First Impressions

Chances are pretty good that if you were to go down a list of your absolute favourite artists that you might, in some way, remember the first time you heard them. Be it a certain time in your life or a certain period of that artist’s career, it resonates with you so much that it is just the type of thing that sticks in your memory somewhere. And, of course, you may even remember the very first song that you either heard altogether, or the one which REALLY pointed out to you that you were dealing with a really special talent. In Reggae, it is so important to be able to maintain that initial hype after gaining it, but for so many even gaining it in the first place can be difficult, so your favourite artists have clearly done this. Still, there’re a few names who have gone above and beyond what is typically done in terms of grabbing that initial attention and they have also managed to avoid fading away (in some cases) as well. Thus, I submit, for your approval, the biggest ’Hellos’ Reggae has seen in the past decade. It’s the Top Ten First Impressions.

{note: Songs are ranked according to the impact they had and how closely they are still tied with the artist}
{note 2: Dancehall - Yes. Soca - No.}
{note 3: I wasn’t terribly careful with the years, but they all should be reasonably accurate, within a year or so}
{note 4: Of course, the actual first hit is debatable. However, a consistent guideline that I used was that an artist could not have had an album out at the time of the tune first busting}
{Honourable Mentions: Etana - ’Roots’ & ’Wrong Address’ . Fantan Mojah - ’Hail The King’ & ’Hungry’. Mavado - ’Real McCoy’}

#10. Busy Signal - ‘Step Out’ [2005]

Much like the next entrant you’ll find on this list, Busy Signal didn’t dwell too much or too long on his first HUGE hit, ‘Step Out’, he had other, somewhat similar, things to deal with. Originally, the inventive DJ was thought of as being potentially the literal descendant of Vybz Kartel, Bounty Killer and Ninja Man (you know - Aidonia), but as his breakout single seemed to suggest, something was just different about Busy. The Renaissance produced song introduced the masses to quite a few of Busy’s most interesting quirks and idiosyncrasies (most unforgettably, his downright REFUSAL to mic check 2 as in 1, _, 3) and simply one of the most inventive Dancehall talents of recent years. The tune would also go on to headline Busy’s official album debut for Greensleeves, which was named after it, in 2006. The rough album remains his most impressive to date.

#9. Alaine - ’No Ordinary Love’ [2005]

In the case of Alaine, much like with Busy Signal, she didn’t particularly stick with any one song for a very long period of time. But what she did when she pushed ’No Ordinary Love’ over Don Corleon’s MASSIVE Seasons Riddim, essentially, was to present herself as this very fresh and modern female Lover’s Rock singer who had a range which could, very IMMEDIATELY, become absolutely brilliant. The song was the first of quite a few (such as ’Rise In Love’ and ‘Deeper’ and ‘Heavenly’) which brought her to genuine prominence and to my own opinion, it might still be her greatest song ever. It also played a heavy roll in introducing the pairing of Alaine and Corleon which would prove to run very successfully, spanning many hits and a couple of albums, for half a decade.

#8. Isasha - ‘Don’t You Know’ [2006]

It is, in my opinion, one of the biggest fumbles of the worldwide Reggae community since the turn of the century that Isasha’s EPIC busting tune, ‘Don’t You Know’ didn’t go on to be an even larger hit than it proved to be because it was absolutely ridiculous. From a strictly sonic point of view, one could very well make the case that the Studio 53 produced set is the single best tune on this list and I couldn’t put up too much argument. Still, where it rests today is in the category of an ‘underground hit’, given that its Trini born and grown creators were and still are well off the radars of most in the ‘Reggae mainstream’. For those of us who were paying attention, however, we well WELL enjoyed this, arguably one of the most beautiful love songs in the history of modern Reggae and a stirring introduction to Isasha (and his brother, Million Voice, for that matter).

#7. Khari Kill - ‘Picture of Selassie’ [2005]

Serious things began to circulate when Khari Kill dropped what remains (and will always remain) his greatest contribution to the musical landscape, ‘Picture of Selassie’, for Bobby Konders and co. at Massive B. Unlike in Isasha’s case (although to their credit, if I recall correctly Massive B was also VERY fond of that tune), this song did have legs which carried it slightly beyond the underground and it definitely did quite a bit for publicizing and promoting Trini Reggae music in general. It was absolutely gorgeous as well. The bad part here, of course, is that Khari Kill, while still fairly active, hasn’t built on the tune in almost any way. There was the BIG album named after it in 2007, but seemingly, at least up until now, the status boost enjoyed by this opus has yet to spur the chanter on to even remotely comparable heights and it probably never will.

#6. Mr. Perfect - ‘Hand Cart Bwoy’ [2004]

This teeny tiny piece of absolute warmth and fuzziness popped up at such a time when there were big artists like Fantan Mojah, Turbulence and Richie Spice making ways for themselves and doing so, largely, with big and vibrant social and spiritual tunes. Of course the then Mr. Perfect (now sans “Mr.”) would eventually show himself to be in that range as well with tunes like ‘Talk Black Marcus’, the first time you REALLY paid attention to the incredibly strange chanter (from out of ST. ANN!) was when ‘Hand Cart Bwoy’ blew through the air for Rebel Muzic and it did so to the tune of being one of the most remarkable, relatable and just COOL love songs heard in a very long time. Since then, Perfect has gone onto score hits and do so relatively consistently and he’s also released a few singles, but to some, he is and will always be the ‘handcart bwoy’.

#5. Natty King - ‘No Guns To Town’ [2003]

The first thing that comes to mind when I rewind the clock back to an unexpectedly long ago 2003 for ‘No Guns To Town’ from the WICKED Natty King is ‘CLASSIC’. I’d like to think that we’ve gotten to the point where the usage of such a term in this instance wouldn’t be strange to any degree because . . . Well it fits it perfectly. The King was originally looked upon as being ‘the next’ Luciano as he very much sounded like and seemed to follow the ways of his former idol (he once even went on by the name of Lucie B) and the first evidence of it was this MASSIVE anti-violence piece for Trinity. Everything about this tune was just upstanding, It was just done with so much obvious care and CLASS that it proved to be one of the (if not THE) biggest Roots Reggae hit of its time. Natty King hasn’t quite fulfilled the promise that he showed on the tune, but it hasn’t at all been his fault as, musically speaking, he’s certainly (at least) matched these glorious levels since then.

#4. Ce’Cile - ‘Changez’ [2000]

Yes. It was completely ‘tongue-in-cheek’ and hilarious and ridiculous (and I mean that in a good way), but in retrospect - Was ‘Changez’ not such a fitting way to be introduced to an artist who would go on to (quietly) change the nature of the game for females in Dancehall music, Ce’Cile (I don’t particularly recall many women at the time taking command as producers as well as on the mic)? The tune basically found her addressing (and undressing) a few of her male counterparts and pointing out certain inadequacies, or over-adequacies in some cases, which made them not quite the men for her. The tune also lead to a few counteractions (two of which, ‘Can You Do Di Wuk’ and ‘Bad Man, Bad Gyal’, alongside Sean Paul and Ele, respectively, she actually participated on and both would go on to be pretty big hits on their merits), all of which were in good fun with only (predictably) Bounty Killer, taking actual exception. After seemingly stalling for a few years (biggup Delicious Vinyl) for a couple of years there, Ce’Cile has more than fulfilled on the promise shown on the Scatta co-produced piece and eclipsed it with ’Waiting’ . . . I mean a sequel would be nice and most certainly hilarious.

#3. Warrior King - ‘Virtuous Woman’ [2001]

“No real man can live without a woman
Like night to day, is a woman her man
She’s essential to his purpose and his mission
A good woman is a glory to her man”

BOOM! Zion Gates reopened (courtesy of producer Michael Johnson who relicked the Zion Gates Riddim) to usher out this absolute gem of a tune, ‘Virtuous Woman’, from then upstart, now grizzled veteran, Warrior King. The song just made people FEEL GOOD. To me, that’s one of the greatest compliments you can give a to a vibe or an artist at work. It found young Warrior King espousing good old fashioned common sense in terms of appreciation of the Afrikan Woman (and all good women) and not doing so from some pretentious or exaggerated point of view. It was just a big and colourful tune. The album it would go on to headline, which was after it, was also a very strong piece of work and they both highlighted Warrior King’s delightful rise to prominence. This King hasn’t fared as well as I hoped either as the tune (and most of the others he sang from around the same time, such as ‘Power To Chant’, ‘Never Go Where Pagans Go’ and most notably ‘Breath of Fresh Air‘) definitely seemed to suggest we were in the presence of a bonafide star.

#2. Marlon Asher - ‘Ganja Farmer’ [2005]

Five or six years on from this SUBLIME tune, ‘Ganja Farmer’, from Trini chanter Marlon Asher and I STILL get this tiny adrenaline rush whenever I hear it and I smile from ear to ear when the man simply says:

“Big stinkin helicopter float tru di air . . .”

And I know that I’m not the only one. Asher ended up making his case for having what was arguably the greatest herbalist tune OF ALL TIME when he announced his arrival on the scene with this incredible vibes and the Reggae community, fortunately, responded well to it (and it continues to). If you noticed, Asher is the third and final Trinidad artist on this list and he ranks so highly not only because he has the best tune (and he does), but also because of the general impact that he had. While we can sit here and say that he hasn’t panned out as the level of this tune might’ve indicated that he would, what he did was to, generally, upgrade the status of Trini Reggae and who knows just many fans went searching for ‘Ganja Farmer’ and found Khari Kill, Isasha & Million Voice, Prophet Benjamin, Queen Omega and others as well and continue to.

#1. I Wayne - ‘Can’t Satisfy Her’ [2004]

We can talk about how I Wayne hasn’t actually turned out to be the DOMINANT Roots Reggae singer that so many thought that he would become (yours truly included). We can also talk about his outside of the studio dealings and we can even talk about Bunji Garlin or just how damn odd I Wayne seems to be at times. We can do all of those things and do them in short order. HOWEVER, at the end of the day, when credit goes where it is warranted, you have to give credit to the MAMMOTH shot that was ‘Can’t Satisfy Her’. The song stands as one of the biggest hits, regardless of the stage of the career of the particular artist, since the turn of the century as it spent the better part of a couple of years seemingly playing non-stop. The tune would not only make a household name in the Reggae world out of the Portmore born singer, but it also seemed to identify him as some sort of ‘correction’ in the Reggae world and while, again, you can argue the ultimate extent to which he carried such a label, what is COMPLETELY without question is that this tune (produced by the Loyal Soldiers camp) was the biggest way anyone has said HELLO in Reggae music in a very very long time.