'Look Who's Back': A Review of The Major & Minor Riddims Album by Various Artists

How times have changed! I have to say that now, in the nearly two years I’ve been doing this little writing thing, it has greatly affected my listening habits, in some cases for the worse and definitely for the better in others. The best thing (besides all of the free stuff, of course) is that now when I listen to things, whatever it may be, I can immediately take it and ‘process’ it and usually be able to give a pretty detailed opinion of it and do this fairly quickly as well and that happens with things that aren’t even music related actually. So, it’s definitely helped me outside of this. I have noticed, however, that my focus is a bit ‘different’ and while I’ll still listen to pretty much anything in the scope of what I enjoy, just like anyone else, it’s going to take more to REALLY get me interested and excited about something these days than it would’ve a couple of years back or so. For example, curiously enough I’m directed in the area of production and I look at one of the most powerful and impacting entities in all of Reggae music today, Stephen McGregor and Big Ship, and I simply haven’t been as attentive there as I would’ve liked to have been over the past eighteen months or so. This is despite the fact that they run one of my absolute favourite young artists, Bramma. Now watch this - My attention and interest in that particular artist hasn’t waned or suffered at all and, of course, a great deal of his (WICKED) output comes from McGregor and company, but my mind has yet to even grasp the fact that one of his latest creations, ‘When She Wine’ is pushed across the label’s latest big drop, the Championship Riddim. I’m just not there these days. Also, I’ve REALLY fucked up in 2010 as far as getting more and more educated when it comes to Zouk, on the whole. Most of the big tunes I’ll be very familiar with and I may even be able to sing the tunes, but I don’t even get to the point, most of the times, of connecting artist and song which is just strange. I will say, to even add to the oddity: I was never really the biggest fan of Big Ship, but it’s such a significant thing in the music that I should be paying more attention and I’m still learning Zouk, but I find it absolutely gorgeous - So with that being said, the fact that I haven’t been following too well who is EASILY one of my favourite producers of all time is just fucked up on my part.

There was a time where I could’ve dropped a feature of ‘What I’m Listening To’ and at least three out of the five entries would have been Don Corleon produced pieces and my interest-deficit certainly hasn’t come via Corleon ‘flopping’ or ‘falling-off - No, in all actuality he’s probably STILL the most skilled producer when we have in Reggae music and all its various genres (meaning as an accumulation of Roots, Lover’s Rock, Dancehall etc. and perhaps not in any single one, although he is probably still the best Dancehall producer in the world today). Thankfully, however, I haven’t been TOTALLY inattentive and it’s been two things, largely, recently which have kept my attention to what Corleon has been up to although, admittedly, it isn’t how I would like it still. After Reggae songbird, Alaine, left the camp, in my mind at least she’s been pretty much ‘replaced’ by Ce’Cile who’s experienced a general renaissance of her career (for the seven-hundredth time) over the past couple of years or so and has scored big hits, unsurprisingly, over Don Corleon produced sets and she will probably continue to do just that (more on her later), so paying a mind to her, which I have been doing, has kept me slightly abreast (yes - there’s a joke in there) (Ce’Cile is a very nice looking human being) (and yes - THEY are nice) of what has been going on. Another thing, incidentally, as of late which has grabbed my attention from Don Corleon has been the Major & Minor Riddims, which I heard bits and pieces of quite awhile before I REALLY began to sink my teeth into. The first was the Major and unlike the Feminine Riddim (biggup Ce’Cile), the Bankrobbers, the Feelings (biggup Ce’Cile) and others (like the Pulse Riddim which was absolutely scintillating, but had some truly mediocre vocal choices), it was just so captivating and so PERFECT in terms of meshing with STRONG vocal performances that I kind of just filed it away as something to do in the future and, on top of that, there was the ‘warning’ of the forthcoming Minor riddim which I definitely had to hear as well and would go on to prove to be excellent also. Thus, it leads us to where we are now (following a truly ridiculously lengthy sentence), which finds me reviewing my very first riddim album for a Don Corleon vibed piece in a VERY VERY long time as, after releasing the Major riddim album back in June, the ace producer has now also tacked on the Minor and in doing so has done what is probably his very first double riddim album for the Major & Minor Riddims. I was so happy to see so much general attention paid to this release and definitely that’s due to the fact that it (meaning the album, but particularly the Major Riddim) had already spawned a number of hits of various sizes and, as I said, was just so well done in general. And, incidentally, where the first drop of the Major Riddim only had nine tracks (all of which are on the double release), we also have two extra tracks here (although still no clean riddim in either case). In terms of the Minor Riddim, as far as I know it wasn’t nearly as familiar by the time the album dropped (and the riddim itself may’ve even officially come in conjunction with the album’s release originally), but just getting into that one and some of the names involved, you can really see why, in terms of hype and attention paid, with VP Records’ riddim album dominance with the ”Riddim Driven” series pretty much a thing of the past (it’s only had one release this year if I recall correctly) (the Classic), for the first time in how e have arguably the most popular riddim album of the year be an independent. So you know I EVENTUALLY had to come back and take a proper look. Let’s play!

Unsurprisingly, the album is split into two portions with the first eleven tracks coming across the Major Riddim and the final eight over the Minor. The riddims (at least as far as I can tell), aren’t directly related and (but that might be, what do I know) each has their own type of prevailing vibes as well.

Major Riddim

The Major Riddim is a very serene, yet ‘charged’ one drop with a HUGE sound to it. It takes several twists and turns in its duration and to be completely honest, with the end of the year just around the corner, I think it’s just as strong of a candidate for Riddim of The Year that I’ve heard thus far. Clearly the more impressive of the two, the Major grabs the spotlight first on Don Corleon’s Major & Minor Riddim album and when it does, it does so with a streak of three very very impressive tunes, but two in particular. The first is the aforementioned Achis Reggae favourite Bad Gyal Ce’Cile with ‘Take My Heart’. Ce’Cile scored the biggest shot on Corleon’s masterful Feminine Riddim with ‘Anything’ and justly so, the tune was EXCELLENT, but to my opinion, this selection is almost just as strong and certainly more catching to the ear. Of course, I’m completely partial, but I’m going to, by the slightest of margins, declare it the best tune here and I do not care (AT ALL) if you disagree. Chasing Ce’Cile is Glen Washi . . . I mean J-Boog from out of Hawaii with the OUTSTANDING ‘Let’s Do It Again’. Boog channels the sweet voiced Clarendon native with easily one of the finest pure Lover’s Rock singles of the year because it is gorgeous. J Boog has been doing big things as of late and quite a bit of it has been coming through Corleon productions and I’ve probably missed some of it, but there’s no time like the present to start paying attention and I’m on it! And then there’s Jah Vinci, who I’m not at all a fan of but impresses GREATLY with his selection on the Major Riddim, ‘Gwan Home’. Vinci’s name . . . floats around too much in another area which I haven’t been too keen on as of late (more on that later) and there’s absolutely no way I’m going back to check what I’ve missed in his instance, but I do give credits and honours where they are do - So unless I’m REALLY overlooking something, this is rather easily the finest tune I’ve heard from him thus far.

Later on are a couple of new names who I have been watching, Liquid and DEFINITELY the ever potent Da Professor. The former comes through with the nice ‘Fraid Fi Go Home’ which is, again, probably my favourite tune that I’ve heard from the artist at this point. And then there’s the latter with ‘Fi Har Type’. Da Professor is a HUGE artist with equally sizable potential, so while I can’t say that this tune is the finest from him thus far, what I can say is that if he continues to progress along these lines, you’ll literally find yourself asking that question each and every time out, because he is already such a talented figure and the sky appears to be his limit. And also, I should mention RockCity, a pair of brothers (from out of???? St. Thomas of course) who check in on the Major with ‘All I Want’. I’m not in love with the tune and, as far as I know, the duo carries itself more as an R&B act (and are now actually based in the States), which comes through, but it is a decent song and I’d imagine that they’d continue to pop up and I won’t be complaining about it.

A bag of big named veterans join the up and comers as well on the Major Riddim. Kris Kelli (YES - We can stop calling her an “up and comer” after almost a decade making music) brings forth ‘Sunshine’ which is pretty standard for her. She’s rather quietly been making some very nice music over the years and while I don’t make it too much of a point to consistently see what she’s been up to, in cases where our ‘paths’ (her music and my listening) cross, I’ve pretty much yet to be disappointed at all. Speaking of never being disappointed in an artist, the only name appearing on both riddims, Lutan Fyah, grips the Major with the lesser of his two tracks, the still MIGHTY ‘Come Over’. The Fyah has quite the under-hyped history with big love songs and while I definitely wish that he might’ve attacked this one with a BIG Roots piece, what he does manage is pretty damn strong. I’ll ignore the obvious segue in next mentioning ‘Wildfire’, Tarrus Riley’s MAJOR hit on the Major Riddim.

“When politics bail
And religion fail
Ah di Most High alone weh wi hail”

The BIG Roots tune I was hoping to get from Lutan Fyah comes courtesy of superstar Riley, with this HUGE social commentary which has gone on to become the most popular track from this entire album and when taken with Riley’s current standing, it’s absolutely no wonder why. Finally there’s Wayne Marshall with the sweet ‘Work Hard’ - Although my dislike of Marshall as an artist isn’t nearly as strong as it used to be, it still takes very good situations for me to actually enjoy his vibes and I do enjoy his work here - and Jah Cure with ‘Respect’. Aside from the chorus being one of the best to be found here, this is pretty normal fare from the Cure and when we get just that the results, as they are here, are usually very good.

Minor Riddim

The Minor Riddim is essentially an R&B composition mixed in with a Reggae piece and while I don’t think it turns out as well as the Major does ultimately, it is GORGEOUS! Also, it is well worth noting prior to going through the tunes just how varied the artist selection here is.

“Achis, how varied is it?” Well I’ll tell you (whatever your name is). Big and soulful voiced Hawaiian veteran Fiji starts us off with ‘Send Me Angel’. If I were to take away my prejudices and biases, I’d go ahead and declare the tune the single best tune the Minor has to offer. But I’m not going to do that, because my ears and brain are COMPLETELY bias, but they aren’t stupid (at least not usually), and I know good music when I hear it . . . Later on we get ‘Name & Number’ from LP, who really needs a new name, from out of England. As far as I know LP is an R&B artist and he has very little trouble at all with this tune. It lacks the BIG sound of Fiji’s offering and I’m not at all surprised at all to say that, but I’d imagine more of his usual audience is LOVING this tune. Don Corleon’s cousin, Protoje, an artist set to have one of the biggest 2011’s out of anyone, also takes the Minor for a spin with the rather clever ‘Roll’. The tune is somewhat odd because Protoje basically raps on his delivery and I don’t hate it. It’s not one of my favourites here, but as is quickly becoming the case with this artist, he definitely finds a way to make himself stand out. ‘Love Me Right’ is in next which features Don Corleon regular, Pressure Busspipe, alongside bonafide CUTIE Selena Serrano. This is a LOVELY duet between the two and how and why Serrano got involved is beyond me, but it really doesn’t matter. Pressure is in his recent DESTRUCTIVE form lyrically and she sounds excellent! Also sounding quite nice is NEWWWWWWBIE Toi whose ‘Love Like This’, which ends matters here, is downright adorable. If you don’t find yourself singing along with this chorus - Maybe halfway through the first time through - Then there is seriously something fucking wrong with you. I still don’t too much about Toi and I may actually never know too much about her, but for this one tune, she’s a big winner for me.

Joining that very eclectic group and Pressure is a far more familiar trio of artist who do pretty well also. First is definitely the most familiar, the previously alluded to Vybz Kartel, on ‘A Like That’. Kartel and Corleon go wayyyyyyyyyy back (speaking back to the ancient days of . . . 2000) and it’s no surprise that the producer can make usage of the fact that Kartel has changed so much over the years and put together a very nice vibes in the process. Lutan Fyah comes back again with the bigger of his two selections on the album ‘Over Come Dem’. LOVE IT! This is the sublime big Roots tune I was hoping for on the Major (and you would think that the subject matter of each tune would dictate them being voiced on the other riddim than they are) and not only am I going to call it the best tune on the riddim, I’m also going to call it one of the best tunes of Lutan Fyah’s 2010.

“Pagan shoulda know seh I ain’t got no limit
So when dem come wid corruption, Rasta neva dig it
Dem see mi, dem nuh know mi
Mi nah mimic
On life mi have, mi haffi live it
HEY!
Hypocrites you gone well too far!
Bad vibes brings tension tug of war
Mi no come yah wid no riches
So mi no linger about
I nah go suffer no more!”

And lastly is a STERLINGLY voiced Tami Chynn who joins her husband on the album, telling us about a ‘Forbidden Love’. I don’t have a problem at all with Tami Chynn although I don’t listen to her much (I can’t even tell you the last tune I would’ve liked from her at this point), but I now have an answer to the question from hereto forth - ‘Forbidden Love’. Big big and BEAUTIFUL song.

Overall, as I said - what we have here is, arguably, the most talked about riddim album of 2010 and that is, alone, a very big deal. Not to mention that it comes via arguably the biggest named producer in the genre which, in full, could probably lead this one to being called one of the bigger albums of the year altogether (yes, you could make that case). More importantly, however, is that when you have a certain level established of skill by an artist or a producer, particularly at the highest region of the game (biggup Jahsolidrock), it is ALWAYS so nice when that person can live up to that level and the Major & Minor Riddims were exactly that for Don Corleon. I don’t know if I’m fully prepared to call it THE best riddim album of 2010, but in a few weeks it just might be. So, it took me entirely too long to come back to the right state of mind, but hopefully in 2011, I’ll be once again paying a heavy bit of attention to one of the greatest to EVER do it.

Rated: 4.75/5
Don Corleon Records
2010
Digital





Don Corleon Records