Sure. There's absolutely no reason to do a Signatures feature on Capleton. His music is so popular; he already has at least one official 'Best Of' album that I can think of off the top of my head (it's literally called "The Best Of Capleton" if my memory is correct) and that's not to mention all of the unofficial, fanmade and mixtapes that he's accumulated over the years as well. You could go on YouTube right now and probably find dozens --if not hundreds-- such compilations and that's fine, he deserves it. However, in furthering enjoying his latest release, the GOLDEN "Heights Of Fire", of course, I have found myself going back through one of the most powerful catalogues in all of Reggae music so... why not! Today we take a look at and honour, arguably, THE most explosive talent in the history of Reggae music. Signatures: Capleton
{Coming soon: Fantan Mojah}
1. 'Who Dem'
Slew dem. In keeping with our running habit of opening with the biggest tune, OF COURSE first up is the MASSIVE 'Who Dem'. Anything anyone can say about 'Who Dem' has been said and it's been said for decades but I do want to stress one thing, in particular. While Capleton absolutely SCALDS everything, everywhere it definitely helped that he came equipped with something that can lay a legit claim to being one of the finest riddims EVER. Ward 21's blistering Bellyas carries 'Who Dem' and, obviously, King Shango puts it to the fiery sword. 'Who Dem' is THE prime example of what happens when the Dancehall meets active Roots music. It has a message and it was also powerful. It was also just... THRILLING TO LISTEN TO and a damn action scene of a song. THE single best song of Capleton's entire career and one of the best Dancehall & Reggae songs ever made by anyone. PERIOD.
2. 'Bad Mind'
Envious ahgo mad dem. There is a certain EVIL kind of infectiousness behind 'Bad Mind' which, largely, has to do with the Fed Up Riddim in which it sits and its signature GROWL (the riddim literally sounds like it's pissed off at you!). If the riddim and the overall sound of 'Bad Mind' don't completely hypnotize you (and they might), well then, for you, is also a fantastic message of BEING HAPPY FOR PEOPLE. Instead of letting jealousy and envy run your thoughts when someone does well, congratulate them, wish them well and allow it to motivate you to do better as well. There's a whole lot of common sense behind 'Bad Mind' - A POWERFUL AMOUNT.
3. 'That Day Will Come'
Nowhere to run. It was the EXCELLENT Hardtimes Riddim which carried Capleton's 'That Day Will Come' (in retrospect, the track probably didn't do as well as it should have but the heights of it, this song and I Wayne's 'Living In Love' were sizable hits in their time) and if you recall me saying that "Reign Of Fire" opened with another entry here, it should be said that, right after it, was 'That Day Will Come' (showing just how mighty that album was IMMEDIATELY). There was a certain.... BLUNTNESS (?) to this song to go along with the typical and expected force found in Capleton's work: If you consistently fuck up and just do... wrong shit, EVENTUALLY you will have to pay. THAT DAY WILL COME!
4. 'Jah Jah City'
Bloody city, bloody town! Think about all of the antiviolence Roots Reggae songs you've ever heard in your life. It's an impossible request, I know, but I want you to think of just how prevalent they are in the genre. Now when you go about differentiating some and distinguishing them from the pack, that new lot you come up with will include 'Jah Jah City. The MAMMOTH Morgan Heritage produced tune can lay a significant claim to being the very best of its kind. It was a hit in its day and is still well remembered but, these days what is also apparent is that, lyrically, it was one of Capleton's finest performances ever as well and, given his history and his present), that is a giant thing to consider. 'Jah Jah City' was downright terrifying.
"Dem ah tell mi how dem cold!
Big 45, it shoot out dem brother mole
Nuff ah seh dem cold like up a di North Pole
Seh dem shoot down di young, shoot down di old
Shoot down di puss and di dog and di foal
Every weekend dem get a next payroll
OUTTA MAN POCKET DEM SHOOT OUT BILLFOLD
DISS MARCUS GARVEY, NUFF HEAD HAFFI GO ROLL"
5. 'Alms House'
Step up inna light. By far the oldest song I'm mentioning today, the nearly THIRTY-FIVE YEARS OLD 'Alms House' stands as a VERY significant song in Capleton's career as it stands as one of a few which, in retrospect, shows what was to come for him and from him. It, literally, shows the internal shift that was going on inside of him. If I didn't make this clear in the opening (which I haven't written yet), once upon a time Capleton was a star of the Dancehall. He was loud and boisterous and x-rated and cocky (probably a poor order to put those in) but even then, the man had morals and he had a mine that there was just too much foolishness going on in the business which led to 'Alms House'. The tune did have a slight Roots aspect to it in the lyrics later on but if you hadn't figured it out by then, 'Alms House' was a signal that maybe this guy had a little something extra to him.... and he did.
6. 'Babylon A Use Dem Brain' featuring Sizzla
Be still. Capleton has collaborated with Sizzla Kalonji directly a few times through the years (it has been AWHILE) but the DIAMOND of the pair's work together has been, without a doubt, 'Babylon A Use Dem Brain'. Produced by the legendary Bobby Digital (on a riddim courtesy of the immortal Burning Spear), the tune would be featured on my favourite album of all time, Sizzla's "Black Woman & Child" and it's one of those songs that require, unsurprisingly, a bit more keen of an ear to get receive the absolute FULLNESS of because of how DAMN genius it is. Have you ever really listened to this tune? No no. I mean REALLY listened to it?? If you have, you know that 'Babylon A Use Dem Brain' was complete and utter lyrical ROYALTY. It was intelligence of the absolute highest caliber on a combination of two MOUNTAINS!
7. 'Tour'
Culture a di cure. 'Tour' is well over THIRTY years old at this point and, though it did have its day, I don't think that it has aged as well as its quality would have seemed to forecast. 'Tour' was absolutely BRILLIANT. The song was about Capleton leaving Jamaica to tour the world -- spending weeks and months away from home -- only to return and be... fully DISGUSTED by the way things had changed in his absence. Seeing this and having spent so much time spreading his word, "preaching, teaching the people fi sure", he realized that he had much work to do. Instead of giving to strangers and fans, he needed to give his words to his neighbours and his family and friends. The way this song is situated, alone, is attractive but I can't imagine that it didn't work out EXACTLY how everyone involved hoped as a best case scenario. And from the second I was mature enough to appreciate anything beyond the melody here, I was hooked. I still am.
8. 'Sleep Ah Night'
Worry and fret. We can talk about all of these powerful, outside forces that you may have to answer to when you do wrong but there's one which may or may not be as powerful but is FAR MORE immediate and that's the one that I've always taken 'Sleep Ah Night' as a testament to. You know when you've done wrong and HE has put something in you called a "conscience" to remind you when things aren't quite going according to plan.
"Can't sleep a night, a nightmare dem ah get
Get up overnight awash by cold sweat
All come outside, come sit down pon step
Wid hand pon dem jaw, dem nah stop from fret"
'Sleep Ah Night' was an energizer of nature's regulator and it was genius.
9. 'Who I Am'
And where I'm from. Along with the final tune carried here, I think 'Who I Am' is probably the least likely to appear on any other personal compilation like this one of Capleton's music but it's long been a favourite of mine. Coming through across Henfield's cut of the downright GRIZZLY Babatunde Riddim, 'Who I Am' was featured on a relatively obscure album called "One Mission" (literally wrote that review SEVENTEEN years ago) where it conquered everything in site with a TORRENT of sagacity as Capleton, seemingly, responded to critics wondering just WHO exactly made him so special.
"Dem waan know, who I am and where I'm from
Who gimme di authority fi bun di evil man?
Must be The Conquering Lion
Unuh fi overstand, seh mi live a Zion
Well, no spirit cannot manifest without the flesh
Inna di north, and di south, and di east and di west
Mi bun dem and mi go bun dem yet
Mi dun dem and still ah bun dem yet
Well nuff a dem, mi tell dem go think and check
From di north, to di south, to di east, to di west
And mi hail King Selassie I as The Highest
Nuff a dem they gwan laid to rest
But righteousness haffi manifest!
Ghetto youths hold up yuh head, babylon get upset
Dem ah reject, wid dem internet
Dem technology, weh dem come fi tek
Well nuff a dem a di least
This seh dem a di less"
10. 'Cooyah Cooyah'
BUN EVERYTHING! It is a song like 'Cooyah Cooyah', specifically, why we associate Capleton with fire and call him the King Of Fire and all of these other titles he's accrued throughout the years. There is a stretch right in the middle of 'Cooyah Cooyah' where Capleton lyrically burns EVERYTHING and EVERYONE he can reach with his words. EVERYTHING! The song has become something of a legend over the years and one of Capleton's most popular tunes of all time.
11. '40 Suppn'
SUMN AHGO HAPPEN TONIGHT!! I haven't worked out the running order for this list just yet but I do know that I am planning to put the TRULY RIDICULOUS '40 Suppn' right behind 'Cooyah Cooyah'. Why? Because what 'Cooyah Cooyah' does in that one unforgettable stretch where he torches absolutely everything and everyone (including You & I) is pretty much the entire song '40 Suppn'. The whole damn thing! '40 Suppn' is an overkill. It's intentionally done with too much intensity and too many flames and the results were downright unforgiving.
What needs to be said between both of these songs is the fact that they feature such an extremely high level of intelligence and sense-making to go along with their severity. This isn't... a kind of blind euphoria (although it most certainly is euphoric). There is a message (after message, after message, after message, after message) within this powerful torrent of words and it is what Capleton does at a level that I don't think anyone else can. HYPE is something that is not rare but MOST HYPE + MOST INGENUITY = Capleton.
12. 'Death Row'
Sudden death. There is a word that describes 'Death Row' perfectly in my opinion and that is EFFORTLESS. This song, placed in the hands of someone else, might come off as having taken years to compose and to get the delivery just right... but Capleton just plough's right through it and does so from multiple angles. If you REALLY tune in this one, you, like me, migt just come to the thought that 'Death Row' ranks as one of the finest lyrical performances of Capleton's entire legendary career as it is brimming with wordy gems, primarily aimed at those who're not living righteously and have much to be ashamed of in their behaviour.
"And all di wrong trumpet Rastafari go catch dem ah blow
And all di wrong boat, wi all go catch dem ah row"
13. 'Jah Is My Everything'
Hail The King! The immortal Bobby Digital was the maestro behind the MAMMOTH 'Jah Is My Everything' which absolutely clunked the listener over the head at the beginning of the "Reign Of Fire" album. I can remember hearing this song for the first time on that album and literally feeling overwhelmed and it's remained on my mind (obviously) twenty-two years later (almost exactly. Album released in August of 2004). There may be better songs on this list or song which I favour ahead of it but I will say about 'Jah Is My Everything' is that, for what it was, it was PERFECT. There is nothing wrong it at all. NOTHING. It was lacking in anything at all and, again, it just brings up such wonderful emotions for me; I now get dashes of nostalgia along with just the general feeling that what I'm hearing is something truly special as Capleton put on a praising performance for the ages.
"There is no problem He can't solve
So inna certain things no bodda get involved
Well Rastafari is the ultimate and He, alone, can get all these problems resolved"
14. 'Hard Again'
HARD NOW! By far the unlikeliest song you'll find here (and the newest), it was just six years ago when Capleton called down some of the hottest and harshest fires of all for Payday's thumping Hard Again Riddim. Surprising to absolutely no one at all, Capleton went HARD on the riddim and it stuck in with me (and you think about everything I didn't put on this list in favouring it) (I could do a couple of sequels for this one RIGHT NOW if I wanted and it wouldn't be that difficult at all). Surely not the only one of its kind but if you looked down this list and thought you needed something to just... punch you straight in the chin, this one is for you! Man probably left his voice in that studio making this tune.
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