What I'm Listening To: October

“Bambú Station Presents Talkin’ Roots II" [Mt. Nebo Records, 2005]

From ever since we got the word, about a month or so ago, that Jalani Horton and co. of the mighty VI group, Bambú Station, would be releasing their first album in two or three hundred years later this year, ”Children Of Exodus”, I’ve pretty much been going through the majority of their collection that I have in my collection. While we could certainly argue on the group’s actual best album, it is well indisputable that ”Talkin Roots II” was one of the finest pieces of work that the group ever had its name attached to. It featured a variety of different SOLID artists from across the Caribbean (primarily the Virgin Islands, of course) and was just outstanding. Names such as Pressure Busspipe, Tuff Lion, Ijah Menelik (nephew of the recently passed Mighty Arrow) Ras Army, Danny I, Ras Bumpa, Lady Passion and others (including a big combination track from the whole of the Star Lion Family) dominated the ranks of this outstanding project - A personal classic for me and one of the finest compilations since the turn of the century.

Cocoa Tea - “Save Us Oh Jah” [VP Records, 2006]

It was actually another of his album’s, ”Feel The Power”, which got me to take my ‘scheduled’ - Every 2-3 months or so - HEAVY spin of Cocoa Tea, which stopped at an album which I definitely haven’t paid a fair amount of attention to in the four years since its release, ”Save Us Oh Jah”. This Xterminator produced set was, by no means, one of Cocoa Tea’s best (it wasn’t even as good as his last album for Xterminator, the aforementioned ”Feel The Power”), but what it had going for it was a few HUGE tunes. Such a tune is the album’s closer, the sublime ‘Spin The Song Ya‘, of course there’s the title track. ’Let The Music Play’ (“Still Blazin tour! From wi tek dem gyal and dem asking for more!”) and, very suddenly, I also found myself reacting quite nicely to ‘Stop Him’. I’m STILL having a great time with this one and hell, you might even see it back on WILT: November.

Cocoa Tea - “Feel The Power” [VP Records, 2001]

Yeah - I kind of tipped my hand on this one (couldn’t help it), but nearly a decade after its release and what may just be Cocoa Tea’s greatest complete album, ”Feel The Power”is doing nothing but picking up steam to my ears. This thing is LOVELY! The album happens to contain ‘Sweet Life’ which is . . . I mean the thing is just one of the SWEETEST tunes you’ll ever hear in your entire life and also there’s the title track which may just be the only song capable of challenging Sizzla Kalonji’s epic ‘Taking Over’ on that same riddim, in terms of quality. There were also big shots such as ‘Sniper’, ‘True Love’, ‘Auction Block’ and even ‘Who’, a tune which I recall thinking pretty awful, but now? Not the greatest, but not awful at all.

Invasion Riddim & Maroon Riddim [DownSound Records/In The Streetz Records, 2005]

As the daunting prospects of splashing together a review of another double riddim album looms somewhere in the back of my mind (for next week or the week after), I’ve also got my mind on one of the greatest such double releases of recent memory. It’s interesting that now, in retrospect, when I think of this release and the two riddims, DownSound’s Invasion and Maroon, the first thing that comes to my mind is . . . Fantan Mojah because it was the two riddims which marked the chanter’s arrival on the big stage and spotlights of Reggae with his dueling initial hits, ‘Hail The King’ and ‘Hungry’, respectively (and on a side note, I probably haven’t heard ‘Hungry’ in like a damn year and the tune had me smiling, ear to ear). Joining Mojah was a virtual ‘who’s-who’ of Roots Reggae music - Sizzla, Anthony B, Jah Mason, Luciano, Junior Kelly, [Mr.] Perfect, Norris Man, DYCR, Bascom X, even Military Man and Sugar Minott and stellar efforts from a still incarcerated Jah Cure and Capleton whose tunes, ‘Conga Man’ and ‘Invasion’, respectively, were proper hits in their own rights.

King Cephas - “Coming Of The King” [The Outpost Music Workshop]

Lastly, I wish I could offer some type of update as to what has become of King Cephas, but either I haven’t been paying attention very well or he hasn’t been up to too much being a vocal artist (he’s also a musician, in the traditional sense of the word). Still, it was just a couple of short years ago (even though it seems longer) when the singer dropped his delightful debut (and to date only) album, ”Coming Of The King” for Outpost, the label ran by the venerable VI Roots Reggae wizard, Tuff Lion. This album was somewhat significant in the ostensible sense because it was an album which featured Virgin Islands productions behind a Jamaican artist which, at the time (and still) was pretty rare to my knowledge. And besides that, it was just a great piece of work! I can recall making the connection between Cephas and the great Peter Broggs and it didn’t take long to get that feeling back to my mind, because it’s still somewhat clear. The album featured quite a bit in the way of love songs, but the mix between such tunes and the Roots was well interesting and it remains one of my favourite debuts from the past half-decade or so.

'Changing Faces': A Review of "Come Into My Life" by Adele Harley

WONDERFULLY, we find ourselves more and more these days encountering new artists who don’t necessarily seem to exist in the realm of making single hits and then vanishing, but ones who seem to have themselves attached to the craft and art form of making Reggae music in the long term. This is very important - Singularly because obviously it provides us with a new generation of artists (more on that in a minute) - But also on the larger scale it shows that the genre is continuing to grow because, at least presumably, somewhere in this new group will be the new stars as well. That being said, however, it hasn’t seem that the entire Reggae community has been very open to change and while that certainly isn’t surprising (given that our music is often viewed under the ‘older = better’ mentality), it is still somewhat disappointing and when we see that construct begin to fade, in certain aspects, the prospects are absolutely delicious. Once again, in this instance, we find ourselves going back to the UK, one of our most visible of musical destinations these days. In light of new outstanding talents such as Gappy Ranks and Mr. Williamz and new labels such as Necessary Mayhem, even from the outside we can tell that the region is currently undergoing a heavy amount of change and that is great considering that the international faces of Reggae music in the UK have been the international faces of it for decades at this point. On top of that is the actual sound of the music itself. Much like the Virgin Islands are often thought of as being the haven of Roots Reggae music in the Jamaican style, circa 1975, the UK is similarly looked upon as being the same type of home-away-from-home in regards to a very SMOOTH type of Lover’s Rock music. With artists such as Lloyd Brown, Peter Hunnigale, Peter Spence and others making that type of music and doing so, at least seemingly, very successfully, they have become the face of that vibe and when you compare that to the Gappy Ranks and Mr. Williamz of the world, with an often harsh and old school type of Dancehall (in the purest sense of the word) style, it definitely seems very different on the whole. We can look at that simply as a changing of the time, and as I said, that is excellent. However, what might be even more interesting is a new breed of artist who can stay within that same set style, but leap it ahead with their own very nice and enticing methods. That would be very interesting indeed.

Meet Adele Harley. I’m going to go ahead and claim ignorance in the fact that I don’t know precisely how long Ms. Harley has been around (and I don’t if she’s married either, so she may very well be ‘Mrs.’ Harley), but what I do know is that - Very quietly and suddenly, over the course of the past two or three years or so she’s seemed to have existed as this somewhat mysterious and a tad bit reticent, but very impressive and popular UK singer. Her music, much unlike that of the aforementioned big young names of UK Reggae, fits VERY comfortably into the norm (and although I may seem like it wasn’t my personal favourite, I do so enjoy that kind of standard UK Lover’s Rock Reggae) and, while we do love to see the nature of the vibes changing, definitely breathing life into the already established scene is just as crucial. To date, Adele Harley has made her greatest impacts voicing with the very (and increasingly) reputable and respectable UK duo of Mafia & Fluxy who (obviously in between their works for French label, Irie Ites, and sometimes at the exact same time) have done very well with her, having her appear on several of their productions and it should go without saying that being afforded the opportunity of developing with them has certainly gone to make her the best possible artist she could be. So, for that same pair of powerful musicians and producers, Adele Harley now delivers her debut full length set, ”Come Into My Life”. I was actually pretty surprised to see that this album was her debut. I was FULLY convinced that the singer had an album back in 2008 for some reason, but my inaccurate assumptions notwithstanding, I’m sure there’re already MANY fans who’ve been enjoying this release and many more to come as it proves ultimately to be one of the FRESHER Lover’s Rock releases that I’ve heard in quite some time. It’s also pretty interesting (although not surprising, I suppose) that Mafia & Fluxy put the album out on their own. One would almost immediately think that that an album from Adele Harley would be a natural guarantee for the once incredibly promising, now seemingly vanished Cousins Records from Donville Davis (I guess they’re still in business. Lloyd Brown’s November release will most certainly reveal fully). Leading up to the album, Harley has appeared on a number of big compilations with her music, most recently she even appeared on ”R&B Hits: Reggae Style Vol. 4” from VP Records which is definitely a big deal and is something which has surely raised her status internationally as well as that compilation has always proven to be rather quietly successful. Not knowing a ton about Harley, listening to the album really was a very nice introduction to her on the large scale. She has a voice which is one which you wouldn’t immediately associate with Reggae music (particularly given her accent, of course), but she uses it, at her absolute best, to nearly wondrous effect, to the point where you may start to think why more singers like her, with these just COOL and SOOTHING tones, typically reserved for maybe a light type of R&B or, more often, Jazz. Also, you shouldn’t at all need me to tell you that Adele Harley, visually, isn’t immediately what one would think of as a Reggae singer, but our music is the greatest in the world, so you shouldn’t be surprised who walks through our door. You also shouldn’t be surprised by ”Come Into My Life”, as it proves to be a very strong and interesting debut album throughout. Let’s examine!

Although I have tried to represent the singer as being very refreshing and interesting, and she most certainly is, to some degree you do know what to expect on a UK Lover’s Rock album. There’re old school riddims and there’re a few remakes. Still, to the credit of artist and producers, it should be said that the VAST majority of the album is new material written by the headline. Said “headline”, Adele Harley, gets her brand new debut album, ”Come Into My Life” for Mafia & Fluxy, started with a sweet old school vibed tune ‘Reason Not To Stay’. The tune finds Harley with a secret. She hasn’t been a very nice person and her conscience has gotten to her and the tune is essentially her ‘coming clean’ to the special person in her life and if saying “I’m Sorry” sounded this nice every time, I imagine more than just a few of us would have a hard time saying. Excellent start. The vibes change almost diametrically on the next tune, the sterlingly modern ‘Only For One Day’. The riddim on this tune sounds like something out of Don Corleon’s vault of outstanding Roots/Lover’s Rock riddims and, maybe because it’s where my ears have been as of late - But the tune sounds kind of Zouk-ish to me as well. The song gets bigger and bigger sounding throughout and is even stronger than the opener to my opinion and clearly one of the album’s finest moments as well. And to complete the opening lot, Harley once again mines an old school vibes for ‘Walking On Air’ (which sounds nearly ‘doowop-ish’). She also mines a blast from the not too distant past because the tune is the first of two combinations on ”Come Into My Life” - This one featuring none other than Glamma Kid! I don’t know if Glamma has been exactly flaming on the UK scene as of late, but I haven’t heard anything from him in some time. This tune isn’t a favourite of mine, but it’s not at all bad and I might not be surprised to see it doing a heavy damage at some point in the UK.

For various reasons, be it the tune, the riddim or some other piece, ”Come Into My Life” features new and interesting takes on vibes with which I was previously familiar. This also includes two of its finest and ’visually’ most enticing moments, ‘Loves Taken Over’ and the closing ‘No One’. The former is an EXCELLENT cover of tune popularized by American Soul/R&B singer (and bonafide CUTIE), Chante Moore and is my favourite of the two. The latter, on the other hand, is also very good and is, obviously, a remake of the already somewhat Reggae-fied and very popular Alicia Keys tune from a few years back. Certainly also worthy of mention in this lot is ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’, which is another cover song (of a Bonnie Raitt tune that sounds somewhat familiar, but too much so to my ears). This one is decent, it was the tune on the aforementioned “R&B Hits: Reggae Style Vol. 4”, but it doesn’t have much of an ’edge’ to it, in my opinion, unlike the other two. So many times you hear artists taking on tunes which just don’t match their vibes or skill sets very well at all, but in Adele Harley’s case, that isn’t AT ALL a concern.

Still, of course I’m a Reggae head, so the album’s absolute finest moment for me is reserved for such a set. And my choice just happens to be the tune I knew of most prior to the album, the sensational ‘Love Has Faded’. The tune previously appeared on Mafia & Fluxy’s cut of Culture’s Down In Jamaica Riddim for Irie Ites and I don’t know if I’d just never REALLY paid attention to it (big big tunes on that riddim, including Lutan Fyah’s MASSIVE ‘Bad Traffic’), but certainly I’d heard it several times before and it is GORGEOUS! I typically don’t find such songs to be THE standout, because it’s kind of negative (as you should be able to tell by the title), but this thing is just so well done that I couldn’t get around it. The same could well be said about ‘Flying Away’, which comes through over the legendary Satta Massagana Riddim and was a pretty big surprise when I first heard it. This one pushes close for my affections to ‘Love Has Faded’ and should you want to call it the album’s best - That’s fine with me. And on that same note, in the latter stages of ”Come Into My Life” my ears well jumped and smacked me in my brain when I heard the tune ‘Reach Out’, which blends so FINELY over the Everyday Is A Holiday Riddim. The tune may just be the best written of the entire album and it sounds exquisite as well. There’s also a similar tune, the bubbly ‘Been So Long’ [moment #8,098,435 when I, most frustratingly, can’t think of that riddim’s name], which is sure to delight Reggae fans as well - Yours truly included.

The balance of the album also features some very nice and interesting moments as well. Such a moment would be the title track, which also is the second combination because it features Leroy Mafia [bka ‘Mafia’ of Mafia & Fluxy]. It is a beautiful song and apparently it’s been a pretty nice hit for Harley and no wonder at all why it was chosen as the album’s title (and speaking beyond that, calling a debut album ”Come Into My Life” is just . . . Intelligent) and we do love when Mafia puts on his singer‘s hat. There’s also a nice tune in ‘Memory’, which you need avoid like the plague if you’ve fucked up a relationship anytime recently (it was more than a decade ago for me and I was a child and it STILL nearly got to me). ‘Live Good’ is just a SWEET tune. There is the most intoxicatingly lovely flute spiraling in the background of the otherwise ‘large’ sounding tune and while it never QUITE develops as much as you might hope, it’s still a very nice song. ‘One More Chance’ finds Harley deliberating with herself whether or not to go back to a former significant other (maybe even that same guy she dealt with on the ‘Memory’ tune). From a sonic point of view, this is one of the best SOUNDING tunes to be found here and I also think it’s one of the better arranged as well. It is the type of song where you get the feeling that there is simply nothing they could’ve done to improve it in any way at all. And winding things down on this seventeen track set we get ‘I’ll Be Waiting’, which is another stellar effort - One of the album’s best. ‘Love Me Just One More Time’ has a title which is entirely too long, but because the subsequent tune is very strong, we’ll ignore that little matter. And finally, ‘The Way That You Do’ is ‘quietly jovial’ and at this point in the album I found myself thinking maybe Harley might do some more ostensibly HAPPY songs because there is no way, really, that hardcore Lover‘s Rock fans are not going to like this song. Just a thought.

Overall, when I began working on angles to write this review, having listened to the album already, I was kind of having a difficult time placing Adele Harley in somewhere. What I mean is that, almost always, when I listen to new artists or artists on debut albums, I tend to kind of work out what is my ‘best case scenario’ in terms of how they might end up in their careers - Kind of filling a need. However, after really analyzing it I think I kind of like her how she is. I don’t know the extent to which the grand scene is changing in UK Reggae, but if you think that they will EVER make Reggae music there and not have some type of affinity for Lover’s Rock music, then you’re surely mistaken. It just so happens that the music is EXTREMELY accessible and you can really do almost ANYTHING with it. SO the prospects of hearing Adele Harley stick around and make music with some of these young and up and coming artists is VERY appealing. As it stands, however, her debut album, ”Come Into My Life”, is one supremely interesting release. I’ve spoken on and on about what’s going on in the UK in terms of the sound, but in Adele Harley’s case, she’s managed to breathe some much needed new breath into the Lover’s Rock genre and she figures to have the legs (musically speaking, of course) to continue to do just that for a long time.

Rated: 3.75/5

Mafia & Fluxy

2010

CD & Digital

Adele Harley @ Myspace

Stuff: No Behaviour. None!

Yow!

I bet you didn't know that it was October already did you? Did you really??? Of course you did. Anyway, September was a pretty good month - Had something TRULY RIDICULOUS occur on a personal level (which is none of your damn business, but biggup my doctor), but that's looking better as things go along. Also have to say biggup Bredz, my Wife's brother, for putting things together nicely so we don't miss a damn thing. Big him everytime. As far as October though, I think we're going to have a bit of fun this month, so expect the ridiculous, more on that in a second.

We have to clean up on September first - Did you realize that within the span of thirty days or so we've had brand new studio albums from Spragga Benz, Buju Banton and Lady Saw and not a single one was a VP Records release??? That's just unusual. Not that the label has been dormant, however, because in the midst of all of that they dropped a new album from Duane Stephenson, "Black Gold", which was probably better than them all. Still, the best album of the month was definitely Stevy Mahy's "The Beautiful of A Kreyol Folk Trip", which is one of the best album's I've heard in 2010, regardless of genre. Also mixed in were two pieces from Bobby Tenna and Ossie Dellimore, two of my more underrated favourites and the fact that I could get to both of them in the same month - Was personally amazing to me and check out them both. And also we finally got around to Methi'S, another favourite of mine. We also had two lists, one of which, 'The Progress Report', was an update of my "new artists" feature which was something I've been meaning to do for awhile and then we went oldschool, Amazon style, with 'First Impressions', which was just a good idea in my opinion - Hope you liked it yeah. Had some other fun stuff as well and that was September - It's a wrap.

As far as October? Probably the biggest musical occurence is the fact that apparently Etana's new album, "Free Expression", which was expected next week [October 12], has been delayed for about a month until the second week of November, which is probably going to take the biggest release of the month out of the way, but we still have interesting stuff to look at in the way of reviews.

• Coming up Tomorrow (hopefully) we'll have the first review of October which is for "Come Into My Life" from Adele Harley. After she, we're probably looking at releases from Dominican chanter, Zion, The Major & Minor Riddims album, The Vitamin & Highlight Riddims album and maybe another compilation or two. Of course, when it's thin like this I usually draw on an oldie, so maybe expect a vault review in the middle of the month. Also, I already have my mind made up as to what the next 'Modern Classic' will be and it's definitely one of a kind!

• I have a very strange idea for a 'Completely Random Thoughts' feature and it may or may not require a bit of time, but I think I may go with it fairly soon because whatever the hell I'm planning on doing tomorrow later this week is most certainly going to be easy. Like I said this week, I'm trying to do pretty dumb stuff, so if you also have some pretty dumb ideas, let me know at AchisReggae@hotmail.com

• In the semi-intelligent realm, I FINALLY am almost ready to go with an article idea I had a few months back, so you may be able to expect that pretty soon. It's on Dancehall . . . or the lack thereof. I had another similar one on Reggae music, but the focal point of such idea has apparently gone temporarily insane (biggup Dale Cooper).

• Of course you know we do 'Beautiful Tunes' every Sunday, but I think I'm going to change things up one time, hopefully in this month, but I won't do it until I have enough suggestions. What I want you to do is send me some NOT-SO-BEAUTIFUL TUNES. If you have a song which you fucking hate - That's what I'm looking for, for one Sunday yeah.

• And aside from that, expect your usually long winded stuff. I am looking at maybe doing a movie review and it may just be my Vault Review (hell, it may even be this week). I'm also mining Nico's idea and I'm going to do some BOOK discussion maybe this month or in November. Whenever we get to it. Definitely doing an artist of the month for October as well.

• OH! And most importantly, should I go missing for any kind of time this month . . . Yeah. I'm having a good time.

Of course biggup all of my friends. Biggup Dale Cooper, helped with A LOT of information this month and I did avoid the mess for the most part. Biggup Nico, biggup JC who finally found his way back to a monitor apparently. All the nice people at Zojak, gave us a big drop a couple of weeks back. Biggup Camille from United Reggae - Gave me what is my current favourite song and my Wife's current LEAST favourite song. Biggup the guy from 101Vibez, he apparently has now a Hip-Hop site and you know I'm not a very big fan of Hip-Hop, but I do like pretty girls so check out his new venture, Hip-Hop Honeys. Uhhhh, biggup the guy from the Reggae Unite Blog. Biggup Jessica Dore at Bay Area Reggae Project everytime. Biggup Zalemmmmm at Bass Culture. Biggup Curtis Lynch at Necessary Mayhem who I linked last week, very nice person. I think that's it and unfortunately Adele Harley absolutely refuses to write her own review so I gotta go. Oh and biggup My Father! Birthday this month yeah.

Tune!

Pictured, one of the most

Beautiful flags of the world

Netherlands Antilles.

Free Again.

Beautiful Tunes #30

We gine down di road, we gine down (biggup Alison Hinds)! Yep! Another week, #30, another round of beautiful tunes. Yow, it's October already. Did you even notice? Less than three months and it's 2011 already. Anyway! This week we have the return of a Sunday veteran, wrapping up an old friend and a second timer yeah. Let's do it.

First up is one Mr. Sheldon Senior, who apparently is a singer from out of Manchester [JA]. I'd never actually heard of him, but upon further research I did recognize a tune of his from a little while back that I'd never actually attributed to him. Anyway, he's fairly popular in Europe and our good friend Susan from Zojak, who returned from a few weeks back from going on tour with her BIG artist, Anthony B, and obviously stumbled upon the music of Senior and this week she suggests, amongst other things, a lovely acappella piece, 'Some May Say', which is OUTSTANDING. Big drop from Susan and she also suggested a next nice young artist, who I'll tell you about next week yeah.

Next is the final piece from my friend Youstice (at least for awhile, I'm sure he's baking up something). This week he's giving us one of the breakout tunes from big vocalist Hyah Slyce, 'All & All' from Jigzagula and the Coppershot Crew. Sweet sweet lover's tune which definitely received its fair time to shine when it dropped a few years back and it's still a very lovely song to my ears. So biggup Hyah Slyce (still looking for that official album debut) and excellent choice Youstice.

And lastly this week we have the return of Jonathan from two or three weeks ago, from out of Denmark by way of the UK who told us about Karen Mukupa and the big Alis Riddim. This week he has a potentially even hotter suggestion as he draws what is apparently a brand new tune, 'Babylon Doom' from Jah Turban. Turban is a big big artist and he has been for awhile, from out of Spanish Town and he's made his way to and made his name in Denmark so . . . Biggup Reggae SPREADING and doing it THICK. This song is excellent and according to what I just read (and not from Jonathan) (SHAME!) it's a part of an EP - Yeah. I'm about to see if I can't find that somewhere. So well biggup Jah Turban and don't at all be surprised if you're seeing him again around these parts at the end of the month.

As for me, I'm pretty predictable this week, but not quite. It was definitely going to be a Soca week and my tune comes from a source which isn't too unexpected these days, because the man simply does everything. It's Busy Signal, getting a jump on Lucian Carnival 2011 (why anyway would want to do such a thing is a mystery me, but what do I know?) with 'Get Outta My Way'. This tune is absolute FIRE and I don't care what you say. So biggup Achis on an excellent suggestion!

"Stuff" post tomorrow

'Disaster Averted': A Review of "Before The Dawn" by Buju Banton

You know, with all of the news surrounding the recent and still ongoing troubles of Reggae and Dancehall legend Buju Banton, it got me to thinking of so many different things, not the least of which was actually losing his presence in Reggae music. Certainly you can’t erase history and Buju, perhaps even more so than almost all of his peers, has seemed to do more with his time as, along with his actual music and all of his other involvements and controversies he has managed to pack four or five decades worth of memories in his twenty plus years in the business. Because of this, he’s also endeared himself to so many Reggae and music fans in general and done so in such a way which is so unlike most of his peers that his is now a status which, is very important to the music, but is one which does not require much upkeep. These days, even still, after all they’ve done Buju’s actual peers like Beenie Man, Capleton and Bounty Killer are looked at with a ‘what’s new’ attitude by most fans. They have to remain current and if they don’t you start to hear terms such as ‘flop’ or ‘fell off’ begin to turn up more and more in their cases. Buju Banton? No such thing. Buju could well go two or three years with no sizable hit and the attitude will be defensive in terms of what is to come as opposed to offensive of what has yet to arrive. I think Buju’s position is best summed up by the famous quote from another of his peers, Tony Rebel, who once said of Buju in terms of his position in Reggae music and amongst other Reggae artists, “He’s our sun”. So, could we have possibly, or could we still lose our SUN and still manage to hold the vibes as high, even given the lack of demand on him? Most likely. But even within his somewhat ‘reserved’ usual state in the music, Buju Banton has become a PRESENCE just as much as he has become a top notch artist (and he has become both). His very name is one which is so unusual that it cannot possibly reference ANYTHING else in the typical lexicon of the world and it has become synonymous with several things throughout the years, good and bad, but one of the things which has remained unquestionable is that - “Buju Banton is a Reggae artist” - He will be referred to as such well into perpetuity, no matter where he goes and no matter what he does when he gets there.

So, to lose such a powerful force and presence to something as completely ridiculous as drug charges would be . . . one of the biggest fucking tragedies in the modern history of Reggae music. And while we could compare his potential situation to that of someone like Shyne, from the Hip-Hop community, certainly Shyne’s status in that genre wouldn’t be anywhere near Buju’s in Reggae and Dancehall (and maybe not even in Hip-Hop, for that matter) and there’s also Jah Cure who emerged from eight years of incarceration at the age of twenty-eight years, WELL within his prime and a much better artist than when he left at twenty one. Buju, at thirty-seven, just couldn’t manage to serve even an eight year term and reemerge in his mid-forties with the same command musically or socially and, to be most selfish, to not have a Buju Banton album every three years or so would really just bother me. Well, after all of that appears that Buju himself agrees as, with clearly as much free time as he’s surely had over the past ten months or so, he’s devoted it to playing a major role in delivering this, his most unexpected of new albums, ”Before The Dawn”. Reportedly, the tunes here are largely comprised of work from sessions just prior to his incarceration and Buju has taken a very active presence in determining exactly how they were mixed and ultimately presented for the album. Still, given the fact that he was unable (or at least seemingly unable) to record any new material for it and was largely unable to actually DO anything for it more than he had done gives it somewhat of a detached feel and I’d actually suggest that he knew this going in which is why he also reportedly went out of his way to write a note specifically for the album’s liner’s notes. Also, the album only has ten tracks and if you know Buju’s style then you well are aware of the fact that just he also brought forth a HUGE album just a year and a half ago in ”Rasta Got Soul” and, in a very un-Buju like manner, he delivers his next set in the very next calendar year. Certainly all of that would lead us into thinking that ”Before The Dawn” has been very hurried together to meet some type of ‘deadline’ and I can definitely imagine what the thinking might’ve been from Buju and company at his label, Gargamel Music - Envisioning the prospect of going through his trial, ultimately proving his innocence and on the exact same day have this album release (and if that was their actual plan then the fact that his jury came back hung ONE DAY BEFORE the album’s release date makes them nothing less than clairvoyant) (and a little creepy) - To mark his reappearance to the world with a display what he does best, making this kind of ‘larger than life’ type of scene. The album’s title even seems to suggest such a setting. While those plans seem to have been put on hold for the time being (if they ever even existed) what is certain still is that Buju Banton is still Buju Banton and whenever he releases a project the Reggae world and, to some degree, the larger music world in full, is going to take a notice and that has never been more the case than now as, because of the attention given to his situation, one could well make the case that this album has become his most high profile to date with the looming spectre of musical ‘martyrdom’ facing him. The question, however, does remain of whether or not ”Before The Dawn” is any good. Given all of Buju’s literal and physical detachedness from the project, the very fact that it exists just one year after an album which supposedly took him YEARS to create (nothing rare for him) and just the fact that it appears to have been hurried along to make it available definitely means that it can’t really be any good. Right?

Not necessarily. It has its moments. While you almost certainly aren’t going to see this album appearing on any ‘top ten’ lists (“Top Ten Reggae Albums by An Incarcerated Artist“???) (maybe), it does prove to be almost instantly better than the kind of languid and terse effort which I was expecting (as it seemingly would have been built on tracks which weren’t fit to find their ways onto other projects just yet, but were good enough for this one). “Instantly” is the key word here as the very first tune on Buju Banton’s brand new album, ”Before The Dawn”, ’Rasta Can’t Go’, turns out to be HUGE and the single biggest moment on the entire album. How fitting is it that Buju begins the song by saying -

“I see myself as morning sunrise that is certain every morning
I see myself as the moon which is sure to come following the sun”

From a lyrical point of view of the tune borders on being just about perfect as, Buju doesn’t mean “I” in the literal sense there because, as you see with tune playing out, he uses himself as a representative of Rastafari and the song says that no matter where you hide and how well you THINK you’ve done it, Rasta will notice and be there. It is a VERY powerful sentiment and although sonically the song isn’t the greatest (not that it’s bad), when you really tune this thing in, you’ll get an education not to be missed.

“Now I see Ras in Buckingham Palace
He was surrounded by no guards nor sentries
Now I see Ras stroll in The White House
Make security appear like Mickey Mouse”

HUGE TUNE and somewhere Peter Tosh is grinning from ear to ear. The next two tracks, ‘In The Air’ and ‘Do Good’ both have their ups and downs and do so in a few different aspects. The former sounds absolutely SPECTACULAR. It is sonically a devastating tune, but with its constant refrain of “can you feel it”, it kind of has a standard and formulaic type of feeling and, by its end, it hasn’t said very much at all. The latter, on the other hand, also sounds pretty good with the beautiful Nyah drum backing and lyrically it is also pretty good, but it’s just kind . . . It just an average song. There is a lot of SPACE in the track with the chorus just feeling too long (the tune itself is damn near seven minutes long) and it just could have really been a better song, however, it is probably one of the album’s best.

Unsurprisingly, you put someone in Buju’s exact position and have them on a record saying, “Jah knows I’m innocent”, you’re going to get quite the reaction which is exactly what happened with the album’s first single (I THINK), ‘Innocent’. The tune has become somewhat of battle cry for many supporters of the artist through his ordeal.

“I’ve been badly singled out
By beloved friends and Bredrens who sold me out
I was the cornerstone rejected and refused
Left alone in my blues
Your foot could never fit my shoes”

It is on this tune where the claims of the album being somewhat prophetic seem to ring true given Buju’s defense and, again, there is no tune on this album which has captured the early imaginations and attentions of the masses and there is no surprise why that is (and I‘ll speak more on that in closing).

The other tune which has seemingly been getting quite the nice response is ‘Battered & Bruised’ which kind of has this nice and springing vibes to it. I’m not as high on the song as others seem to have been thus far, that I’ve read, but it definitely has a very nice sonic appeal, albeit ultra-straight forward. ‘Try Life’ is also certain to get a nice spin because it features longtime Buju Banton friend, Gramps Morgan from the Morgan Heritage camp (that makes this the second consecutive review I’ve done with Gramps in a guest spot). You’ll probably be surprised to know that despite the fact that the riddim on this song sounds like the theme song from a 1975 sitcom show, I actually like it a bit. The tune speaks of the difficulties experienced by a particular woman and it comes through so REFINED that it caught my attention. It didn’t WOW me to any extent and I may, in fact, be overrating it, but to me it’s a pretty nice song. I didn’t have the same reaction to ‘No Smoking At All’, the changeup on ”Before The Dawn”, initially but the rocking tune did eventually grow on me just a bit, although not to the point where I now consider it amongst the class of the album. And I could also say the same of the decent tune ‘Life’. This one is CLEARLY a very personal track for Buju, but it’s unexceptional for the most part. That being said, however, should you ask me again in a year or so, I wouldn’t at all be surprised if I LOVED this tune.

With all of that being said, there’re two tunes right in the middle of the album which will probably go largely overlooked, but are second and third only to ‘Rasta Can’t Go’ in terms of quality in my opinion. First is my second favourite tune on the album, ‘Bondage’, which will probably (as it has thus far) be overshadowed by the tune before it, ‘Battered & Bruised’, despite the fact that it is clearly a better tune. This one, checking in at more than five minutes is exactly what ‘Do Good’ should have been because it so well makes a great usage of every second of the tune and in doing so becomes this MOVING and TWISTING tune about social upliftment and, indirectly, the Afrikan Diaspora. You REALLY feel the emotion in Buju’s set in the tune and it got fairly quickly to the point where I found myself singing along on the big chorus simply because I felt like I HAD to.

“Tears!
From my eyes!
Could not hold anymore!
Cry!
Like a child!
Who has lost his way home!
Longing!
To go to that place where I’m from!
They’ve got I in bondage”

And lastly there’s the related (at least in my opinion) ‘Struggle Together’, which is just so well done and arranged that, although musically it may be out of place and it isn’t his GREATEST work, could fit in with the best done by Buju because it’s simply done as well as it could possibly have been which is a quality in and of itself actually. As for the actual song - It is sublime. It speaks mostly of unity and coming together for the betterment of the world. In the middle of the song, Buju hits one of the finest lyrical stretches to be found on the whole of the album as well which pushes it even higher.

“No more divide and segregating
Make sure when you fight, you’re fighting for the right thing
Oh, what a joy unification bring
I never hurt your heart and you never hurt my feelings
Let’s be upful and bright in all our dealings”

Overall, as I alluded to (or at least tried to) in discussing ‘Innocent’, I think that perhaps that tune and this album, in general, has a much more interesting set circumstances than simply whether or not they’re any good. Despite the fact that Reggae music is often as hyper-political as it is, you rarely get the type of album whose social ramifications can simply outweigh its actual merits. You should remember the aforementioned Jah Cure’s debut album, ”Free Jah’s Cure” which arrived very early in the Cure’s time in prison and has subsequently gone on to achieve a ‘cult classic’ type of standing in Reggae music and has this type of larger than the moment type of aura around it. Certainly this album, on a MUCH larger scale, may some day grow into the same thing. Musically speaking, by its end, it’s probably what most were expecting - It certainly would have been better had he been able to add more substance to it and more tracks - But it isn’t horrible at all and HOPEFULLY once this situation has been wrapped up, it can serve as some type of ribbon for the entire matter. As it stands, ”Before The Down” is simply yet another strange piece for the time capsule of Buju Banton’s very unusual career. The Reggae world is better with his material than without it and hopefully we don’t have to wait another 8-10 for another one . . . Or longer.

Rated: 3/5
Gargamel Music
2010
CD & Digital