunately.

Two things you should know about Pon Di Gaza before you decide to pick it up, even if you fancy yourself the hardest of the hardcore ‘Gaza fi life’ screaming Kartel fans: The first is that it’s entirely too long (although shorter than The Teacher’s Back) and that should be obvious. Besides being at least seven tracks too long, Pon Di Gaza is also (more importantly) EDITED, so beware. ‘Yeah Though I Walk’ is the first tune you need to beware of, but not too much as the ‘duty free’ song is probably the best tune on the entire album altogether. The story behind Pon Di Gaza is that a down Kartel penned the lion’s share of it last year and, again, that isn’t his style with the HEAVY and almost depressed type of vibes, but Yeah Though I Walk is strong stuff and I could pluck it off and it would fit rather comfortably on the TTB album definitely. Too bad things don’t stay this good! They don’t get bad actually (well, not ALL bad) and certainly not on the next tune, ‘Ghetto Youth’ [aka ‘Haffi Mek It One Day‘]. This tune is one which threatens to prove me wrong as, although it is just a touch mechanical, it’s still a very nice and poignant song. Yes, Kartel can do this type of song (he CAN do any type), but it generally proves to be hit or miss in terms of quality, luckily Ghetto Youth has quality written all over it and it was thusly well received by the masses also. ‘Bail For Me’ concludes matters at the head of Pon Di Gaza and, again, it’s not bad at all. The song, at times, almost seems like it’s about to fall apart and it, by no means, is one of my favourites, but it’s doable and Not Nice’s SCATHING riddim of the same name is downright spectacular and not to be missed. All in all, Pon Di Gaza’s is an opening which packs some of the biggest vibes of the albums in one small section and, tellingly, even IT could have been better.

Now to the madness. Two of the most (including THE most) high profile tunes on Pon Di Gaza have been disgustingly mutilated. The first is former MASSIVE hit ‘Romping Shop’ alongside Spice. The tune was a huge hit for the pair and was pretty x rated. However, you listen to this THING on Pon Di Gaza and not only is it with the remixed (I.e. legal) clunking riddim, it’s HORRIBLY edited. Some of the words cut out and replaced by noises include ‘breast’, ‘nipple’ and ‘ride it’. At least it got to keep its name though. Why they chose ‘Versatility’ instead of the original tune ‘Virginity’ is an absolute mystery to me. The original was a hit, because of the change; however, the remix makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE linguistically. And while those two tunes suffer from the censor’s axe, several other tunes on Pon Di Gaza suffer from the far more sinister BAD or WEIRD. The latter rears his ugly face on the forced ‘Broken Cry’ which features a moving sample from one of Martin Luther King’s speeches (it also features Kartel Portmore Empire protégé Blak Ryno) The song goes absolutely NO WHERE. It would have, in my opinion, stood better as an interlude with just the speech alone as the actual tune takes REALLY takes away from it. ‘Can’t Frame Me’ seems to try and follow in the footsteps of the opener, but it doesn’t have similar lyrical success and although it definitely isn’t a BAD song, it never really catches on and is ultimately forgettable. ‘For Love’ is just BAD. The song takes its hook from, of all places, Bobby Caldwell’s 1970 something hit What You Won’t Do For Love (which is a good song!) and flushes it right down the toilet. Kartel changes things up (not really) on the pedestrian Love of Money across the decent Slaughter House Riddim and it has some solid wordplay (duh), but nothing really that strikes of the DJ at his best. This is child’s play for Kartel. The wine up - wine up tune has never really been his forte and ‘Whine Up You Body’ on Pon Di Gaza isn’t terrible, but Kartel can definitely do better (see ‘Beyonce Wine‘). ‘Get Wild’ isn’t very good, but STILL it happens to be one of the better tunes on Pon Di Gaza. You’ll hear and you’ve heard several tunes like this one from Kartel in the past and this one doesn’t feature anywhere near the level of lyrics as some of the others, but it’s decent enough for the circumstances. Jump ahead to the Chimney Records vibed Movie Star riddim which backs the tune ‘Like A Movie‘, which is similar to Get Wild in the sense that it’s also one of the better tunes here, but ultimately nothing special AT ALL. ‘You A My Baby’? Another decent number, but the evil censor rears is back taking the adult goodness from the tune which used to be quite popular. See now you take that and fill in the gaps between the mentioned tunes with those which I didn’t bring up, ‘Love At First Sight‘, ‘The World Turns’ and ‘Gaza Love’ and you take a decent stretch and basically ruin it. Of those three, The World Turns [aka Move Ya Body] DEFINITELY gets off to such a nice start before descending into something which sounds like Kartel is making it up as he goes along pretty much after the very first verse (however, the riddim on that one is RIDICULOUS. Another one from Tarik ‘Russian’ Johnston, who also helms Virginity/Versatility). Three tunes down the stretch of Pon Di Gaza actually get my attention and do so in a good way. The first is ‘Life We Living’ which is a very SOLID social commentary and rather easily climbs to the heights of tunes on the album. There’s also the very strange sounding ‘Struggle’ which, initially, sounds like the theme song from some TV show from the 1980’s. The song is a similar one to Life We Living and at first I didn’t like it too much, but it definitely grew on me after about five spins or so. You may not favour it very much (or you may LOVE it) and if you don’t, at least give it a few spins before giving up on the song completely. ‘Tear Drops’ another similar one actually started much higher with me, in terms of my appreciation of it compared to Struggle (I now rate Struggle higher), it didn’t have much ‘growing’ to do at all and it’s still a pretty decent song, although at this point I’m dying for that finish line. Said line comes in the form of Want My Weed which, unfortunately, just like the other tune from the last bit Vybz Kartel’s Pon Di Gaza which I didn’t mention, ‘Video Recorder’, is damn near terrible from all ostensible levels. It’s not a great ending, not anywhere near it, but at least it’s OVER!

Overall, I’m pretty sure this album is going to do well and I’m pretty sure the fans are going to enjoy it for the most part. And I would even go on to predict (as I have in the past) that with this newfound digital linking from Kartel and his crew, we could very well see a rather steady stream of albums coming out of the Portmore Empire and not all of them from Vybz Kartel either. As for me, however, I just don’t like it. The ‘version’ of the artist I liked was the one who was full of CONFIDENCE and knew that he was the baddest lyricist in the Dancehall. Maybe this version still knows it, but the downright depressed and boring vibes I heard on Pon Di Gaza just doesn’t seem like he does. For the hardcore Kartel faithful, again, I’ll remind you that this one is edited so if you see your favourite tune here, you might want to listen it first. And to the newer fans, either pay the arm and a leg for The Teacher’s Back or pick up JMT. Pon Di Gaza while definitely the biggest album in the Dancehall right now in terms of star power, just doesn't pan out, at least not to my ears and he can do SO MUCH better. Maybe I’m just a ‘hater’, but if I am, material such as what is to be found on Pon Di Gaza doesn’t make my job very hard at all.

Rated 2/5

Adidjaheim/Notnice

2009

The Greatest Show On Earth: A Review of De Road Show by El-A-Kru featuring Tizzy

I’ve always described myself, in terms of my musical tastes as 51% Dancehall head and 49% Roots Reggae head. Even still, the most entertained I find myself listening to music is when a devastatingly talented Dancehall DJ is on the mic and I can watch accordingly, in awe, as the deliriously lazy and tired seven year old in me can reemerge, wishing that was me. However, as I get older, as much it pains me to admit it, my tastes have shifted and I find myself either harder to please in the context of Dancehall (and Roots, for that matter) or maybe just absolutely SURROUNDED by less than stellar work within that context. So maybe I have to readjust my percentages. Now, if I’m actually going to do this I’ll also need to factor in, somewhere, the fact that the previously mentioned lazy seven year old Achis has now gotten quite the ear for Soca music. So much so has it infiltrated his tastes that, near the beginning of OCTOBER, the insanely hype musical art form still comprises roughly 20% of what he listens to. And, of course, this didn’t just happen over night. Thus, while spending the last few weeks with older albums and the occasional new piece or single which slipped through my nets earlier this year, I definitely needed my Soca FIX, needed it in great order and what a better way than with one of my personal favourites? Say hello to Tanzania ‘Tizzy’ Sebastian and El-A-Kru. I ran into Tizzy and co. a couple of times during this past Carnival season, most notably at Trinidad Soca Monarch (more on that in a bit), where I was pretty surprised to see her actually open the entire competition as the first participant in the groovy category and although her crowd response wasn’t very good (as you might imagine), I, WELL PARTIAL, definitely enjoyed her performance, however. It certainly wasn’t the first of Tizzy’s performances that I enjoyed and it definitely won’t be the last as I have been HOOKED on her and El-A-Kru a few years and running at this point. And while my initial interest came via the strength of a song which was so ridiculous that I spontaneously break out in tears TO THIS DAY whenever I hear it, by the name of ‘Expose’. It’s definitely to their credit that they’ve maintained my interest in the subsequent few years since the explosion that was Expose and I routinely and continuously find ways to give my support to the group (my most recent work happens to be what you’re reading now actually).

So what is it about El-A-Kru and Tizzy? Well first of all, I’ve only recently come to the realization that, much like in Zouk, I’m just incredibly partial towards the females in Soca (in Zouk it’s even more pronounced. I basically won’t even listen to male Zouk artists AT ALL) and in particular, those who remind me, in some way or another, of the ball of energy that is Destra Garcia and Tizzy definitely has that and then some. Of course, sounding like Destra shouldn’t be and isn’t the only reason El-A-Kru gets my respect, they also have a very interesting style in terms of being able to add a bit of CLASS to Soca which I don’t think is necessarily a critical connection that many people (fans or musicians) actually speak of too much, especially not in the midst of the jump up. You can just see it every time you see the group perform or hear their output that they have OBVIOUSLY spent quite a bit of time not only perfecting the performance, but on the musical end, El-A-Kru’s leader and mastermind Rohan ‘Sylky’ Hector and songwriter and musician Glenroy ‘Zamba’ Richards have clearly done their job as well. And on the DIVINE Tizzy’s end, she presents herself as one of the quintessential Soca divas as she (seemingly with the flag of the group’s homeland, Antigua, eternally GLUED to her hand) stores enough energy into her frame to jump and sing for entire shows and could probably do so first thing in the morning if she were needed. Wonderfully, like quite a few of their peers, El-A-Kru has maintained a very steady album release schedule as well, to coincide with any given year’s Carnival season and they’ve actually (by my count) released an album for every single year, dating back to the late 1990’s. Also wonderful is the fact that they linked, a couple of years back, with European Soca specialty label Faluma who has made the music of El-A-Kru available worldwide and they even began to handle some of the back catalogue for the band as well. In fact, at least by my observations, either Faluma decided to take a break in 2008, or they just FORGOT, but you’ll also be able to soon pickup the band’s piece from last year, Rocket Launcher, which was, to my opinion, one of their absolute finest albums. NOW Faluma is delivering, right on time, El-A-Kru’s offering for the 2009 Carnival season, the somewhat conceptualized De Road Show. I remember hearing quite a bit about this ‘show’ to the point where it almost seemed like a poor man’s version of what Machel did with his season and subsequent album release. I don’t think El-A-Kru’s intents were at the least bit strange (as were Machel’s) or ‘mysterious’, if there was an overlying intent at all and I ultimately just think there goal for 2009 would have been (like it should be from everyone every year) to make the best vibes possible and to take them as far across the globe as you possibly can and if that were, in fact, what was meant by ‘De Road Show’ then I feel incredibly confident in saying, ‘Mission accomplished El-A-Kru’. De Road Show is a very nice trip through the equally lovely and COLOURFUL vibes El-A-Kru brought this year (with a special shot towards last year’s season also) which ultimately, in my opinion, form one of the better Soca album releases of the year (and we’re still waiting for Bunji. Anytime now king). The album is very fresh and it definitely covers a variety of different styles, which is definitely fitting for Tizzy’s sound and approach. And on a personal note: I’ve been reviewing an almost endless line of HARDCORE and heavy Roots Reggae pieces for a minute now and young Achis really needed something which will help him to JUST LOSE HIS FUCKING MIND!

Something stands out when you skim over the cover of De Road Show, or at least it did to me. I believe that just for the past two seasons (and everyone one indefinitely from here forward) that Tizzy has been El-A-Kru’s sole lead vocalist. Following a time (and albums) where she shared the duties with Blade and Naycha Kid, Sylky and EAK declared her their one in only and apparently on the cover of De Road Show, it is they’re intent to push the name Tizzy even further (as in billing it as “Tizzy & El-A-Kru”) and I’m not complaining about that at all. While the album doesn’t exactly offer the insanity that I mentioned (and, honestly, I didn’t expect it to) it does definitely deliver it’s maddening moments such as the opener for El-A-Kru’s (featuring Tizzy) 2009 album, De Road Show, the ecstatic ‘I Luv Carnival‘. Not only is this the best piece of pavement that you’ll find on this Road altogether (and it is), but the tune was also probably EAK’s signature tune from 2009 and it is absolutely GORGEOUS! The tune finds our heroine in FINE form as she, rather proudly declares the love of her life to be exactly what the title suggests it is. It’s hype from beginning to end and even though I think it might’ve done better later on the album, you can’t deny its power wherever it is. I Luv Carnival is HUGE and the album’s best. Things tone back for the next few tunes in terms of intensity (they almost had to), but do so nicely as up next is the very jovial and pulsing ‘Ride It‘. I’ve been kind of high on this tune for awhile now. It almost seems like the type of song which would grow on me, but instead I liked it immediately and I’m pretty sure you will as well. The same should be said of ‘Wine Gyal’, which is pretty clichéd actually and definitely nothing special, but I found myself liking it simply because of the ‘COOLNESS’ it exudes. It never gets too crazy, but it comes close and it also keeps you paying attention. With the slightly early including of I Luv Carnival, De Road Show’s opening is very strong.

Although the second and third tunes on De Road Show, respectively, don’t go there, the listener doesn’t have to wait too far for another reason to jump and shake away those last remaining brain cells as the RIDICULOUSNESS that is ‘On De Road’ comes in at track #4. On De Road is exactly what I mean when I say that EAK & Tizzy have a classy sound, even when the vibes are this crazy. On De Road is downright complicated at times, but no one misses a beat and the sound vibes SO BIG making it, at the very least, the second biggest stop on De Road Show. ‘Push’ is a song which, again, seems like one which might take a minute or two to warm up to me, but I liked it almost instantly. It is, of course, another exercise in ‘wineology’ from Tizzy and this one is a bit more complicated as what she wants you to do is give her the wine she requires, BUT you cannot touch her! She wants your hands where her eyes can see them at all times. Tizzy if those are your only conditions then I’m the man for the job! The two tunes immediately following Push change the vibes of De Road Show drastically, but that’s not a bad thing as they both are, to my opinion, two of the stronger tunes on the album. The first is the very sensual ‘Groovy’ which is one that I’M SURE could do major damage on international were it given that type of opportunity as it never gets downright sexual (DUH) and the vibes are pretty much akin to faster paced R&B/Pop music which would transfer right across and so very well. Just to my ears and I usually don’t like that type of song, Groovy is a real winner. And then there’s ‘Ghetto Boy‘, a song which I’m REALLY sure I should hate, but I like and I like it shamelessly too! Ghetto Boy finds Tizzy RIDICULOUSLY plundering the melody of ‘She Drives Me Crazy’ from the world’s creepiest band, The Fine Young Cannibals (which, in its original form just makes me itch for some reason), to talk about how a special young gentleman from the ghetto has gotten her attention and she is completely unable to get him out of her mind. You may or may not have a similar situation going on but good luck to you to get this song out of your head anytime soon because it’s just not happening. And after the two song changeups, things are back to normal on De Road Show and steering us out is Tizzy’s own tune, ‘TZ Wine‘. This song is hyperactive silliness and I like it (and it also marks the second consecutive album I’ve reviewed which mentioned Scooby-Doo). TZ Wine is another one in wineology and apparently Tizzy doesn’t give a damn what you do with your hands this time around. ‘Tek Meh Picture’ was the one tune on De Road Show which I didn’t remember AT ALL and hearing it here may have been the very first time that I’ve heard it altogether. Regardless of where or if I know it, Tek Meh Picture is MAD! This one is more on the higher scale of intensity, but it has so many different levels that it doesn’t just feel the need to knock you over the head and finish you. Instead, it knocks you down, picks you up, dusts you off and knocks you down again! The tune is easily one of the biggest vibes on the album altogether. And to finish everything off is the remix of one of El-A-Kru’s biggest 2008 efforts, Wuk Meh, alongside Richard Trumpet. This is the tune Tizzy performed (with Trumpet) at TnT Soca Monarch and, even though the rest of the crowd didn’t seem to think so for the most part, I thought they did a very nice show and I’ve grown fond of this tune since. I still prefer the more ‘involved’ original version definitely (which you’ll be able to hear on the Rocket Launcher album), but the remix is pretty big and was one of their popular songs from this season and a more than adequate last stop to this road show.

Overall, yeah, the usual complaint about EAK albums still holds true on De Road Show: It’s only ten tracks. I don’t mind that, however, as they CONSISTENTLY give you new tunes and new albums every season (and not too many of their peers, at the highest could actually do a ten track album from this year’s tunes alone), so I give them a bligh on that. For what is actually on the album? You simply have to rate it. De Road Show is one of the better complete Soca albums I’ve heard in 2009 and no, that’s not saying such a great deal, but trust me, it’s solid. Of course, you’ll take it into consideration that I’m EXTREMELY partial with all things Tizzy, but even removing my Antigua flag coloured glasses, this Road Show is one you, fan of Soca, new and old, do not want to miss.

Rated 4/5

LA Music/Faluma

2009

I Could Really Get Used To This: A Review of Rising Up by Lutan Fyah

As much of a blinded, partial, selective memory having and, at times, downright ridiculous Sizzla fan that I am, I simply have to give credit where it’s due. Back at the time where I had just began to listen to the lyrics wizard from August Town, there were, of course, the ever present others such as Luciano, Capleton and Anthony B (most notably) who, musically speaking, simply wouldn’t ‘allow’ me to ignore them AT ALL. You also quite a few others in Roots Reggae who, either not to such a degree consistently or just temporarily, held my attention and my respect as artists, such as Determine and Bushman later, all of these artists definitely made an impact on me and to an extent, will always. Things, however, flat out changed as the planets realigned and, in my opinion, under a very similar set of circumstances, a next artist by the name of Lutan Fyah has seemingly taken the same musical position in my collections once occupied by a younger Sizzla Kalonji. Lutan Fyah just brought CHANGE without seemingly trying to do so and that would have been (and it was) a very similar thing I would have said of Sizzla back in 1999 or so when he was a applying a downright DEVASTATING texture of melody to the once mechanical Roots Reggae scene. And while that same aspect of melody has been the once which has proven to be most elusive for Fyah to date, he has, for the last couple of years shown himself to be quite capable in that area and I would argue that, in the future, there will come a point where it’s not thought of as a not so strong aspect of his game (because right now, at least to my ears, it really isn’t a question and hasn’t been for the past two years or so). The BIG musical similarity between Lutan Fyah and Sizzla, of course, would be their EXTREME level of lyrical ability. Right now, I would consider Sizzla to be the greatest lyrical Reggae artist of all time (again, refer to the very first sentence of this review) as, at his absolute strongest points, he conjures up these three and sometimes four dimensional words which literally, by means of ‘comprehension time’, can take a four and a half minute song and stretch it to a day’s worth of material. Lutan Fyah is rapidly approaching that level, albeit with a bit of a different style. Fyah’s lyrical approach is far straighter forward than Sizzla’s and my appreciation of it is largely based on his ability to situate real life situations metaphorically and, again, full on. It kind of reminds me of (but not to the same degree) how I tended to separate a Luciano tune from a tune from the similarly voiced Bushman; Where ‘The Messenjah’ was almost exclusively spiritual, Bushman had a far more worldly approach. Between Sizzla and Fyah, I’ve LEARNED a great deal and for me, personally, that’s the heights of music appreciation.

But, of course, the similarities don’t end with the spoken word. Although Lutan Fyah hasn’t received the local hype which was waiting for Sizzla when he originally broke through (which he definitely still enjoys) or internationally speaking , Fyah has seemingly taken up the mantle, which Kalonji previously ‘enjoyed’ (I GUESS) as being the POSTER CHILD of having multiple album releases in a given year. There was a time, as recent as a couple of years or so, when Sizzla fans would be virtually inundated with his releases worldwide and would have to pay quite the coin just to keep up with ‘the new Sizzla album’ (whatever it meant that week), and while I certainly was such a fan (and was BROKE often back then), I do have to confess something: I miss those times. And while since then, Sizzla’s music (and that of others like Luciano and Anthony B, who also flirted with overexposure) certainly hasn’t suffered, in terms of popularity, it would just be so nice if in 2010 we could get five COMPLETELY random (and legitimate) albums from the artist, for old time’s sake. While that remains to be seen, Lutan Fyah has quietly been building his own VERY SOLID catalogue to the heights with two albums already done and set out in the calendar year 2009, African Be Proud and he LUSH Justice. The two pieces were numbers eight and nine (altogether), respectively, in his career by my count and we surely didn’t have to wait very long for number ten as now there’s yet another release, the third of the year for Lutan Fyah, Rising Up. This album not only continues a nearly MAGICAL trend of consistency from the Spanish Town chanter, but it also continues a rather odd trend for him as well: Two of Lutan Fyah’s albums, Africa and the live effort, Live In San Francisco were released via the same label, 2B1 Multimedia Inc., while ALL of the other eight come via eight different labels! Well, adding their names to the (SMART) list of companies to work a Lutan Fyah release now is the relatively fresh St. Catherine based Kickoff Records (with the fine people at Zojak Worldwide handling things digitally), ran by the on Cecil Halstead. What a name and what a coincidence as, were you trying to ‘kickoff’ your label, a wonderful idea you would have to push out a Lutan Fyah album and get a bit of international attention as, definitely on that front, Fyah is currently enjoying what is arguably one of his biggest years to date as well. Rising Up is VERY interesting and, although it doesn’t sonically come off in much the same fashion as the Justice album (this one is more kind of melodic and ‘loose’ where the Justice album was wonderfully downright unforgiving and HEAVY at times),I’m going to make the comparison anyway. Between them both, it takes a minute to REALLY get what’s going on and for that reason, like most of Lutan Fyah’s music (save for the majority of the African Be Proud album, of course), you might not want to make this your very first foray into Reggae music. HOWEVER, if you’ve already crossed that bridge then you will potentially LOVE Rising Up. It is CLEVER and deceptively well done, as Lutan Fyah continues his absolutely SENSATIONAL rise to prominence as one of Reggae music’s finest wordsmiths of all time.

I had, incidentally, come across the work of Kickoff Records before getting with Rising Up. The label apparently is the homebase of the very promising songstress, Empress Robertha. On top of that, Kickoff is apparently releasing Robertha’s debut album, Solid Ground, simultaneously alongside this piece, so definitely keep an eye and two ears out for that also (and their future endeavours. What your ears need to be on first on Lutan Fyah’s brand new album, Rising Up from Kickoff Records is a song which simply lets you know IMMEDIATELY exactly what you’re dealing with on the album! The tune ‘Family Effort’ is one which gives BIG praises to the family unit as a whole, not the Mother alone, not the Father alone, but BOTH and does so absolutely brilliantly on a song which is just so important in my opinion and sounds delightful coming through over Kickoff’s enchanting Step Up Riddim. You know that ones a big start. The very familiarly vibed ‘Haunted’ (on the Side Kick riddim) steps in next and does so as the very first of four official combinations on Rising Up, this one featuring fellow Spanish Town artist, the up and coming Mega Flex (who needs a new name). Mega Flex has begun to make a noise and a name for himself and he does a very nice job alongside Fyah on the tune which is essentially a social commentary and, again, I’ll tell you to listen to this one more than a couple of times, as the chorus was quite annoying the first time I heard it, but it eventually grew on me and did so delightfully and check the stirring fast lyrical back and forth between the two artists later on the tune (and I’m WELL looking out for Mega Flex in the future also). Completing the opening for Rising Up is arguably the biggest tune of the initial three (which is saying a lot), the downright DAZZLING ‘Mirror’. This one is vintage Lutan Fyah as he speaks to several subjects, with the prevailing one being the identification of self and the world around us and how we interact with it. The tune tells all to take a look within (in the ‘mirror’) and analyze WE first before proceeding, which is a very powerful message and vibes likewise on what quickly becomes one of the album’s finest pieces altogether.

Rising Up REALLY begins to rise as it goes on; there is a stretch of about four or five tunes right in the middle where you just almost feel overwhelmed if you’re really paying attention. It just so happens that, to my opinion, the very first tune of the lot proves to be the best of the entire album as ‘Birthright’ is simply MASSIVE! You literally HAVE to hear this second verse and I won’t spoil it for you, but I have to mention that some of the individuals mentioned include Amerigo Vespucci, POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN, SCOOBY DOO and, of course, PINKY & THE BRAIN! And it’s isn’t comical. That’s all you need to know, the song is a HUGE call to action! The tune which follows Birthright, the similarly vibed ‘Brave & Bold’, almost made me question my choice of best tune of Rising Up because it just has so much DEPTH in its sound and message which is a BIG inspirational and uplifting one for all children of Afrika. The tune ‘Judgment’ is a changeup here and one which took more than minute to grow on me definitely, but I like it! The song has a more aggressive and basically Dancehall vibes, but, as always, you need to pay more attention to WHAT is said, rather than how it sounds as Lutan Fyah calls down all type of judgment and destruction on those who stand against righteousness and promote corruption. Things keep rolling with ‘Mystery Babylon’ which is BIG! The song is another combination for the album, this time featuring Kickoff’s own Empress Robertha (it also appears on her album, I believe). This song is just so nice, Robertha is definitely an artist with a big future, and she well accompanies Lutan Fyah, who is at his educational best on the tune and really I’m tempted to call it the best tune here again. Based on the title alone, I almost immediately knew that ’Not For Us’ was a tune carrying on the vibes of Birthright, in the sense of being a tune of supporting and ultimately RETURNING home to Afrika. As Fyah says on the moving chorus for the tune, “Down here is not for us, we don’t know who to trust. Come mek we exodus”. Indeed! Going back, there’s a big and jovial sounding earlier combination, ‘Children Love’, across Kickoff’s Victim riddim, which features smooth voiced veteran, Little Devon. This song is one for the kids (DUH), but Fyah also speaks to parents and doesn’t do so condescendingly, as if WE’VE been doing a bad job, but does so with a tone which is very hopeful and promising and if you’re at all familiar with Little Devon, you know that his voice inherently makes this joyous and positive and the two make a very nice vibes together for one of Rising Up‘s more SWEET vibes. As the album winds down, the vibes stay quite high and typically CONSISTENT for Lutan Fyah. Check the downright Zouk-ish ‘No More’ which, at its start, had me thinking I was about to hear a lovely Creole voice creep up on and give me a Zouk song, but Fyah (and his backing singers) instead uses the very simple piece to give what is essentially a very straight forward chant. No More isn’t necessarily one of my favourites on Rising Up, but it is a VERY interesting piece to say the least. The delightful ‘Jah Love’, on the other hand, is BOTH very interesting and one of my favourites. It is, more or less, the title track for Rising Up and it also provides us with a BIG punctuation for Rising Up as Fyah says, “Can’t you see I’m rising up? I bet you never heard of Jah Love.” And you make sure you pay special attention to the lyrics there also, although I really shouldn’t have to remind you of that at this point should I? While Jah Love is the final original tune on Rising Up, officially closing shop on the album is a remix of the earlier tune, ‘Mirror’, this one featuring the ever present (brother of Charlie) Ricky Chaplin and, although I still prefer the original, this piece is very nice and a very nice close for the album. I ALWAYS like to see Chaplin’s name associated with anything and especially with actually voicing a tune (on a riddim, the Cool Breeze which I believe he actually built) and he and Lutan Fyah end the album on a very high note indeed.

Overall, I always end a review of a Lutan Fyah album trying to rank it, in comparison to his other releases and I’m not going to do that here. Instead, I’m simply going to say that Rising Up is a BIG album and it may be even bigger than I’m giving it credit for because, as I said, you REALLY need to pay attention here. Further than that, to actually compare it, I would have to say that Rising Up is one of Fyah’s lyrically more impressive outings (which is saying A GREAT deal) also. Yes, of course we wish it were longer and maybe had another combination with Empress Robertha, but you’ll have a hard time telling me AT ALL that Rising Up isn’t top notch work. The album once again finds the ever active Lutan Fyah absolutely delivering some of the finest messages in all of Reggae and while I don’t know if I’ll ever get two completely separate releases from Sizzla again; apparently it’s Lutan Fyah’s ‘turn’ and I’m not complaining at all.

Rated 4.25/5

Kickoff Records/Zojak Worldwide

2009

Oh Yeah. I'm Listening: A Review of The Mighty Right Riddim by Various Artists

I’ve made this point somewhere along the way I’m sure, but I have absolutely no problem reiterating it for the sake of this review: If you make good Reggae music, Achis will find you. Yes I will. If the music is REALLY good, in fact, I will annoy you, I will track you down, I will ask you questions and if you have the extra room, I will try to move in. Once you have made GOOD music, also, it’s kind of hard to get rid of me, I’m not going anywhere. A great subject of case and point recently would be the California based Itation Records, who SLOWLY, through course of two (and then three) riddim albums, got my attention to not only their quality level, but subsequently, their consistency as well. So much so did Itation catch my eyes and ears that I even picked up their latest release, Good Profile, from an artist in Delly Ranx, of whom I haven’t had exactly stellar things to say of in the past. The ‘Itation’ word in the mix on that one definitely had more to do with my thoughts in grabbing it up than the ‘Delly’ one, in that situation. Similarly, there’s a label which resides both in California and the town of it’s namesake by the name of Philadub, who is going to have an EXTREMELY difficult time releasing just about ANYTHING (an artist’s album, a compilation or even a single) within the next half century or so (after that, you’re on your own boys) without me paying attention to it. Why? Well, not very long ago at all the then previously unknown label placed itself on my radars with what was, by far, one of the greatest strokes of genius so far in 2009, the release of Lutan Fyah’s EPIC Justice album back in July. The generally very well received album gets better and better every time I listen to it, personally, and it also has begun to ‘threaten’ album of the year lists for many, I’m sure. If you were ever going to do something that was specifically designed to grab the attentions of ME, then, outside of dropping one of the greatest Sizzla albums that I’ve ever heard (which probably just isn’t going to happen for a new label at this point), you couldn’t do anything better than pushing one from Fyah who, in my opinion, has quietly become one of the most SIGNIFICANT and POWERFUL artists we’ve seen in Reggae over the last two decades or so. Focusing specifically on the production of the Justice album (because that’s why we’re here today), it was very well done and if you take it from that point of view, you have to start to wonder about that also: Lutan Fyah’s is a talent which is well PROVEN at this point, but Philadub? You have to start thinking about just what else they have under their sleeves.

Maybe a riddim album might give us a proper idea? The production on the Justice album was pretty focused actually, in retrospect. Despite my initial suspicions, based on their origins (and the fact that it’s predecessor, Lutan Fyah’s African Be Proud that Philadub was this exactly), that Philadub might take it in a decidedly Hip-Hop direction, the very colourful array of riddims they presented Fyah with, proved to be on-point and predominately HEAVY modern Roots Reggae and he definitely shined because of it. It also was quite ambitious as I imagine (although apparently Justice has proven to be a rather decent commercial success at this point) I wasn’t the only one who saw “new Lutan Fyah album coming soon” with a Philadub label near and wondered ‘exactly what is a Philadub?’ Also, specifically in the album, the bonus version included a very nice dubbed out version of one of the songs (‘Show Me Some Love’) which, again, at least suggests some type of larger aspirations for the label, outside of pushing one album and then vanishing. Well, we didn’t have to wait very long at all for Philadub to provide ‘evidence’ of their arrival (and staying power) on the scene, as about two months after delivering Justice (there was also an album prior to Justice by the name of Words and Sounds from Gardian, who is the most prominent member of Philadub Records), Philadub now delivers their next piece that DEFINITELY fans who enjoyed Justice will be interested in, a riddim album for what is apparently one of their signature creations, The Mighty Right Riddim. Just like the Show Love and the Higher Meditation (which were the two riddims with which the aforementioned Itation Records caught my attentions) riddim albums, and maybe even more so, The Mighty Right riddim album is absolutely STACKED, so much so, in fact, that even if I didn’t know the circumstances surrounding the label releasing it and its past work, I would most likely STILL pick up the piece, finding it incredibly difficult to ignore based on name and star value alone from the people who reach through to voice it. Now you add to that all of what I do know and what I’ve heard and the outstanding bit of information that of all the tunes which made it on the Justice album, the one which was the most powerful in my opinion just so happened to be the one which I had heard prior to the release of that album and it ALSO just so happens to be the same tune which was voiced across The Mighty Right (and the coincidences abound). The Mighty Right riddim itself is quite ‘familiar’. It’s not something that’s whole-scale revolutionary at all and it’s not something aimed at (at least I don’t think it is) ‘changing the game’ or such things. It’s just a HEAVY HEAVY piece which, to my ears, is incredibly easy to look good over, especially with some of the best hardcore Roots Reggae talents in the game. It does, however, have a SLIGHT lean to the old school with the pulsing one-drop so, for slightly older heads (or those with older tastes), there’s definitely something there for you as well. So let’s reexamine now: You have a riddim from one of my favourite recent albums, from one of my favourite recent artists, which was used on my favourite tune on that album, is voiced by some of my other favourite artist and is all supplied by what is quickly becoming one of my favourite young labels? The Mighty Right Riddim album has ‘WINNER’ written all over it.

Apparently a part of the goal for Philadub on The Mighty Right riddim was to literally COLLECT as many big names as they possibly could as the collection of artists whose names head nine of the first ten tracks on the album is absolutely RIDICULOUS, especially for an international label. And the majority of the other seven artists present also do a very nice job. Beginning the album for The Mighty Right Riddim from Philadub and, by extension, the incredible row of names we see here, is probably the single biggest name associated with the project as the Fireman himself, Capleton, goes after an herbalist anthem for the riddim with expectedly LARGE results on ‘Higher Than The Sky‘. Capleton is, and has been for quite awhile, one of the strongest artists when it comes to pushing his emotion into a song and I talk about others doing such a thing (most notably Jah Mason) (more on him in a minute) and Higher Than The Sky is a beautiful example of that as (and I’m assuming he didn’t intend to do it like such), the tune gets more and more focused in the verses following a frantic opening (just as you might expect if one were ‘indulging’) and gets thing simmering for The Mighty Right. Next in is former David House member, Fantan Mojah, who deals with those who spread rumours and talk behind backs on the quietly scalding ‘False Allegation’. This one is HEAVY and it should probably take a few listens through for you to view the tune away from the rather anonymous figure who appears because of the way the tune is written (keep listening, he’ll tell you who he’s talking about), but it’s well worth it. Trust me (love the beautiful way the tune flourishes near the end with the backing singers also). The last name at the beginning of the album for The Mighty Right Riddim is one which I was VERY happy to see although one who I definitely wouldn’t expect to see, that of [Little] Hero. The beautifully voiced native of ST. ANN (!) usually doesn’t just happen to appear on pieces like this, but big respect goes to Philadub for making that link as Hero blesses the riddim in his own inimitable fashion with it’s obligatory tune for the mothers, the SWEETLY vibed ‘Love You Mama’. I could literally listen to the man sing all day and Love You Mama, which has quite a bit of ‘substance’, definitely rises to the occasion and completes a STELLAR opening.

Now! I wasn’t too surprised to see that I, having been well ‘prepped’ by this point still ranked Lutan Fyah’s MASSIVE ‘Selassie I Within’ as the finest tune the riddim had to offer, but when it got to some of the other artists here, they really made it difficult to declare. The most ‘stubborn’ of the bunch is DEFINITELY the oft-overlooked Ras Shiloh who DESTROYS whatever remains of The Mighty Right on his call for all to ’Live Upright’, despite “others trying to fight you down”. Shiloh’s is another case like Hero’s where he doesn’t voice so much, but when he does you need to pay attention because if you don’t you stand to risk missing absolute GEMS like Live Upright. A face certainly more prevalent on projects like these and one I certainly love to see is Luciano’s who has a go on the riddim with ‘Set Things Straight’. The tune finds the Messenjah calling upon those who aren’t necessarily living too righteously to clean up their acts before they come face to face with His Majesty. The aforementioned Jah Mason chimes in on The Mighty Right riddim with his statement of repatriation, ‘Take Us Home’. I’m almost sure I’ve heard this tune somewhere before, but regardless, the tune is BIG. It’s almost like listening to two different songs in one with the way the Mason builds (did you catch that one???) his vibes and emotions every time out and Take Us Home has elements of soft and harder degrees to one HUGE vibes ultimately. Even Perfect gets in on things with the solid ‘Young, Gifted & Black’ as does a surprising Tony Rebel, who reminds all to ‘Never Get Weary Yet’ in the journey of life (more on him in a bit). And those are the BIG hitters here, but they are well complimented by some lesser known and up and comers as well. Of course there’s Mr. Philadub himself, Gardian, who I’m starting to warm up to and who grabs a bit of his own riddim with a selection from his album, ‘Yad Along’. I actually heard a next tune from Gardian and not a Philadub piece, on the G35 Riddim not too long ago and it was very nice (he actually had one of the best efforts on the riddim outside of the terror that is Bugle) and, who knows, maybe I’ll go back and check his album someday as Yad Along certainly isn’t the BEST vibes you’ll hear on The Mighty Right, but you’ll have a hard (IMPOSSIBLE) time convincing me that this isn’t good work, because it is. Smooth voiced Scare Dem singer Nitty Kutchie checks in with a Luciano-ish piece by the name of ‘Melt That Down’. I’ve never been too much of a fan of Nitty’s, but he does make BIG vibes every now and then and Melt That Down is one of his better in recent years to my opinion. Big voiced Spectacular unsurprisingly returns to Philadub studios after having guested twice on Justice alongside Lutan Fyah, to push one of The Mighty Right’s biggest tunes altogether, ‘Fi Real’. Again, I can WELL take Spectacular in moderation and a song like the dazzling Fi Real shows why as the Kingston native once again tells us to firm up ourselves and be ready for anything which may come our way in battle. And as things wind down, there was one nice surprise as I’m all but SURE the one name Flash is the former Mr. Flash and the former Flash, now known as Zareb, member of Fantan Mojah’s Macka Tree Family. Flash/Zareb gives the riddim its much needed lovers piece, the SMOOTH ‘Mr. Right’ and we‘re always happy to see his name (whichever one) on a riddim as well. The last vocal effort on The Mighty Right riddim album is from another double named artist, Ras Ptah (formerly Galaxy P) who sends us out with much needed ‘Praises’. To be perfectly honest, Galaxy P was always one of my LEAST favourite Dancehall artists, however, from since he’s made the change in his music (and in his life, apparently) I’ve found him far more enjoyable and Praises has to be one of the best I’ve heard from, again, regardless of name selection. And Philadub gets things right by including a clean version of The Mighty Right riddim to close things out. I always love it when producers/labels do this and the riddim here is EXCELLENT when stripped bare and a highly enjoyable way to end things.

WHAT’S MISSING??? I always make a mention of this when I don’t see it, so how nice would it have been if after linking Tony Rebel, Philadub also invited his protégé, the DIVINE Queen Ifrica to voice the piece as well? I think Ifrica or any of the Queens would have given The Mighty Right a much needed shot of STRONG femininity and made it even more mighty than it certainly is right now.

Overall, I’m definitely slapping a big seal of recommendation on The Mighty Right riddim album for all fans of Roots Reggae, especially of the new school, but, as I mentioned, I think there’s enough shine here for older fans as well. The riddim itself is quite hypnotic (I say this while listening to the clean version right now) and I’m sure there are a whole heap of technical music words I should be using to describe it like ‘synths’ and stuff like that, but I’ll just say that the thing sounds good! And there are more than enough STRONG vocal performances to really allow both riddim and artists to shine. Philadub delivers a very worthy and fitting follow-up to Justice and now we just have to ask ourselves which of the other fifteen or so riddims will get their own albums??? However many there are or even if it’s a next artist, I’ll definitely be listening. Well done and one of the best riddim albums of 2009.

Rated 4.5/5

Philadub Records

2009

A Moment With: Malika Madremana!

Recently, the DIVINE Malika Madremana honoured me by allowing me to throw some questions in her direction and then responding. I had originally contacted her to ask her about the composition of a particular song, Just Jah, but she was SO easy to deal with and nice (and complimentary too!), that I thought that making an interview with her would be a WONDERFUL idea. I specifically (of course) was interested in her music and her lyrics and really getting to know who Malika Madremana, the artist, was and she came to be who she was. Her answers were great and generally got to what I was looking for and, of course, if you read my material with any type of consistency, you know that my questions were kind of long and sometimes humourous (I believe at one point I actually 'accuse' her of having herself cloned), but I think I ultimately, like I usually do, I got to the point.

And like I said, her answers were great. I tried so hard to put her in a direction where you wouldn't hear the stereotypical type of responses that you do in so many other Reggae interviews, but I think even I did ask her lame ass questions, that she would have given great answers. But I think I promised that I wouldn't analyze this to much, so without further adieu, I present to you AchisReggae's very first (of a few, hopefully) Interview with the lovely Malika Madremana.

Malika Madremana

Question: You're of Puerto Rican heritage and you've come through New York and California, these big and booming media capitals of the world and yet you come to be a Roots Reggae artist. Not a Hip-Hop artist or a Dancehall artist or a Pop artist or a Spoken Word artist or anything which someone might associate with your background. So my first question is: Why Reggae? Why is that the 'correct' medium for your message? And on top of that how far along did you get into developing exactly what your message was/would be before you decided to walk towards Reggae and not some of the more well known and probably more easily accesible types of music for you at the time?

Malika Madremana: I’ve been on stage since I was four years old. The first time I performed was when I was in kindergarten, I was the tin man in the Wizard of Oz! My mom wrapped a TV box in tin foil and put me inside, with holes cut out for my arms and legs. I fell down flat on the stage and couldn’t get up…it was a fiasco…to make it worse they filmed it all! Musta been tough skinned, because I was on stage singin or acting every year since… Always singin, always. All kinds of music, too. Many, many choirs. My granny just knew I was gonna become the Puerto Rican Shirley Temple. Bless her heart…had me singing Broadway show tunes…dear Lord…

To tell the truth, I used to rap in the hallways in jr. high and high school…I always knew I could rhyme…that was easy for me. I used to take songs and rewrite my own funny lyrics to the tune, to make people laugh. But I could write some hard lyrics too…and many rappers were my role models back then. I was one of the founders of the Black Student Union in high school and we were well blessed to have been exposed to culture and righteous teachings…that left us wide open for more knowledge. I was truly affected by the African culture movement in hip hop…and I played my role as a radical young leader in it. I more importantly found myself led to my spiritual path at a young age, and while hip hop introduced us to a little about religion and revolution… I needed more…It seemed like the Black culture movement at that time in hip hop was kinda fading…like it was a passing fad…Africa medallions and things… still I was open and hungry for more culture...and in reggae music it wasn’t just a passing phase. Roots and culture were the foundation…and always would be…so it seemed like a natural evolution for me to transcend towards. Reggae was the marriage of both the Black struggle and God…Rastafari emerged early in my life and I was locked in. I was implanted with reggae through Bob and Peter’s messages…Steel Pulse…Israel Vibration…

I’m a revolutionary from way back. Seems as if it would have been easy to go the R&B route…but pretty much anyone who knows me knows that I’m a soldier. A little rugged. Much more concerned with awakening the people than with makin another redundant club tune and dressin cute to catch attention. Too many girls doin that already. Not enough involved in the liberation struggle. Don’t get me wrong, I know there’s a time and place for all kinds of songs, but I just could never truly put my heart into some bubblegum tune…can’t sing it with conviction. I had to sing reggae music. No choice.

As for being Puerto Rican in the reggae field, to me it seems just natural. Island blood. The Caribbean islands are all so close, in the grand scheme of the world, and even though we have different histories and cultures we do share very much in common…a similar story to tell. We’re all victims of colonialism. Not one island can boast of decent living standards for their people. While governments and languages and cultures differ, the poverty that people face is the same damn pain. So let the story be told from many perspectives. In Puerto Rico I’ve seen the emergence of some truly powerful reggae bands like Roots Natty, Zioniers, Cultura Prophetica, Gomba Jahbari…and it’s not so uncommon to see Rasta in a remote Puerto Rican town these days...It’s growing. That goes for many Latin nations…Cuba, Colombia, Peru, Argentina. Oppressed people feel the same way. The cry is the same. These countries are actually very conservative, however, totally colonial by tradition, and slow to change. But IanI give thanks to the pioneers who keep the faith and plant the seeds…

Q: The first thing anyone notices about an artist is their actual art, probably even before they've seen the actual person. So what I hear from you is an artist that seemingly developed on two sides at the same time. And I always point to the Elixir album, the second half of the album where the seven songs (excluding the remix) (and I could even add that because it helps to make the point) but the two that stand out, in terms of actual style, are It's Not Done Yet & Why You Wanna Claim Me Now. Why You Wanna Claim Me Now is kind of more aggressive and you have stretches where it's djaying/rapping and then It's Not Done Yet is just STRAIGHT like djaying/rapping/spoken word style. So the question is how is THAT coming from the same person? How did you develop both of those styles at the same time to get them to that point and on top of that how do you decide which to use because when you listen to the riddims themselves nothing sticks out as far the style except for, of course, the remix, but you grabbed It's Not Done Yet in such a different way and still top class with it. So did you just have that or did you get it from some artists who may have influenced you. How did you get both (or are there REALLY two Malika Madremanas out there?????)

MM: Okay…here is my attempt to answer this complex question…I’ve loved Dj’s for a long time. Used to listen to artists (still do) like Daddy U-Roy, Big Youth, Supercat, Buju, on and on and on and I admired their clever lyrics and flow. The way their words ride the music. So I naturally ventured into Dj styles.

I always knew how to write or bust a rhyme…it was within me. This developed in the 80’s. While I know I’m a vocalist, a singa, I can’t deny my love for the Dj’s and MC’s out there and how they influence music… and I often feel the need for a diversion from singin jus to feed that part of the soul that may long for a little roughness, jungle, or whatever you call it. I want all senses satisfied through my music. So I write a few rhymes that have a more DJ delivery…not really tryin to be known for that specifically…jus love to do it when it feels right. It kinda displays a part of my personality that’s raw sometimes. All from the same person…jus different delivery dependin on the vibe of the moment. Conscious dancehall has encouraged me to integrate singing with DJ…especially in the late 90’s… I had to be a part of it.

I wrote those songs before I knew artists like Attitude or Batch, so while I am influenced and learn from their incredible talent, I had my own flow long before. Ras Attitude did help me, however, for example in Why You Wanna Claim Me, he was in the studio telling me things like, “You gotta say it harder! Make that boy know you’re through wit him! Hurt his feelins! Let him know you’re serious! Your voice should be more forceful…etc…” So yeah, I’ve had instruction at times. Tryin to not sound too sweet or soft, it wasn’t easy! ha ha. Thanx for the lesson Ras!

The development of my songs takes different methods. Sometimes I create the lyrics before I actually hear the music I place them to. Sometimes I build the lyrics based around the riddim. It all depends on the moment. I never push my songs into a set formula…what comes out jus comes out! As for how did my “duality” of style develop…It happened unconsciously…I don’t ever feel like I’m purposely even tryin to develop it…it just HAPPENS! What can I tell ya! But as far as I know there is only one Malika Madremana out there!!! Straight up!

Q: Of course my favourite song from the Healing album is Just Jah but there are so many interesting tunes on the album. One of my other favourites and definitely one of the more interesting pieces is Underground Railroad? Can you tell us about how that tune came about because I'm trying to even think about some song where that topic was even casually mentioned and I'm there are some but I'm struggling to think of any what drew you in that direction?

MM: Well I always must honor our ancestors who suffered from such tribulation at the hands of slavery…that being the case Harriet Tubman came to mind…as a sister who led so many lives to freedom in the face of ultimate terror. While I couldn’t possibly equate myself to her greatness and bravery in light of her plight, I do relate to her drive to lead her people out of that madness…I feel the same need….so in Underground Railroad I compared our modern “escape” (so to speak) from Babylon, to the escape of the slaves…who moved by night so they wouldn’t be seen…listening out for drum beats to signal when and what the move would be…as drums were the secret language…

To bring it forward to the tune, I saw reggae music as a “train” for brothas and sistas to jump on if we wanted to get outta here. True the drums are still our language…no one can interpret them like IanI…and reggae music can truly free your mind…so it seemed like the perfect analogy. The chant MOVE is to seriously push our brothas and sistas on...cuzz too many of them are LAGGIN! Imagine how it woulda felt to be left behind when the rest escaped to freedom…TERRIBLE! So I felt an urgency to tell folks to hurry the F up and get on board. We leavin this wicked system behind. Even if it’s spiritually, mentally, emotionally….not necessarily physically yet…we still gotta bounce.

Q: And one more tune from that album I have to ask you about Jah Riddim because that song is like a walking, talking metaphor, like you're saying that the music belongs to HIM but you rarely hear it in those actual terms. So can you tell us a little about that song?

MM: This song is the first complete reggae song I ever wrote. In the early 90’s, I was vibin old school tracks (especially Studio One) and I loved the Throw Mi Corn riddim. I wrote the song to this riddim. Performed it to this riddim on stage a lot before it was recorded on Healing. It began as an observation of how hard babylon was dealin with the Black man…what the system puts yall through…yet how steadfast I checked the faith of the bredren to be still…a confirmation that no matter how much the system tries to take away from IanI the ONE THING that they will never be able to get their greedy grubby hands on is the invisible vibration that feeds our souls and keeps us alive…the music, the rhythm, the lyrics….all things that they simply cannot take from us! No matter what! Because Jah Himself instilled these things in His people…Anotha thing….I also reiterate that the Most High is in control of all things…Whose judgment is higher than The Almighty’s?...even though we get surrounded by ignorant and spiritually poor people who are under the false impression that man is runnin things….Judgement will surely come for the wicked…but love will overcome this craziness…love comes through the music…

Q: And two songs from the Elixir album: Can you tell us about Meaning with Batch, that's my favourite song from that album and I HAVE TO ask about Soldier Culture, that's my wife's favourite.

MM: I traveled all over this world, but the one thing that I notice from place to place is that no matter where I’m at people are basically the same…all of us tryin to raise families, to be healthy, to be loved, to laugh… to make some sense of the mysteries that surround us…through our faith and belief we make sense of life and all of its joys and pains…so our commonality is that we all long to know God’s plan…The Meaning is a reflection that the reason why we’re here is so much more simple than we make it…Just to love. There is no higher purpose that to share love and receive love with Jah and each other. Simple. It would completely solve the world’s problems. While performing this tune on stage, it developed into higher levels so now I never sing it without including “Love is the meaning, Love is the meaning of life” as a result because it’s no mystery. Batch came in during recording (he also played a major role in engineering the album) and he laid his verse…so unique and intellectual…his vocals are unmatched. Batch has an ancient voice, presence, and demeanor, yet relevant and familiar topics…outstanding. We’ve performed this on stage together and the crowds love it…the people need it… but it’s important to accept that love can’t come so easy as long as the inequality that divides rich and poor, black and white continues…

As for Soldier Culture…I wrote a poem in 1998 that described the feeling a sista feels when she knows her man has to go out on the streets to handle his business, but it could be a dangerous situation…and she don’t know when or if he’ll return…this is an unfortunately common feeling we go through for our bredren. It was jus inevitable for it to come out in a tune one day…

Black men in particular are soldiers in their own right, with the many levels of battles yall experience in society. And the sistas have to be strong to accept this. So in return, we have to supply an abundance of love and balance in “reward” for the struggle and fight…for what’s being done for us. No different than any military wife or spouse who has a soldier fightin somewhere in this world. This song reflects on the beauty and preciousness of intimate time spent between man and woman in struggle…the lovin has to be extra sweet to compensate for the risk taken…that’s who we are. Our culture is to love intensely. I wanted this tune in particular to be livicated to the brothas out there on the frontline…whether that would be the hood, the ghettos, the jungles, the universities, the workplace…the battlefields. Jus to make yall feel appreci-loved and SO valuable. Even though we never know what tomorrow may hold for IanI…we have tonite to live it up…such a special vibration shared between two united for liberation…

Soldier Culture started as a melody in my living room… I was chillin wit my sistas Isheba and Shaundra and we were chantin a little thing “Fiya, Fiya, Fiya” while I was developing the song…It makes me laugh when I hear the tune now I remember the three of us singin it together…but its beautiful to sing it on stage…many, many can relate in these times…Jah bless

Q: What do you think of the current shift we're seeing in Reggae with more and more Queens coming to prominence. It seems like just a few years back when there were only like one or two making conscious Roots Reggae like Dezarie and then Queen Omega, apart from the elders like Sista Carol and Marcia Griffiths, but from this specific era. And then people like yourself and Mada Nile came up and now it's Ifrica and Etana and Lady Passion and Empress Nyingro and Empress Isheba (who sounds all of about 9 years old) and Omo Lioness and Empress Cherisse and I could go and on (Sistah Joyce) (Ima) (Positively Nelsons). Why do you think we're seeing that now and what exists or doesn't exist that's making it so important for these Queens to step forth now?

MM: Man has his rightful position, with all due Raspect and honor unto him. He has a role and duty to exist as the fathers of creation. As a woman, I don’t strive to be equal to man. I have my own place. Not that it’s less than man, jus different. I’m comfortable within this. That being said, I would say that for a Queen to come forth singing the words of the Most High is a rightful position, clearly. I have to stress...there should be no competition between Black man and woman. I feel like I get set up in interviews (not this one) because it seems as if people want a battle…to see a woman fired up about sexism in the reggae industry and bla bla bla. To complain about how hard it is to succeed in a male-dominated industry and such. Well I have had wonderful experiences growing in my music. I’ve been helped. I have also had some terrible experiences. I’ve been held back. To not admit that I’ve dealt with ugliness and corruption would be a straight lie. I keep rising above it through the grace of Jah. But ultimately, it has been through the support of many bredren as well as sistren who have helped me along the way that I’m still here.

How long now have the sistren been as active in the struggle as the bredren? Forever… not many would argue that…but it may just be the right time in Creation or our voices to be heard...Jah knows…Why are the sistren seeming to flourish and bloom now? Everything in its due season. Jah is in control. There comes a time, when the voices of the sistren are seen for the wisdom and love that is the true intention…maybe that time is jus now. It’s not that we have to shake our finger in anyone’s face and say I told you so. There should exist a calm and quiet acceptance that truth is jus truth…no matter who it comes from. Jah instilled the message and melody and power. I don’t take a stance about being held back, because nothing can hold me back other than Jah alone.

On another level, with technology more accessible and available than ever before, I think more sistas have avenues for production than ever before. More music can come out without the dependence on a major label deal in order to make it. I can’t even tell you how many folks I know who have garage or basement home studios…that produce some quality music…This has been a tremendous benefit for women and men as well…

The music needs to keep in rotation. Nuff times you hear a mixtape and out of 75 tunes there may be one or two females. So DJ’s, put the sistren in rotation regular. Make the people hear the music, and give female artists pathways to reach all parts of the world!

And take us seriously. We not here to play. The burden and the message is heavy. Don’t doubt that Jah has the power to make the message come through the sistren.

Q: So the first album was Healing and the second was Elixir. We're trying to predict that third name, is it Treatment? Is it Nurture? Is it Medicine? And when can we can expect it, whatever it's called and what is Malika Madremana working on? Also, I mentioned that the Healing album is VERY hard to find, but you have a way people can get it, how is that and lastly what message would you like to leave the people with and we thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU for your time.

MM: Next album…nameless as of yet…tunes keep comin so I always wait until they finish before I choose a title track! It will of course be a remedy…I’ll stay true…New wisdom, new lessons, new ovastandins about life and definitely more fiya against Babylon…but I feel like I’ve matured as a result of these years goin by…both vocally and lyrically…gained much experience on stage and advice from top artists…I’m humble still applyin what I learn and I hope to be more refined and crisp…more edgy…much more confident! So the production is in the process right now and I’m lookin towards the beginning of 2010 to release…Jah willing…workin with brand new producers and musicians from Puerto Rico to St.Croix to Trinidad to Jamaica…Pure strength. Rastafari knows. Stick close to my myspace for new releases and dates.

Anyone looking for Healing…it’s not hard to find at all…come to the myspace.com/Malikamadremana and leave me a message for now… I got cha…

Message to The People: Jah is the ALMIGHTY and HE is in control of all things in creation. This earth is a beautiful and glorious place that he provided for all of us to share the bounties of. IanI must work together to ensure that the bounties of the earth are divided up so that every man, woman, child, and elder is nourished, clothed, sheltered, healed, and loved equally. The time is now to give of yourself to help others in need and evolve into a higher level of humanity. Rastafari is the King unto whom we look upon as the pinnacle of African strength, wisdom, and spirit, brought to the earth as the example of Black divinity. Respect and honor the indigenous peoples of the earth as we hold the wisdom that will save the world from destruction. That day will come. Till then, love The Most High, treat each other with respect and honor, fight for righteousness’ sake, pray for those who suffer, live life to the fullest.

Yours in struggle,

La Maestra

Malika