Polarities by Akae Beka

 

"Polarities" by Akae Beka [I Grade Records]

 

For we have missed so much. A few years ago, in prehistoric times, we began to focus greatly on the output of what we will call, for the moment, Midnite. This was almost entirely due to my own desire to kind of bridge some gaps in the types of things I listened to and was able to appreciate. Previously, the work of Vaughn Benjamin had been somewhat shut off to me... I just wasn't intelligent or experienced enough to FULLY appreciate it. I just wasn't. But as I got older and gained life experience and other things, I found a JOY in not only listening to his output but at least making an attempt to dissect it as much as I possibly could. The result of that was, at least at one point, I'd probably written more about Benjamin's music than almost anyone. 

And I've missed it. Though I have never stopped listening during our hiatus, I did not take in the music in a way in which I would ultimately present it to someone else, so I don't think that it was my intent to grind absolutely EVERYTHING that I could wrap my brain around into a fine musical powder - and that is the fun part! So let's have some fun! Fittingly, we return with what is to be the 13th and final collaboration between Vaughn Benjamin and the equally mighty I Grade Records, with whom he was so closely associated with. For their part, Laurent 'Tippy I' Alfred and company at IGR have continued to burn over the years with RIPE releases from the likes of Lutan Fyah, Danny I ["And gimme back dem secrets that you take from I. On the backs of true Israel and Rastafari"] [WHAT!] [BOOM!], Pressure Busspipe as well as Benjamin's Akae Beka. Throughout the years, the Benjamin/IGR link has provided some of the biggest highlights of a highlight-brimming catalogue (allow me to go offtrack for just a second here - there was an album from 2007 called "Jah Grid" that they did which was excellent. It is buried in there now and overlooked but that album had three songs on it, 'Before I Lose My Strength', 'My Joy' and, in particular, 'Enter', which are amongst my favourites to this day. A wonderful set to pick up if you missed out or just haven't heard it in awhile). And today we take a look at the final entry of a musical relationship at least two decades old - "Polarities" from Akae Beka and I Grade Records.

{Note: Apologies in advance. It's been awhile, I can assure the writing will not be good, but I will do my best}

 

{Note 2: These will be more frequent. Hopefully once a week or two-ish}

 

1. 'Don't Feel No Way'

 

I've probably listened to the opener of "Polarities", 'Don't Feel No Way', more than most of the other songs because it such a HEALTHY tune. It is the type of piece which, a few years ago when we did these.... seemingly weekly, would have me busy for PARAGRAPHS of thoughts. I'm old now and about sharp as a circle, but the song still does so much for me.

Lyrically, the selection finds Benjamin taking a historical look at several things, including mistreatment and atrocities and it almost comes off as if he is simply teaching a class (he has been "simply teaching a class" for ages) to the masses. And I really enjoy how the song is written to the point where you see he has this clear reverence for history, but he isn't at all tentative about challenging it. Seemingly, for Benjamin, the past is STILL evolving and is to be approached like any living thing - both beautiful and flawed. A mighty song and one of my favourites on the whole of the album. And I LOVE how the VIBE of this piece takes over during its final complete minute which is a staple of the I Grade albums.

 

2. 'Charges'

 

 "Took you for granted, now they're saying "Don't leave!"

'Charges' is a song which hit me in a way that leads me to take it in a direction that maybe no one else does, but who cares, let's talk about it. For me, this is a piece about not underestimating yourself or anyone else in terms of what it is that you actually do - your deeds. You can do something which seems extremely small and it can have such a huge impact on someone else or something else, so you have to do your absolute best to have upful actions. We all are prone to make mistakes (CONSTANTLY):

"What's the charges ah on the battery?
If you no match up the positive with positivity
What's the charges? Assault and battery?
HOOK UP the positive with negativity"

{Note: I had to stop making my point and I will probably lose and have to rewrite this or just keep going but I don't care. It is moments like those right there, in that passage, which demonstrate how utterly BRILLIANT Vaughn Benjamin is. The two types of 'battery'. The two types of 'charges'. And you "Hook up" the second type, which is a phrase you typically only 'hook up' with the first. BOOM! TEARS! DAMN!}

Yes. I lost my point. But this song is so powerful and I was so pleased to see that it was chosen as a single (I believe the third) from "Polarities" and, again, just be careful what you do and how you treat other people because you never know what people pick up on and how they may react to it years from now.

 

3. 'Raining Thugs'

Just looking through the tracklist for "Polarities", definitely one song stood out as something that I really wanted to hear based on its title alone and that was 'Raining Thugs' and what I found, unsurprisingly, as huge. For me the album's third effort is about as 'straight-forward' of a social commentary as you will hear from Vaughn Benjamin. His course is, by his nature, one which is more winding and ambitious, so even this song goes in more directions than you will hear from almost anyone else, even in Reggae music. I will use the previous tune to relate to 'Raining Thugs' because they're somewhat similar in ideas for me. With 'Charges' we were told to mind what we do and how we treat people, 'Raining Thugs' is the result if we screw that up. In times of goodness and prosperity, "none complaining - love". In troubled times, "then it's raining thugs". You create an environment which feeds misbehaviour, violence (you could even link this one to depression and mental illness, "Too much bloodshed fi liberate African. Unbelievable anguish yah wah cannot mention, built into the youth dem as hereditary stance") and he goes into other things such as racism and upheaval AND the foundation of the song -- the very first lyric you hear and which is returned to later-- is a biblical one. An amazing tune, but you will entirely miss this gem if you don't REALLY dig into it.

 

4. 'Black Carbon' featuring Chronix

 

Somewhere it is written that, in all things related to Reggae music, if you want to IMPROVE them/it - simply add Vaughn Benjamin. If you wish to solidify the work even further, simply add Chronixx. Mixing the two together on a single track could prove to be absolutely devastating and "devastating" is a fine way to describe the first of a pair of combinations on the "Polarities" album (and, I believe, its first single), 'Black Carbon'. This tune is so interesting to me for several reasons but what I most enjoy about it is how it, INHERENTLY, finds such a large common avenue between the two artists. Were it Benjamin alone, this sounds like something Akae Beka/Midnite would create:

"Some will see dem from a place of non-existence
While they carry out a purge - a planet reduction
Yes, some might set off a process of elimination
Involving psychology counts bombs and guns
THE HEAVIEST WEAPON IS INFORMATION
DEADLIEST WEAPON IS INFORMATION!"

And were this Chronixx and Chronixx alone, it would not be outside of his typical range of genius as well:

"Jah Jah show wi seh, humanity it is celestial
SIX PROTONS, SIX NEUTRONS AND SIX ELECTRONS
So no mek dem split you mentally fi go win election
Each nation haffi rise, uplifting the next one
Cause alla wi forward from di same carbon
Every tint and every shade, ALL COLOUR VARIATION"

And when you place that under the umbrella of the idea of the tune, which is about bringing us all together because we are ORGANICALLY the same damn thing (!) (we don't even have a choice in the matter, it's not to up to us!) how this song comes off is amazing and so impressive. An absolutely MAMMOTH combination and one which surely highlights this album (and it says something huge that there is a song here which I think is even stronger).

Finished writing all of that ^ only to notice that I said not a word about the vibe of 'Black Carbon'. It has this, at times, unusual kind of 'spiraling' sound to it which often sounds like it's leading to some sort of peak. You never actually reach that point because, by tune's end, you realize that you started there and never dipped.

 

5. 'Sow and The Reap'

 

"It was bloodhounds on the beach
Mosquitos and heat
It was the swamp and the beast
It was of trust and deceit -
When it's life that they seek"

 

Next up on 'Polarities' is the fully MAJESTIC 'Sow and The Reap'. This tune, just in its feel  has something truly special about it and should this album go on to receive some type of a dub version someday, it may be THE song here which I am most looking forward to hearing (....or could I just say that "I am listening forward to"????) (WHAT!). It definitely produces some of the most powerful vibes on the entire release. Lyrically, it ranks just as highly as Benjamin dazzles with a message which I took as him saying that we all play our part in the world. Regardless of what we do, we're all responsible for contributing to the earth, however, our actions (and innactions) have consequences and conditions which are to be respected. An amazing song! TEARS!

 

6. 'Royal Tribe'

 

You could well call this album nothing but an amalgam of "amazing songs" and you'd be correct. HOWEVER, were I to do that, I'd have to come up with a different adjective to describe 'Royal Tribe' because, to my ears, it is the greatest thing I hear on 'Polarities' and one of the most powerful Vaughn Benjamin songs that I have ever heard.

"She must be the queen bee inna loyal hive
NONE WANT TO LEAVE HER
Excitement in her wake, the entourage arrive
EXCITEMENT LIKE A FEVER"

"A door of decency a weh you come inna
A gwan like it a drug weh you ah fiend fah
WEARING EMOTIONS ON YOUR SLEEVE -
BURDENS YOUR SHOULDAH
If Jah give you such a gift, just hold her
Someone is pleased and someone is displeased
She has a goal fah -
To reach to Israel and to Ithiopia"

If you lack respect and love for women and for a woman's necessity in the world... then you lack respect and love. They are things which you are incapable of giving and producing. You just can't do it. Society (and everything else) is uplifted and improved when you recognize the contribution women have made and continue to make. And this is the case for the most powerful ("queen bee inna loyal hive") and others still ("di finest glamour girl weh came to consciousness") ("Haile Selassie I teach her") - they are to be loved and respected. That is the tone set on 'Royal Tribe' and it is one which we have heard from Vaughn Benjamin before, but I can't actually say that we've heard it this sound this amaz.... FANTASTIC before as it does on the finest display on this album in my opinion.

 

7. 'Everything Bless' featuring Tiken Jah Fakoly

 

The second combination track from "Polarities" links Vaughn Benjamin with Ivorian Reggae star, Tiken Jah Fakoly. 'Everything Bless' is a fascinating union between two artists who probably have more in common than they do on the surface (but they do there as well, actually). For me, I'll link both of them to being individuals who did not always seek out the spotlight (but it did often find them), but have achieved and earned what they have by doing the work and GRINDING in Reggae music. They're the types who, if you were to ask a deep fan about their favourite song from either (which is just a terrible question to ask someone, you know you can't come up with ONE!), they wouldn't even come up with three or four. Instead, you'd get a healthy thirteen or fourteen album-like response. Unsurprisingly, the pair of VETERANS produce a vibe which is both large and simple and, in its time (the longest track on this album), manages to deliver everything you'd hope for from such a unique and ESTEEMED pairing.

 

8. 'Viral Trend'

 

Like much of Benjamin's output, 'Viral Trend' is a tune which is a giant chunk of candy for an overthinker like myself. What I was anticipating in this case was a tune maybe similar to 'Generation Again' or 'All I's On You', both from the "Beauty For Ashes" album where the artist examined the changing of the times. Instead, 'Viral Trend' is almost a reverse of those sets and it kind of places itself in way of REVERSING things and placing this very modern notion of a 'viral trend' into a historical and, at times, biblical frame. What is 'trending' throughout history are things such as people suffering and going through problems and perseverance. His Majesty is 'trending'. Giving someone aide is trending. All of these things - we'd never put into such terms, but when you think about it, we've been discussing them endlessly throughout our existence and likely forever will - they are trending. I also want to mention that, abour four minutes deep into 'Viral Trend', it reaches critical. You have something downright explosive which is fantastic to listen to which continues for the balance of the song.

 

9. 'Sing A New Song'

 

From its title alone, 'Sing A New Song' isn't exactly what I expected it to be. What I thought I was going to hear was a louder type of rejoicing vibes -- at least as far as Vaughn Benjamin does such a tune -- instead what arrived was a pleasant surprise. I'd almost call this song 'melancholy', at least until near its end when it picks up just a bit. And it isn't about finding a joy and singing how you feel about it. I took the message as one about growth and the various directions we go in life ("a work in progress") ("Rasta on the introspective ends choose overstanding in the moment. Choose patience in the moment. TRIAL AND ERROR KNOWS THIS, IMMENSE"). And you could also make connections here to ideas like learning and general life-experience, both of which are kind of pillaring topics which you'll find supported throughout Benjamin's work. And the package in which they are 'shipped' will take you a bit of time to figure out how to open, but once you do - ENJOY!

 

10. 'Value Good Again'

Musically speaking, I think 'Value Good Again' may just be armed with what is my favourite composition on the whole of "Polarities". There is something so sweet about the vibes on this tune which are equally intense and calming and subtle all at the same time. And it is well utilized by Benjamin who completes the work, lyrically, easily pushing it near the class of this set. This is a song about be better to people, both in the large scale and just between individuals. 

"Compassion which is feeling when the people struggling-
STOP RESISTING VIBES TO GET UP AND DO SOMETHING
'If you love Me, feed My sheep'
Of The King of Kings utterance
Just a little sharing it is
JUST A LITTLE SHARING WILL BRING DELIVERANCE"

And, so wonderfully fitting, near the song's conclusion, the music is brought back and given another opportunity to shine and SHINE it does.

 

11. 'Polarities'

I was really curious to hear the title track for this album, probably even more than I usually am (and it is always an interest of mine. I'm typically wondering if it carries some type of pervading and prevailing idea which is meant to be present throughout the album named after it or if whoever made the final decision on the album's title just thought it was the best song) (there's a story about an old Sizzla album called "Da Real Thing" where the artist wanted to name it 'Thank U Mamma' after what he assumed would be its signature tune (and he was right), while its producer, the legendary Bobby Digital, wanted to call it "Da Real Thing", seemingly in response to criticism that Sizzla was getting around the time for making music in a style far, far away from the days of 'Praise Ye Jah' and 'Black Woman & Child') even in regards to Benjamin's work in particular.

What I found in this case was, unsurprisingly, brilliant. For me, 'Polarities', the song, is about relations and relationships. It's a piece about how we relate to one another and the world and nature and many different things. 

"Rasta make mention-
Under the one sun
Everything in the realm of love
In the realm of peace
UNDER DEFENSE AMONG THE POLARITIES"

And maybe it's just me, but with Benjamin not necessarily ever being the most emotive of individuals, but I hear JOY in him on this one. This is a celebration of differences and things which are INHERENTLY different ("the way that the bitter repaid the sweet") and he sounds like he's in the moment and so am I. It also comes with a larger type of sound which also adds to the intensity on what is one SWEET moment.

 

12. 'Resonance'

 

Probably the most fittingly titled piece on the whole of this album is the very resonating 'Resonance'. The vibes of this tune are absolutely divine to the ear. They are multi-faceted and multi-layered, but combined, they work to perfection. And it is fitting that they do because the music here plays backdrop to Benjamin who we find in a fine form (he always is) - crafting a biblical gem in 'Resonance'. The lasting impression here for me is that the song comes off as one probably a few hundred lessons that the artist has delivered throughout his career and continues to deliver each and every time someone new stumbles upon his work or even when some grizzled veteran of a listener hears something that she/he never quite heard before (which happens to me CONSTANTLY! How many times have you listened to a Vaughn Benjamin piece, maybe even one of your favourites, and stopped and thought, "wait, what did he just say there?"). Be taking notes on this one, particularly during a stretch during the song's second half where he resoundingly erupts lyrically which is a highlight for the entire album in my opinion - not to be missed.

 

13. 'Imandment to Heart'

It takes me up until the very last serving of "Polarities" to find something to grumble about, but I do find it on 'Immandment to Heart' and I'm kinda pissed off about it actually. This song is entirely too damn short. It just is. You could've doubled a verse, added instrumentals, I don't care what you do. But it's too short (curiously, however, I don't feel that way about 'Charges' (although if they wanted to stretch that one out, I wouldn't complain about it either) which is actually twenty-one seconds shorter). I want more of it. Let me tell you why!

TEARS! It is so beautiful!

"Refugee ah get up pon a raft and push off

Like him hear a signal tell him seh dat di gideon start"

For me, 'Imandment to Heart' is a piece speaking to INSTINCT and how we all have certain things with which we are born. These things may cause a variety of results, but ultimately we all know things such as, most importantly, when we do wrong and when we do write. I think that here Benjamin is warning all to maybe take a second before you do something because, in many cases, you may have an idea what may occur when you do what you are about to do. And if you take that further, you can make a general view (MAYBE) of just... maybe making a little more of an effort in things that you do and say because you were GIFTED with a bit of common sense, whether you realize it, or even want it, or not.

"WRITTEN UPON THE INWARD PART
Take Jah imandment to heart
Everybody had to get out and ah push or walk -
When the engine fals-start or lock
IT'S THE LITTLE MICROSCOPIC PARTICLES HOLDING US TOGETHER YAH FROM FALL APART"

And the song has this wonderfully, simple vibes to it which make in addictive from strictly a sonic point-of-view and, like I said, yeah - I'm going to need someone to make more of this one. Thank you and good day!

I hesitate to place some type of a 'cap' on this album and, therefore, at least some section of this music because during his time Vaughn Benjamin gave us gems which not only existed for the moment or for some eventual nostalgia, but were evolving. As long as an audience exists, there is likely to be someone somewhere drawing something from his music and the picture that they will find on "Polarities" is one of the most beautiful that he ever gave us.

Akae Beka's "Polarities" can be found digitally everywhere (courtesy of our old friends at Zojak Worldwide) and physically via IGRADERECORDS.COM