My precious precious Dancehall, oh what hath become of ye? At the ripe old age of 28, I can now start the evidence of my impending annoying old man years and of course I see it most clearly in music. Besides the fact that my tastes are changing a great deal, as I’ve spoken quite a bit about, there’s also the matter of my apparent failure to keep up with the times in terms of my tastes for the actual music in some cases. For the most part, however, I think I’ve done fairly well. In terms of Roots Reggae, I’ve been able to appreciate and in some cases even LOVE the certain times when I’ve been presented with opportunities to think ’outside of the box’ (my album of the year choice last year was from an artist, in Lion D, who definitely doesn’t fit into any historical conversation) (yet). In Soca . . . Well Soca is a bad example because I haven’t noticed any significant musical changes since I’ve been listening (the thought by many people who know infinitely more about than do I is that there has been an influx of Reggae and Dancehall in the music, but of course that’s no problem at all for me), but each and every year I find MANY new artists who I haven’t known of previously and enjoy them as well. The same goes for Zouk and the other various forms of music to which I listen. I don’t have a large problem with those. And then there’s Dancehall, where I clearly do have a problem. Be it the most obvious case of Vybz Kartel’s rise to and solidifying of his power and status as the number one artist in the game or the fact that I frustratingly find myself drawing more and more often for the world ’experimental’ in the description of some random and supposedly WICKED new riddim from a top notch producer - I just don’t ’get it’ as much as I used to. Kartel’s music sounds drastically different and just downright BORING to me as compared to a half decade or so ago when I thought the man was the most exciting DJ I had heard of in a long time and most of these riddims, to my ears, seem to go past Dancehall, go past Hardcore dancehall and get stuck somewhere between that base and Hip-Hop, although generally much closer to Hip-Hop and Hardcore Hip-Hop at that (nothing ‘wrong’ with that, I just don’t like it). In fact, I’m often at a loss to why some of these pieces are even regarded as Dancehall, of course the answer to that would probably be the little label on the single releases which reads “Printed In Jamaica”, because many times country of origin is the only thing these very strange funeral procession sounding compositions tend to have in common with Dancehall. At least that’s the way I see it.
But maybe I’ve been looking in the wrong direction. Dancehall music is supposed to have this certain KNOCK to it in my opinion and while said “knock” certainly seems to be a bit of an endangered species these days and at least for the immediate future as well, looking back from the early days of Dancehall music well up until the early 2000’s, the knock was the signature and ruling sound of the Dancehall. If you go back to the timeframe of the early to mid 1990’s (which is where we’re going today), you encounter this terribly forgotten sound which although it arises from time to time today, it almost seems as if someone were to do a BIG original riddim sounding so, that it would almost come off as gimmicky and be criticized as such. But there are ways to do just that and not face that particular critique which is exactly what Truckback Records (a relatively new label perhaps best well known for having powered future superstar Erup’s rise to power) executed when they went back and ‘rebuilt’ an favourite, the absolutely bubblingly CAPTIVATING Frog Riddim, originally from Steely & Clevie - Now ‘born again’ and ‘christened’ the Steel Frog Riddim. The riddim’s original shelf-life was about fifteen years ago now, in the area of 1993-96 or so, and it would definitely attract attention, thanks to LARGE efforts from the likes of Spragga Benz (who voiced the riddim at least twice), Tony Curtis (more on him in a bit) alongside Jigsy King and even the late Simpleton. The riddim FULLY showed itself to be probably one of the best titled of the era because it had this VERY interesting and downright adorable BOUNCE to it and it really gets to the point where you too, voluntary or involuntary, are bouncing by the time the riddim REALLY got going. The new version is a very similar lick of the original, with the only discernible difference maybe being a prevailing ‘louder’ effect on the riddim and the occasional strange sound here and there (which may just be either my inaccurate determination or a product of the various artists voicing the riddim) and the fact that it hasn’t changed very much (at least not to my ears, listening to both versions right now) (more on that also later) is a very good thing in this case. There’s also the existing matter and discussion surrounding the revival older riddims for a next spin and I have varying opinions on the situation, but ultimately the bottom line is that, if you make GREAT vibes, then I don’t care where you got them or from whom and also a little ‘froggy’ told me that this particular case had the blessing of Cleveland ‘Clevie’ Born (of course Steely transitioned last year) to boot. And why wouldn’t he give his blessing? What Truckback does with the Steel Frog is simply ‘stretch’ the vibes of the original and given the way it plays out, it’s a VERY good job. The riddim now comes, unsurprisingly, to an album form and in doing so, in my opinion, IMMEDIATELY becomes the finest Dancehall riddim official compilation of this still young year. I also have to mention the COVER! Seemingly the actual frog from the riddim’s first go-round has unfortunately passed away, but he (or she) has been given bionic parts and now sheds the flesh of its past (and I suppose it also is in the running for album cover of the year at least until May 25th). And again, musically speaking, it’s top notch. You know it is because Truckback has managed to assemble a bag of some of my LEAST favourite artists and STILL make it entertaining.
If I saw this piece as a CD in some store somewhere, knowing nothing about it, and just flipped it over and notice the roster of artists chosen to voice it, I’d probably not buy it and chalk it up as being a very random and mediocre piece of Dancehall (with the nice cover) because out of the seventeen artists who appear here (fifteen tunes, two combinations), I have either completely neutral or negative opinions of THIRTEEN of them. And in passing on it, it’d most surely be my lost, especially being as really Dancehall thirsty as I am. Case in point on Truckback’s new Steel Frog Riddim would be the opener ‘Baddest Sound’ by an artist in the aforementioned Tony Curtis who although I have never been the largest fan of in the past, I have to admit has been scoring very nicely for the past few months or so. This tune is pretty much what you would expect and just thinking about it now, it’s a pretty nice and OLD SCHOOL choice by Truckback as an opener definitely. Things pick up even more on the next two tracks, starting with Captain Barkey with the ridiculously clever and oft-hilarious ‘Nah Lef Joe’. The tune follows Barkey who finds himself the walking victim of a very promiscuous significant who . . . Just doesn’t seem to really care about him too much! Definitely expect the typical personality and humour drawn in by Barkey, especially later on in the song, something I used to find annoying, which doesn’t bother me here for some reason. Blacka Dan who comes next essentially says what’s going on in Barkey’s case can’t happen with him on ‘Under My Roof’. Blacka is an artist to whom I rarely pay any type of significant attention, although he is CLEARLY talented when he actually puts forth an effort and on the deceptively POUNDING Steel Frog, he puts forth a very impressive effort, just as he did on Truckback’s Clutch Riddim from last year. The opening here is very strong and it only gets better.
How ridiculous is it that my second favourite tune on the riddim comes from probably my least favourite artist on the riddim? Richie Feelings is just . . . I just don’t deal with Richie Feelings as a DJ, but his medley like tune here ‘Crocus Bag-A-Tings’ which features the selector just running through Dancehall hit after hit, just HIT me the proper way and I think it’s EXCELLENT! Gimmicky? Of course, but when the gimmick works, credit is due (and if a man draws ‘Little & Cute’, he gets insta-credit from me definitely). Feelings is only outdone on the Steel Frog by the sole female who takes a turn on the riddim, Macka Diamond, who has the misfortune of dealing with the world’s angriest man on the HILARIOUS ‘Baby Fadda A Call’. Apparently whilst trying to voice this very tune, Diamond’s man is phoning her crazily trying to ascertain her whereabouts. There are more skillful sets on the riddim, such as the two I’m going to tell you of next, but with the crazy melody on the catchy chorus and the guy’s increasingly funny rants; ‘Baby Fadda’ takes top honours here.
Of the four artists that I mentioned that I really LIKED on the riddim, all of them do very well with the Steel Frog (what can I say, I have excellent taste) (which is why I get to hang around who I get to hang around). Of course the two biggest are Beenie Man and Capleton and they offer two of the biggest tunes here. ‘Nuttin Dat’, Beenie’s tune is probably the best of this lot. The tune is just an extremely CLEVER slap towards the haters and gossips (“Mi pants tight ah nah nuttin dat. Cah gyal inna di house an a man yu ah watch, fassy”) and it REALLY works here, just as you would’ve thought (Beenie, like Tony Curtis, were actually on the original version of the riddim). Capleton maybe turns the intensity just a hair too much on his tune, ‘Lip Lip Lip’, but that goes right out of the way when you hear him at his peak on the tune with that riddim RUMBLING right beneath him. It’s HUGE! While Buju would’ve certainly been an excellent choice for the Steel Frog, he’s not here, but New Kidz is. His ‘Watch Man’ is another tune here which kind of has that old school subjectry and it rolls through like such as well (“Tell him fi low you. Mek yuh live yuh life nonstop. No waan no man fi watch yu like no Reggae Boys match”), very delightfully. And one of my favourite underrated names, Famous Face, also checks in alongside Gangster Wasp on ‘Rod Of Correction’. The tune is just SOLID, not too spectacular, but it well works and is not to be skipped.
Two other bonafide BIG names also appear on the Steel Frog and drop nice pieces as well. Elephant Man comes in with ‘Control Him’ which is VERY good, one of the better tunes on the riddim. I’ve always said that despite the fact that the ‘shenanigans’ he often brings - If anyone tells you that Ele isn’t one of the MOST TALENTED artists in Dancehall, they’re just fucking wrong. Period. Mr. Vegas is also here with ‘Leg Up’, which is also pretty nice although unexceptional. The tune doesn’t move much off center and it probably could have used a GIMMICK or two, but Vegas does sound good (robotic like) on the tune and he has been someone who has been vocal regarding the influx of entirely too much Hip-Hoppish Dancehall and I believe he’s vow to only record riddims like such going forward. THANK YOU MR. VEGAS. Rounding out the Steel Frog Riddim is a stronger than expected (again) effort from General B, ‘Style Dem’; The infectious ‘Look Good Lady’ from Mr. Lex and Kev[in] Lloyd which is extremely catchy and is probably doing damage internationally because apparently Lloyd is receiving quite the attention is on his way to being a big deal; youthful singers Deh Deh’s ‘Ocean’, which actually ‘persuades’ the riddim to changeup noticeably for the only time on the album, with a kind of an ‘aura‘ type of mix. Deh Deh are artists to watch in the future and although I haven’t paid them much attention thus far (obviously), when they do develop, they may just prove to be something special. And of course if you have a Captain Barkey, you need a Wickerman and you get him on ‘Gimmie De Gyal Dem’, which isn’t as strong as the tune from his sparring partner, but is starting to grow on me. Wickerman hands things off to King Shango who sends this very popular revival on it’s way with the aforementioned ‘Lip Lip Lip’.
I do have to mention one general and one specific critique here - The first being that of the fifteen songs present, only one, ‘Gimmie De Gyal Dem’, tops the three minute mark (although it essentially ends at 2:30, with the final thirty-five seconds being running silence) and one even comes in at sub two minutes (‘Control Him’). I NEED MORE! It’s almost like a mixtape with how quickly some of these tunes past through. Also, there should’ve been a track #16, which would, of course, be the clean riddim! ESPECIALLY in this case, it would have been a beautiful thing and I. . . well I cried a little when I didn’t see it.
Overall, the goods here more than outweigh the bads easily, however. You know you’re dealing with a boom riddim when it can make artists who you typically don’t even watch very much and make them sound EXCELLENT! In my mind, I’m thinking that because most of these names are about as ‘classically trained’ of Dancehall artists as you get and when you actually present them with . . . DANCEHALL, they succeed and they do so SWEETLY. Truckback’s Steel Frog Riddim, although a definite ‘blast from the past’ is such an excellently placed and TIMED riddim and I was so happy in general to see it receive the attention and response that it’s gotten thus far. Hopefully now, we can get Truckback and some of their peers to create some similar magic for the modern era because, especially in it’s absence, truth be told, there is NOTHING in the world like PURE Dancehall music. Very well done.
Rated 4.25/5
Truckback Records
2010
No comments:
Post a Comment