Modern Classics Vol. XXIV: Coming Home by Ras Shiloh

Ras Shiloh - Coming Home [VP Records - 2007]

We’re going to call this one a matter of ’hiding in plain view’. While certainly not being a complete unknown and definitely not so around these parts, Ras Shiloh is an artist who has spent the vast majority of his career existing, as so many of our artists unfortunately do, in a place where he isn’t necessarily going to get the credit he is due. In his case, of course, some will say that it has a great deal to do with the fact that he is so vocally similar to the late and great Garnet Silk and while that most likely does have something to do with it (who knows how many fans are still referring to some of his work as late or unheard work from Silk), I’d also suggest that Shiloh’s career and the standing of his career represents one of the greatest MISHAPS on the part of Reggae fans in the modern era - EVER. While all of his output isn’t stellar (all of no one’s output is), Ras Shiloh has been SO consistent in his career that not only will briefly listening to some of his work impress a listener educated in Reggae Music, but it would also impress them to the degree that they would very much want to hear more. Example? In 2007 Ras Shiloh had what has to be considered, in terms of albums, one of the best years of any Reggae artist of all time as he dropped not only one, but two potential ‘Modern Classic’ level releases. Incidentally, both of those albums came from two of the greatest producers of all time and can via the two biggest Reggae labels in the world also . . . And no one talks about it anymore. One of those albums was the gorgeous ”Only King Selassie” release, which was produced by the legendary King Jammy and distributed by Greensleeves and the other, which we’re now about to take a look at, ”Coming Home” from VP Records, linked Shiloh with Bobby Digital. It was the more dynamic and ‘beautiful’ of the two and an absolute DIAMOND of an album.

The Music

1. ‘We Need More Love’

The opening tune of Ras Shiloh’s ”Coming Home” was one which, maybe more than most others on the album, required just a second of ‘musical digestion’. It didn’t leap off of the track and the listener, it slowly took them over instead. What grabs you here is just how the tune kind of gradually wraps itself around its title and becomes it. It would be one thing to write the lyrics around the concept, but after thoroughly listening to the song, you do far more than simply HEAR what is being said. You kind of start to feel it. Don’t you?

Best Lyric: “Tired of walking the streets being scared of my shadow. Some people are living for today with no investment in tomorrow. Brothers killing brothers for no reasons, no special time, place nor seasons. Why can’t we show some brotherly love for each other?”

2. ‘Let the People Be Heard’ featuring Morgan Heritage

After warming you up properly with the opener, Shiloh and Digital take things really spicy with the second tune in, ‘Let the People Be Heard’, the first of three official combinations for the album - This one featuring the siblings of Morgan Heritage. This track was one powerful social commentary and call to the ‘powers that be’ to make just a bit more room for the poor and to hear their concerns. Shiloh often kind of fades into the background with so many different voices but, on the whole, what a link!

Best Lyric: “All dem waan do is incarcerate we. The world dem give poor people is like slavery. On di pay give wi caan feed pickney. Don’t even mention educate di pickney. Dem sen dem soldier in di street fi shoot wi and paramedics fi come clean up body. Hiii it ahgo get too bloody, best dem try I help di people make some money”

3. ‘Give A Little Love’

Next is a tune which slows us down just a bit and somewhat builds upon the subjectry of the opening track, but (and this is obvious when you check the vibes of the tune) it’s definitely one which will give you more if you pay it a more than superficial amount of attention. That is, of course until the end. ‘Give A Little Love’ comes with a ‘small’ built-in surprise as, in the tune’s latter stages, Ras Shiloh loses things just a touch and throws that incredibly voice to all corners of the room most impressively.

Best Lyric: “Never say ‘no’ when the children them are in need. Show them love and Jah blessings you will receive”

4. ‘What Have You Done’

TEARS! ‘What Have You Done’ is a tune which was seemingly one geared after my own heart (particularly in the last week or so since I began to dig back into this release). It is absolutely GORGEOUS! The vibes are nearly perfect and while Shiloh doesn’t throw his voice to its peak, he comes fairly close to doing just that and he goes about pushing a message which just reminds all to be righteous in your ATTEMPTS and to take into account the words of His Imperial Majesty at all times.

Best Lyric: “Testimony. I’ve been to hell and back, calculated the score. And now I’m sure!”

5. ‘The New Rising Day’ featuring Bascom X

Remember Bascom X??? There was a time when the chanter was looked upon as having just as much potential as peers such as Lutan Fyah, Fantan Mojah and Turbulence, but it just hasn’t (at least not yet and it doesn’t figure to anytime soon) (ever) materialized as such for him. Still, he most certainly has offered flashes of brilliance in his woefully under-active career. None were too much more SMART than this link with Ras Shiloh for ”Coming Soon” where the two made a WONDERFUL duo on one of the most ‘scenic’ of tunes on a very scenic album.

Best Lyric: “Searching to find some peace. UNITY. Spread some joy amongst the youth today”

6. ‘Need Your Love’

Ras Shiloh takes ‘Need Your Love’, a bonafide love tune, in a very familiar direction and one which turns into this kind of ‘crystallized’ vibes. What I mean is that this one was definitely one made for a purpose and while it surely isn’t the finest moment on the album, it clearly accomplishes what it was intended to do. Sweet sweet love song? Check.

Best Lyric: “They say love is blind, but I bear that in mind. Rasta knows everything is sealed and signed”

7. ‘Are You Lonely’

Even sweeter love song? Check. Between the two ostensible love songs pushed right near the middle of this album, the second of the two, ‘Are You Lonely’ is the better and more inventive of the pair. This song - My Wife loves - and after having had in playing on the house radio for more than a few spins, I’m sure you can imagine what her question was. “Garnet Silk?”. Not quite, but a lovely tune nonetheless.

Best Lyric: “Go to sleep with pictures of you hanging in my mind. I recall sweet things we used to do all of the time”

8. ‘Volume of the Book’

“They act like they don’t know”. BOOM! Here it is, the best song on the album. Unsurprisingly Shiloh finds himself on a biblical level taking this one to the proverbial next level and stepping such in such a HUGE way. I can remember first hearing this song and having such a powerful and IMPRESSED feeling of it that it kind of stopped me, in a sense, from listening to the rest of the album. Of course, had I actually done that, it would have been a damn shame, but ’Volume of the Book’ just might be one of the best songs I have ever heard in my entire life.

Best Lyric: “It was written in the volume of the book, under a cool meditation while the whole earth shook”

9. ‘It Will Be Over’ featuring Natural Black

Had I just left ”Coming Home” alone following ‘Volume of the Book’, I would’ve mentioned my favourite combination on the album and probably my second favourite tune altogether actually, ‘It Will Be Over’, featuring Natural Black. This tune came in signaling that a powerful change was on its way because going along as we were, the world is headed for disaster. It also provided the necessary lyrical boost as well, with one side being so undeniably powerful, but so ‘serene’ at the same time (and it isn’t the way you‘re thinking either).

Best Lyric: “What’s the use to be killing great men that’s teaching the world the right solution. Makes no sense to mislead the nation from the captivity of civilization”

10. ‘Rebel With A Cause’

Easily one of the finest riddims on the entire album backs ‘Rebel With A Cause’ and Shiloh uses it to somewhat build on the sentiment of the previous track, but in a slightly more aggressive and IMMEDIATE manner. “Here I come” is the lasting declaration for me and it is also one which helped me to come to the ultimate conclusion I did for the entire album because Shiloh certainly doesn’t appear to be calling US to action, instead, he’s coming to initiate the ACTION himself.

Best Lyric: “They are evil, in high and low places and deceivers trying to cover their traces”

&

“HERE I COME, here I come again. I’m a rebel with a cause. Mystery babylon must fall”

11. ‘Coming Home’

Surely there is great insight to be found in the title track of a great album, right? Surely. Lyrically speaking, this may just be the finest moment on the album because, at least to my completely over-analytical brain, it’s a song which very much carries a dual meaning. I’ll elaborate more on this in my synopsis, but what I’ll tell you here is that you essentially LOSE half of the vibes of the tune should you just look upon it, categorizing it as a ‘repatriation anthem’. It is so SO much more . . . Or is it???

Best Lyric: “I can’t wait to get home to Mama, to feel her warm embrace. I’ve been longing to touch her and see her smiling face”

12. ‘Come Down Jah Jah’

Ras Shiloh’s take on this proven winner is a . . . Well it’s a proven winner. I really like songs like this where I can kind of drift away in my brain and just sit back and be entertained and doing that here, Shiloh absolutely rules this tune. I really like the way it builds itself up and while he doesn’t take the voice off the register, he pushes it just far enough to satisfy the big tune. Dazzling.

Best Lyric: “Out there is a battlefield. No one trust no one. Trying to be humble, but still, you can’t be a simpleton. Raving dog will take your bone, leave you stranded in the cold. Upful in this yah gideon, you can’t let them steal your soul”

13. ‘All What A Go On’

I don’t know if I’ve ever REALLY heard anyone dig very deeply into ‘All What A Go On’ (and I’m not about to here either), but it is MASSIVE! It is a HUGE tune! I suppose you can kind of call the tune a ‘social commentary’, but it also seems to have some type of spiritual overtones to it (maybe that’s just what I’m getting from it, however) and it sounds very unique and original - Just the way the tune is situated. So, I’m going to call it one of the highlights of the album - Make sure you give it a HUGE listen before disagreeing (and even if you do listen deeply and disagree, you’ll still be wrong).

Best Lyric: “All what a gwaan inna di system, the more you give is the less you receive. And on, goes the system - Fighting the hands that feed”

14. ‘Voice of the People’

Heavy listening fans should recognize the riddim behind ‘Voice of the People’ as the same which backed Capleton’s mighty ‘Jah Is My Everything’ from the ”Reign of Fire” album and while Shiloh doesn’t quite reach the lofty levels set by King Shango, he does manage to come close. Unsurprisingly, the tune does follow closely the ideology expressed in ‘Let the People Be Heard’, but this tune well makes itself stand out because of its very urgent tones which, this time, fall all on Shiloh’s shoulders.

Best Lyric: “We will not surrender! Caste asunder (!) your evilous policies. Won’t be mobbed by numbers, we died from hunger. Screw your speech (!) we want food to eat!”

15. ‘Waste My Time’

‘Waste My Time’ is a tune which is most attractive because of the way in which it is written. What Ras Shiloh does is set up doing a variety of negative things as a ‘waste of time’. You don’t hear that very much. Certainly we’ve heard artists talk about the negative effects, both the tangible and the abstract, but for someone to look upon that type of behaviour and essentially say ‘I have better stuff to do with my time’, is very interesting and on top of that Shiloh is clever to point out that wasting time doing negative things is merely a ‘gateway’ of sorts to SERVING time.

Best Lyric: “Disagreement brings mis-unity. In this judgment you’ve got to face reality. My people we are one family, with one aim, one life and one destiny”

16. ‘All Of Me’

And finally (and oddly), Shiloh rounds up ”Coming Home” with another love song. 'All Of Me' is the second strongest on the album (after ‘Are You Lonely’) and it does take awhile to kind of blossom (on that sweet classic riddim), but after it gets up to speed it’s no problem at all. So sweet up someone special, grab them by the waist and do something. I just don’t want to hear about it.

Best Lyric: “All of me needs you. All of me - It’s true, you bring out the real man in me”

Synopsis

Although explaining it will almost certainly end up sounding very complicated coming from me (but I’m actually going to try to make it no so ridiculous this time), in my opinion, at the heart of comprehending the ”Coming Home” album is one simple question:

What does Ras Shiloh mean by “home”?

In order to find the answer, I believe that there’re two songs which really need to be considered. The first, as I alluded to, is the title track. As I mentioned, the song definitely has a bit of duality and you don’t even have to dig into too far to hear it. On one hand, there’s -

“We’re coming home
Ethiopia awaits us
We’re coming home
And we’re burning babylon”

And

“I can’t wait to get home to Mama
To feel her warm embrace
I’ve been longing to touch her and see her smiling face
I know she’s gonna welcome me home
I’m no longer alone”

While on the other there’s -

“We’ve been drifting for too long
Unable to find our way
Asking Jah to lend a hand
And protect us day by day
We’ve been suffering for too long
Help the weak to be strong”

Now think about that! In the very first passage, the concept of “HOME” is one which is even given a name - “Ethiopia” - and thus is looked upon as a very real and tangible and physical location, as in the simplest form, ‘I am going home’, meaning I am physically going to a place. Then we see “Mama” in the place of Ethiopia and surely one could just make the connection to “Mama Afrika’, meaning home, but like I said, if you stop there you lose half of what I believe is the prevailing message of the album. The final batch of lyrics ties it all up neatly for me. Here, home is looked upon as a type of refuge from “suffering for too long” and a place where the “weak” can become “strong”. This isn’t necessarily a trait of “home”. Home can be a place where I simply lay my head, this place Ras Shiloh is referring to is a very nourishing place and when you take that and go backwards - Ask yourself who are the two greatest nourishers of the world - Of course there’s The Almighty (“Asking Jah to lend a hand”) and then there is the Mother (“I can’t wait to get home to Mama to feel her warm embrace”).

The other tune which I feel is very instrumental in overstanding the main premise of ”Coming Home” is actually the album’s very first track, ‘We Need More Love’.

“I’m tired of walking the streets being scared of my shadow
Some people are living for today with no investment for tomorrow
Brothers killing brothers for no reasons
No special time, place nor seasons
Why Can’t we show some brotherly love for each other”

“We need more love
Love is what we’re searching for
A place for the children to play
Where is the sunny day?”

Once again we see familial terms thrown about, this time “brothers” and “children” and it is one of those, in particular, which definitely stands out. “A place for the children to play” is what Shiloh says (and you should already see this one coming now). That piece stands so far out to me because it doesn’t actually line up. Just before that he says, “we need more love, love is what we’re searching for”, but never does he say anything about a PLACE before the very next line. What is he talking about?

He’s talking about HOME. What is home? It is this very nourishing place. It is a place where His Majesty is present. It is a place where my Mother is. It is where I go for her “warm embrace”. It is a place where there is “brotherly love” and it is a “place for the children to play”. We can definitely stretch this to make it DIRECTLY mean the land of Afrika, but that’s not ONLY what Shiloh means and he doesn’t ONLY mean “HOME” is a concept either. Shiloh’s idea of “home” is one which is going to exist physically, but it has no specific location, it is wherever all of these can be accomplished for you at a given time.

‘Give A Little Love’ is another tune which explores this thought in my opinion and I’d like to mention what happens with both ‘Let the People Voice Be Heard’ and ‘Voice of the People’. These two tunes, to my opinion, quickly go about taking “HOME” and applying it to the entire world - As in, if we all are going to love here, it would be best if the largest man has a say AND the smallest as well - And that’s just a MIGHTY course of thinking if you follow it in that track of consciousness. What else is it??? It is the basis for one more glorious moments in a career which, although not full of much activity, is no complete stranger to such times. None too much more glorious from Ras Shiloh than “Coming Home”, a bonafide Modern Reggae Classic!