'Playing Favourites': A Review of "Genesis" by Maikal X

I get carried away sometimes. I like to think that I’m not necessarily a stubborn person or too head-strong or something like such, but I do admit that when I find something, or someone that I like, for whatever reason, I have a hard time not talking them up given the opportunity. Of course, doing what I do, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, because you never know who’s reading and even if it were I wouldn’t stop anyway most likely. And even if I’m proven wrong in some instances (very regularly actually), I’m still going to do it because every so often something or someone comes along who just SO deserves it. Such is the case right now, in my opinion, with the very impressive German singer, Sara Lugo, who I mention literally all the time because despite the fact that she seems so familiar and so comfortable and so normal, I don’t think there’s anyone who is doing what she does and offering what she offers. There’s also people like The Great Naptali who still has the best album I’ve heard in 2010, of course 2009’s champion Lion D and so interestingly and fittingly there’s Smiley also. Smiley is interesting because if you go back just a couple of years (and STILL) you get to an artist in Ziggi [Recede] who I was also very high on (and still am) and of course both of those are Dutch Caribbean/Dutch artists. That scene has been on FIRE as of late with others as well such as Benaïssa, Lady K Wida (MAD!), Kenny B and certainly Mischu Laikah - Artists who just have a very strong and POLISHED vibes about them as soon as you just hear their names and work initially. Also (as if you needed more) (and you didn’t) earlier this year Chezidek released the master class that was "Judgement Time”, which was easily one of the best productions of 2010 and . . . Yep, between Not Easy At All and Jah Solid Rock, was a Dutchie produced album. FIRE! So you’ll forgive me, I hope, for just being all over and thoroughly impressed by the Dutch Caribbean/Dutch artists in general, because they’ve most certainly earned it and I am a wee bit partial anyway. If you’re tired of me writing about them, however, then you won’t want to stick around for this because, although he isn’t my latest find (probably going on two or three years now), one could very well make the argument that one of the most talented of the entire Dutchie lot is the SUPREMELY impressive Maikal X who, it just so happens, has just released his hotly anticipated debut album, ”Genesis“, and done so in probably the most noteworthy possible manner for me, with very few reservations at all.

Right up my alley. Okay before I even tell you about Maikal X himself and what he has going for himself musically speaking, let’s just deal with the background of the album first of all. The last bit of information I got about Maikal was that he had officially signed with Rock ‘N Vibes, the same label which had brought the aforementioned Ziggi Recado to prominence (and biggup Shanaira Rey) and it was with that label that he would deliver his debut album and Mr. Rude and company at RNV are on board here. And it should also be noted the span of time for Ziggi reaching, not literally (it was just two or three years actually I believe), but figuratively speaking because it was at that same label that he DEVELOPED from what was in my opinion a pretty mediocre Dancehall artist, until the POWERFUL modern Roots Reggae dynamo that he is today and one of the most impressive artists going, period. The only thing that could have made this better was had Greensleeves picked up ”Genesis” (then I suppose you could actually get it somewhere else besides Dutchie iTunes as of this writing), just as they did Ziggi’s MASSIVE 2008 drop, ”In Transit”. And as far as Maikal X himself - While I don’t know much about his past (and I knew even less before the press for this album started running), X has popped up on my radars within the last few years and has remained there largely due to the wonderful PRESENTATION of his music. What I mean by that is that this man sings songs and his voice is very nice, but it isn’t the greatest (his name isn’t Jah Cure is what I’m saying), he is a very strong lyricist (better than I thought, more on that later), but he isn’t the greatest (his name isn’t Miguel), but he does everything very well and puts it together SO excellently that when you get a new tune from Maikal X, you can pretty much be assured that this song is the best possible tune that it could be in that case. Put on top of that the fact that, just like Ziggi, the man represents HARD in the Dutch Caribbean and we’ve actually had the privilege already of seeing him perform (biggup Regatta) which was very nice. Initially (and for quite some time thereafter), I had Maikal X sent through as a Lover’s Rock singer strictly, but over the time he’s developed into a bit more versatile artist in his subject matters, a point which is highlighted throughout ”Genesis” and if the history of Mr. Rude and Rock ’N Vibes is any indication (and it definitely is), you should expect X to continue to grow and develop his skills and I ultimately see him becoming something along the lines of a Romain Virgo - A singer who may have more of the Lover’s Rock ’look’ and ’feel’, but who may actually be more comfortable singing Roots music (Virgo’s strength seems to lie in the truly rare trait of being able to mix both sides and do so at the exact same time, seamlessly) and he‘s not very far from that right now. In the meantime, what Maikal X turns out to be on ”Genesis” (besides a younger twin of Hip-Hop legend Tone Lōc) is quite enough just to reach my expectations and make a very strong album. And in doing so he, essentially, outlines his style in more graphic detail, proving himself to be already a very varied talent and one who at least seemingly is able to make a very accessible and very WELL PRESENTED brand of vibes.

As I said, while I still don’t know much about Maikal X’s past, what I do know (or at least I think I know) is that he comes from a predominately Hip-Hop and R&B background in Holland (not surprising) and, more pertinent to this review, he comes from a Caribbean heritage. I once thought he was straight from St. Maarten, but instead, while born in the Netherlands, his parents reportedly come from Guyana and Curacao (biggup Izaline), respectively - Which certainly does explain his interest in Reggae music. So while he apparently had quite a distinguished career in Hip-Hop circles and it’s taken him a minute to gravitate towards Reggae, the fact that he’s here now is a very good thing. Another example of a good thing would be Maikal X’s debut Reggae album (and his debut solo album, period, to my knowledge), ”Genesis”, from Rock ‘N Vibes, which gets started with what is probably the albums most recognizable track, the STERLING ‘Best In You’. I LOVE THIS SONG! I like more now that I did a few months back when VP dropped it on one of the latest installments of ”Strictly The Best” [#40]. It’s just a LOVELY song and is the very definition of the accessibility of this album. You cannot tell me that the song couldn’t do damage in R&B scopes (and it may be doing so already) and it’s straight Lover’s Rock Reggae and in the face of so much attractive material, it’s also the best single tune I hear on the whole of ”Genesis”. I even favour it over ‘We Know Why’, which is saying a lot because this tune is DEVASTATING! It is the first of three official vocal combinations, this one surprisingly featuring the front man of the Morgans, Peetah Morgan. It is, essentially, a social commentary and even this one is probably going to find an audience outside of ‘merely’ Reggae circles if given the opportunity as the two make a combination which is strong and SO sonically pleasing as well. Also pretty good to the ears is ‘Lies’, the kind of old school vibed lover’s piece which rounds out the opening lot of the album. Actually it’s better categorized as an ’anti-lover’s’ piece as X finds himself dealing with a less than honest (about to be former) girlfriend. It can never be a good thing to have one’s name turned into a verb which is exactly what Maikal does to a famous Pop singer when, in making his case, he says, “woman me neva Chris Brown ya” (damn!). Yet, as fucked up as that is (and it is), I’m sure Brown himself would even appreciate the tune, because it is very strong.

Considering the history of Rock ‘N Vibes with Ziggi (Ce‘Cile, Anthony B, Admiral T), I know I shouldn’t be, but I was quite surprised to see the talent Maikal X brought along with him on ”Genesis”. After Peetah Morgan (who should really just call himself ‘Peter’, right) there’s also Irie Love who guest stars on . . . Well on the tune ‘Irie Love’. I talked earlier about Maikal X’s excellent PRESENTATION of his music and it probably should be said that, in that regard, Irie Love is his equal, at least. The Hawaiian songstress makes some TRULY beautiful music and, unsurprisingly, the duo link up for one of the album’s most catchy moments. Yeah - Sure, it’s a bit gimmicky, but I’m suspecting that the wider audience probably won’t give a damn on this ‘READY FOR RADIO’ song (and apparently the singer impressed the Morgans quite a bit because I‘d be surprised if they didn’t give him the link to Irie). And also on board, most notably, is Reggae legend, Luciano, who features on the sweetly vibed ‘Give Thanks’. This is pretty standard fare for ‘The Messenjah’ and that’s a good thing. I’ve been trying to think of someone who Maikal X reminds me of, vocally, and with his persisting ‘RASP’ on this beautiful piece of a song, he definitely sounds like a younger version of another legendary singer, Freddie McGregor. It’s just a NICE NICE praising type of a tune (like I said, standard Luciano fare) and while still, my favourite combination tune remains ‘We Know Why’, I wouldn’t at all be shocked to see this one get a bit of an exposure considering the players involved and the song itself - It would definitely deserve it.

To go along with the combination tracks on ”Genesis”, it also, along with the opener, has a few pre-hits which definitely drove up Maikal X’s name prior to the album. The three tunes (including ‘Best In You’) have largely gone to build his reputation as one of the genre’s biggest up and comers. Of course, there’s ‘Bear With Me’ from last year which was a REALLY big deal because supposedly what had happened is that Reggae super producer, Don Corleon, had been playing in Suriname with Alaine when his driver played him a tune from Maikal X and, SO impressed, Don tracked down the singer and linked him his latest piece, the GORGEOUS Changes Riddim, and thus was born ‘Bear With Me’. It definitely is a testament to the singer when I can easily say that amongst names like Alaine, Tarrus Riley, Jah Cure, The Morgans and Gentleman, he definitely held his own, offering one of the biggest efforts on that HUGE creation and it is one of this album’s finest moments as well. And the other really big (and still growing) tune from before the album is the recently dropped ‘Here She Comes’ as it finds Maikal X going all Hall & Oates on the people with a remake of their classic tune, ‘Maneater’. He handles it quite well (and the video was very nice too) - It’s pretty much in his area of expertise and it’s another big tune.

I found it quite interesting that, in the way the album is situated, most of the big known material is slotted in the first half and I was initially looking at the second half somewhat ominously as the feeling became ‘okay well they probably just threw this shit in here to round out the album’, but there’re some nice pieces to be found in the later stages of ”Genesis” as well. Along with ‘Bear With Me’ (aka ‘the one that slipped through the cracks‘), there is the tune which precedes it, ‘Darlin’. This one I didn’t really like my first trip through, but it started to grow on me and has since continued to do so and do so quite consistently (that drum, that drum). I still wouldn’t call it a favourite of mind but . . . Ask me in a week or two. I hadn’t heard the tune ‘Born To Die’ and knew nothing about it whatsoever, but IMMEDIATELY when it dropped in, it gave me the biggest smile I’m sure and it took my mind to a most familiar place as that same riddim backs ‘Walk With Jah’, the best and biggest tune from Chezidek’s aforementioned lion of an album, ”Judgement Time”. Speaking strictly lyrically, this one has to be regarded as one of the stronger (if not the strongest) pieces on the entire album and although X doesn’t quite reach the levels of Chezidek (just not happening), this one already is one of my favourites. The obligatory Mama song, ‘Caught Up’ is probably my least favourite tune on the album (although I’m not quite sure why just yet), but it’s still a pretty nice effort, it just doesn’t go very far and after more than a couple listens I still found myself struggling with the concept of being ‘caught up’ on it (the chorus, however, is excellent) (whatever it means). ‘Come Over’ is another one which didn’t blow me away, but this is one COOL song to my ears and, although he can do this type of song and do it better (and does it better on the album), this is another one which is pretty much the signature sound of Maikal X to date in my opinion and if you were to ask me which songs I would recommend a listener to become accustomed to his vibes, I would (with a caveat) point you in this direction amongst others. I did enjoy ‘Senseless’ after it got going and, in a line with a few others (including ‘Born To Die’), this one is one of the better social-commentary type of tune on the album - It’s right up there. ‘Warning’, which wraps up the album, does take the prize in that category however. It is BIG and with that ‘complicated’ KNOCK behind the tune, it’s getting bigger and bigger each time I hear it. This is THE song on which I’m going to complain, because the fact that ”Genesis” comes and goes in its entirety without delivering the no-brainer that was (at least to me and to you too, I’m sure) a combination between Maikal X and Ziggi, is just WRONG! It has to happen and if I have to wait until 2011 (hopefully) for it to jump up on the next Ziggi LP, then so be it, but ”Genesis” would have been the PERFECT spot for it.

Oh and in the interests of protecting my ridiculous reputation, I do have to also mention the tune ‘Today Becomes Tomorrow’ from earlier on. I swear this riddim sounds just like the Woman I Need You Riddim when it starts and I thought X would just jump in on that modern classic piece, but what he does is a very nice job with this very thoughtful and poignant tune - Another very impressively written piece.

Overall, I should say that besides Ziggi’s absence, my only prevailing complaint with Maikal X’s ”Genesis” is that his sound, at times, does distinguish itself from itself as much as I might hope. The result is, of course, a few songs which sound very closely to one another and when whatever that sound is, is good (and it is, it really is), it’s not much of a problem, but as he develops, I would definitely like to see X get to the point where, with his foundation still intact, he can do more things with the songs to individualize them more. But that is certainly something which comes and will come with more experience and as he begins to get his name out even more and is afforded the opportunity to work with more artists and producers as well, so that definitely should be something he does and probably sooner than later. And speaking of his development as an artist, I’d also like to mention that ”Genesis” is a MUCH better album than Ziggi’s first, ”So Much Reasons” and if Maikal X does take similar stides that Ziggi did in between his first and his second, ”In Transit”, then WHATEVER that sophomore album is, it will be TRULY MASSIVE. ”Genesis” certainly isn’t a bad star and it’ll probably end up being one of the better debuts of 2010 come December. So, despite my rather lofty lauds of the singer and my equally loft expectations, I can well say that I’m STILL impressed with the results and am looking forward to watching the blinding future of yet another big Dutchie light. But what the hell do I know? I am partial.

Rated: 4.35/5
Rock 'N Vibes
2010
CD & Digital





Maikal X @ Myspace
Rock 'N Vibes