While Canada is a country which has one of the largest populations of Caribbean immigrants in the entire world and it is a very popular stop for some of the biggest names in Reggae and Soca, the country isn't exactly known as being a breeding ground for artists, itself. However, with names such as Tanya Mullings, Steele and others over the years, it has made a relatively nice impact on the music and should the greater world get a taste of Shalli in a big dosage, they'll make an even greater one. Shalli's voice is absolutely stunning and the Canadian native (daughter to Jamaican & Dominican parents), billed as "The Princess of Island Pop", has already reportedly made quite the dent on the Caribbean music exported from Canada. A quick look through digital releases would reveal her activity to have been quite high over the past couple of years with singles such as 'Show My Love', 'Shalli Sings' (and a couple of remixes) and 'All About Love' (all through Planet Rock Music). Also, unsurprisingly dealing with Tiwony, fans can also find tunes with songstress working in both French and Spanish (and we also stumbled upon a COOL remix of one of them 'Je Te Donne L'Amour' which features none other than . . . Tiwony returning the favour.
Shalli singles - 'Show My Love', 'Shalli Sings', 'All About Love' & 'Shalli Sings' [Remix] - All digitally available now
Shalli also has a very interesting brief history which involves her having performed extensively on the club scenes in some of the most remote corners of the planet including, but not limited to countries throughout the Afrikan continent as well as Asia and she’s also opened for some really big names in the music. Her own vibes, while clearly having Caribbean roots, are fairly 'wide-open' and she incorporates elements of traditional Pop, R&B and even a little Jazz, to my ears. On one of her biggest hits to date, 'Shalli Sings' (which also seems to be a nickname for the singer), is basically a sung spicy Reggae-fied Hip-Hop track (and an impressive one in statement of her arrival on the scene) on the KNOCKING Cussfix Riddim.
'Shalli Sings'
The selfish fan in me envisions Shalli going all Iwer George on the people and moving to Dominica full-time and becoming a Zouk singer (can you imagine!), but with her range - While she may not ultimately take that route (and she won't) - certainly doing a little Zouk doesn’t seem far off. Currently the singer can be found riding high with 'Feeling Inside', her cut of Madd Spider's Island Breeze Riddim. Her tune was one of the best efforts on a piece which also featured the likes of Sizzla Kalonji, Buju Banton, Wayne Wonder, [General] Degree, Gappy Ranks and others.
'Feeling Inside' Digital Single - Available Now
'Feeling Inside'
So definitely keep an eye and an ear out for the future works of the incredibly talented Shalli, an artist who has already made quite a significant contribution to this wonderful music and only figures to continue to make more and more.
{Note: Shalli probably has the HEAVIEST and most adorable speaking Canadian accent I've ever heard on a person of Afrikan descent} {Note 2: Shalli . . . Yep. She's a CUTIE!}
As far as artists and acts with whom my wonderful readers may have not been too familiar with before I covered them, I can only say that two have attracted the type of attention and response generated by the very recent Uprising Roots Band. Of course there was Toussaint, who dropped an album which sparked so many across so many boundaries and there’s been Sara Lugo - Quite the different case, because I basically talk about her everyday. While the URB may very well fall into the first category someday soon (although I doubt it), they definitely aren’t going to fall into the second. No. The big response I’ve gotten from them has to do with the same thing I mentioned in my review of their WONDERFUL debut album and one of the best Reggae albums of the year to this point, ”Skyfiya” - THEY MAKE REALLY GOOD REGGAE MUSIC.
"Skyfiya"
The band is fronted by the son of the legendary Winston McAnuff, Rashaun ‘Black Kush’ McAnuff, who also plays the drums, but in a group such as this, where the overall sound and the overall songs are the actual stars, it is definitely important to highlight all of the members. The biggest name of the group is probably the venerable Winston ‘Bopee’ Bowen, who plays the guitar and also there is Ruel ‘Pot-a-Rice’ Ashburn, Lloyd ‘Akinsanya’ Palmer and Joseph ‘Jr. Congo’ Sutherland (apparently the URB prescribes to the same ideology that I do - EVERYONE gets a nickname). Together they form the Uprising Roots Band which was formed only in 2006 and in terms of being a self-contained and self-responsible group - Meaning everything that it takes to make the music, they’re able to do it - They may already be at the top of the proverbial food chain for Jamaican Reggae bands which, these days, tend to be more of backing bands for a rotating field of lead singers, which is not the case for the URB. They do it all.
On top of that, again, is the fact that their music is EXCELLENT! The band has gelled together so wonderfully and so quickly that the result of their works is IMMEDIATELY evident when listening through almost any spot of their work. Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that they’ve played with and backed some of the biggest artists in the business - A roster which includes the likes of Gyptian, Lutan Fyah, Turbulence, Natural Black and even the great Sugar Minott. On its own, the URB also scored with its first big hit, the title track from its then forthcoming album, the aforementioned ‘Skyfiya’.
'Skyfiya'
It definitely says something about the tune (and probably about me as well) when I actually listened to this song well over ten times before I realized what was going on. It is, essentially, a chorus. There are no verses to the song, but the sound is so FULL and so FULFILLING that, even for someone like myself who is so often fixated on the lyrics of a tune (and you go over there > and see just how engrossed I am - The lyrics tag count currently stands at 79). This is just world class Roots Reggae musicianship and craft which is the exact same thing which has made the URB a very new favourite amongst our readers (and my readers, by definition, are geniuses.
The Uprising Roots Band
Besides the title track, the album also includes a whole heap of big and potential classic tunes such as ‘Krash Like Lightening’, ‘Marcus Garvey’, ‘Most Royal’ and others. Particularly of interest, however, are the tunes, ‘Brightest Light’, the single ‘Brighter Days’ and ‘Shinin' So Bright’, all of which allude to the concept evident on the title track (and in the name of the group) of the UPRISING and of the rising of the most powerful sun. When you look at this, it is such a refreshing take on the usage of ‘the fire’, as a concept in Reggae. So many times we hear ‘fyah bun’ and other variations of that - Where the fire is looked upon and brought in as both a cleansing element and a destructive one. The URB, by contrast, looks to the fire in the sky, the sun, the sky fire as the SOURCE - It is the all empowering force and it is not to be flung upon something or someone because it is already supposed to be within them (“the brightest light, shines from within“)! That type of ‘bone-intelligence’ and natural intelligence is present throughout their music directly and indirectly through their craft as well.
'Brighter Days'
So! First of all what you need to do, if you haven’t already, is to pick up the brand new debut album from the Uprising Roots Band, “Skyfiya” from Tru Musik Productions and DP&B Entertainment (digitally via Zojak Worldwide) and then, going forward, do keep an eye and an ear out for their future works because this group has the potential to not only lead themselves to making years and years of powerful music, but maybe also bringing the notion of a big and mighty band back to Jamaican Reggae music. Yes - They’re that good.
{Note: See Album Review} {Note 2: Should you work for/with the URB and want to link one of these features (THANK YOU!) you may want to use to the direct links - The album can be found just above and this feature can be found on the header or HERE}
As the birthplace of current superstars Tina Ly, Fanny J and others, one seemingly wouldn’t be under too wrong of an impression if they were to believe Guyane more of Zouk territory than Reggae. Also, the nation has yet to produce a Reggae scene as remotely outwardly vast and consistently productive and fruitful as other French Caribbean locales such as Martinique and Guadeloupe or those of its closest Reggae-loving neighbours, Guyana and Suriname (which isn’t surprising considering the population of Guyane is quite small to the others by comparison). However, 2011 figures to be quite a large and crucial year for Reggae coming not only from the nation, but that entire region and near the forefront of it all will almost certainly be the WICKED Little Guerrier.
The French word ‘Guerrier’ translates into English as ‘Warrior’ and the Suriname born artist figures ready to take his career to the proverbial ‘next level’ by any means necessary in 2011 with the backing of what is apparently the biggest Reggae label in Guyane, Transportation Label, who’re pushing Guerrier along with Prince Koloni (also born in Suriname, but now based in Guyane and is getting a big name due to the track, ‘Nature‘, which features Jamaican superstar Tarrus Riley) and others such as longtime veteran Chris Combette. For his part, however, Little Guerrier figures to be, perhaps, the most marketable and arguably the BEST talent of that talented group and a name to watch out for in the immediate sense.
Currently, Transpotation Label is pushing Guerrier’s newest album release (which I believe is his third), ”I & I”, to a more international audiences, via the digital market. Those audiences are going to enjoy an artist who comes very much in the same style of others such as Warrior King and NiyoRah - A vocalist with a very young voice, but one who can take his vibes in SO MANY different directions that, not only does it become very impressive to listen to, but it also becomes a quite ‘visual’ type of music and that dynamicity and versatility is something which definitely drew me in the direction of Little Guerrier. The album contains a few nice sized hits including ’Faya Fi Bun’, ’Beautiful Day’ [alongside Koloni] and ’Faya De Wani’ across Baby G’s Good Love Riddim, which features Jahman T and Dogg X (who is Little Guerrier’s brother).
'Faya Fi Burn'
'Beautiful Day' featuring Prince Koloni
'Faya De Wani' featuring Jahman T & Dogg X
Still, perhaps the album’s most recognizable (and downright STUNNING) tune is track #6, ’Black Woman [I Love You]’, which is a tune I knew from a few years back from Guerrier (it may’ve been the first one of his that I knew of actually) and was a pretty big hit for him, which should be obvious if it mashed up this many fucking people in France and it did.
'Black Woman' [live]
Previously, Guerrier chimed in with a couple of albums, ”Caan Cool” from 2009 and, his solo debut, ”Cry Out”, from two years prior, both for Atipa Records. If I’m correct, Transportation Label has made available some of Prince Koloni’s older work, so perhaps these two releases will get a second spin as well, particularly if ”I & I” manages to do well - And it will.
So, keep an eye out and ear out not only for the big talents coming from Guyane and from out of Suriname, but for Little Guerrier in particular. While 2011 figures to be a big one for him, it could be only just a start for one BEAUTIFUL big and international career in singing the best music on Earth. Little Guerrier @ Myspace Little Guerrier @ Facebook
I, humbly, do consider myself a pretty good judge of talent. While I have certainly seen big talents in artists who would subsequently prove that they didn’t have very much, I’ve also been relatively early to jump on quite a few young who have either gone onto show themselves to be stars or are still, presumably, along that decorated course. Still, I’m actually quite happy that (currently) I’m not the one making the music, and thus no one’s future is in my hands, so I do tend to defer, in many cases, to those who do take that responsibility amongst themselves and, of course, that means looking at labels and producers. In this case, we’re going to the UK and looking at Curtis Lynch Jr. and company at Necessary Mayhem, simply one of my favourite labels, who (rightfully so in my opinion) have taken a grand interest in Kingston born (CUTIE) Chantelle Ernandez, who is currently blazing with her DOMINANT lover‘s tune, ‘My Forever’.
The link is a very interesting one when you consider the fact that, at least ostensibly, Chantelle Ernandez is another of a long line of Jamaican singers who most people would hear and almost immediately think of as a potential R&B type of singer and reading through multiple bios for the singer, it’s obviously something which she embraces . . . Necessary Mayhem doesn’t do R&B. They don’t do ‘crossover’ and they don’t do ‘mainstream’. Unless things have drastically changed (and they haven't), the label is most surely going to be presenting Ernandez with old school Lover’s Rock, Dancehall and Roots pieces for the majority of the time that she’s with them, but apparently that’s no problem for her.
Chantelle Ernandez is a young veteran of sorts as she’s paid her dues as both a backing singer and a front woman as well. Not too long ago she appeared in (undoubtedly one of the several incantations of) Sly & Robbie’s group, UnitZz. That assemblage did big things, particularly in Japan, and it helped to get Chantelle’s name in circulation. And recently she also appeared on compilations such as Sly & Robbie’s Grammy nominated ”One Pop Reggae” (as part of UnitZz), ”The Best Supporting Acts” also from Sly & Robbie and one of my favourite pieces from last year, Necessary Mayhem’s ”Digital Acoustics”, where she featured on ‘Sort Me Out’, a kind of a mash up which featured her alongside Dancehall royalty, Shabba Ranking and the late UK Reggae legend Deborahe Glasgow.
However, despite also appearing on Necessary Mayhem’s recently released relick of the Shaolin Temple Riddim, where she sang ‘We Are Strong’ alongside the always impressive Blackout JA. The gold bar of Ernandez’ solo releases to date has been the ”My Forever - EP”, which also comes via the big UK label, digitally through the magic wizards who cast spells at Zojak Worldwide and is currently available.
This release features (of course) the title track surrounded with the aforementioned ‘Sort Me Out’, ‘Good Man’, ‘Poison’ and ‘Hotta Fyah’ and is a wonderful way to introduce her to bigger audiences and potential audiences.
So keep an eye out for Chantelle Ernandez (she’s gorgeous, shouldn’t be too hard to do that) and her future work from Necessary Mayhem. I’ll be very interested to see how exactly the label guides her. The state of and sound of UK Reggae is largely changing from the seemingly never-faltering UK Lover’s Rock into . . . Stuff that sounds like Gappy Ranks and Mr. Williamz and I’m not complaining about that. HOWEVER, in my mind I would think that maybe Ernandez would be set up as a bit of a new age Lover’s Rock singer which would definitely make a great usage of her R&B ’stylings’. Whichever the route ultimately taken by Lynch and Ernandez, however, not only am I convinced by what he hears in her, but my ears are saying the same thing - HUGE FUTURE.
Artist of The Year is a very complicated distinction to give to someone in my opinion and it is so, largely because of the way in which you can make the declaration. When I say “best artist” of any given year, most likely it’s looking at it in one of two ways. You can say who had the best year or you can personalize it and say who had the best year TO YOU.
In the case of the former, if we’re talking about who’s had the best year, commercially or in terms of popularity, in 2010, then your answer is either Vybz Kartel or it’s Gyptian. Plain and simple, cut and dry. HOWEVER, because I’ve never been the biggest fan of Gyptian’s (although I do give credit where it’s due) and these days if Kartel releases five tunes, there’s a very good chance that I’m not going to like four of them, I felt kind of odd giving either the honour and instead, as I was going to do anyway, I personalized the issue and said who has been consistently making music that I actually enjoy and I also took it to somewhat of a wider form (so as to not look dumber than I surely do generally) as who I picked is increasingly popular - thankfully.
No one in 2010, to my ear, has CONSISTENTLY made better vibes in Reggae/Dancehall than I-Octane and it is to absolutely no surprise as the youth has been slowly, but calculatedly building his career not necessarily in the brightest of spotlights, but not too far from them either. Over the past year, while not having released a most desired album, I-Octane has really broken through to some serious levels and heights in the music which, even despite an also monstrous year in 2009, were previously unattained by the Clarendon native and he managed to do so in the most beautiful and natural musical form - By making GOOD music. This year he’s managed to become one of the most in-demand artists that we have and he’s also scored numerous #1 hits in the process like such.
So much so has I-Octane impressed that I’m now going to be adding his name to the batch of ’new school’ Roots artist such as Tarrus Riley, Etana, Queen Ifrica and Duane Stephenson, despite the fact that his music has a bit more BITE to it than that of his peers, for the most part. When you look at (and listen to) the work he’s done, unless I’m REALLY overlooking something, it’s all positive material. You don’t find any type of deviation from positivity in his music and I think that’s VERY significant because Octane seems poised to become an artist who can challenge the unwritten but obeyed phenomenon in Reggae that Roots artists can’t ‘crossover’ like Dancehall artists. Well, he’s kind of both and unlike others who may fit into the same category such as Sizzla, Capleton, Anthony B etc. he’s still very young and we’ve never known him to be anything, as an artist, besides what he is right now. I-Octane figures to be the highlight somewhat of a new genre as he isn’t the same type of ‘hybrid’ artist as those legendary chanters, but his style is one which combines mostly new styles.
In 2010, I-Octane also gained popularity on many fronts including by endorsing products and absolutely BASHING the digital market. He’s certainly one of the most active artists that we have and this has well been reflected through digital releases where he may just be THE most active Reggae or Dancehall artists outside of Mavado and Kartel, which is remarkable when you consider everyone who might come in between (Beenie Man, Sizzla, Gyptian . . . He’s more active than all of them). Also, he rounded out the year by making TWO appearances on the latest installment VP Records’ famed ”Strictly The Best” compilation, both of which were rather awkwardly placed, which would make you think that the label just thought it imperative to get him onto the project. He took Stone Love’s award for best Roots Artist and he also became one of, woefully, only three or four artists to actually mash up a Sting stage at Sting 2010 as well as a few other seasonal stage shows locally.
I-Octane is an artist whose future figures to be brighter than his past and even his present, however the present in 2010 was remarkable and not to soon be forgotten, all of which makes him a clear choice as my 2010 Artist of The Year.
Meet Jah Turban! I know what you’re thinking, believe me I do - “Achis you haven’t done an artist of the month in years and years”. And you’re right, I haven’t, but I had a good excuse - I didn’t feel like it. But now, motivation restored, I’m going to tell you about an artist who has to be one of my favourites RIGHT NOW (in terms of his progression), that I’ve covered thus far, Jah Turban. The WICKED Spanish Town born chanter becomes only the second Jamaican born artist that I’ve featured thus far (after Naptali) and with good reason. Although he was born in Jamaica, Jah Turban doesn’t flow inside the same ‘typical’ channels. No. Chances are you may not have even heard of some of the labels and producers which he has voiced for, because like so many acts these days, Turban has found his calling and his audience in the Reggae starving Europe. However, he hasn’t gone to usual places such as the UK, Germany, France or even The Netherlands. No, Jah Turban has made his musical home in Denmark of all places and has made his international name making music for labels such as my good friends at Burton Records for whom he dropped ‘Perseverance’ on their Strike Back Riddim [pictured] late last year.
And perhaps even more notably, Jah Turban recorded the hype herbalist tune, ‘Pass Me The Ganja’ for Juicy Halftone’s HUGE riddim project, the Alis [pictured], earlier this year as well as having reached Food Palace’s popular Colliemonster track from last year as well. The latter composition featured Jah Turban on the riddim alongside such stars as Sizzla Kalonji, Vybz Kartel, Turbulence, Prezident Brown and even the late Natasja.
I’d like to make a connection between the artist’s name and going into his actual style. While certainly he is a dynamic Roots Reggae artist, Jah Turban’s style, as his name might suggest, can definitely be described as ’no frills’. There are no Hip-Hop 'flavours' or ’overtures’ in his style, it’s just straight chanting for His Imperial Majesty and it just so happens that I LOVE that style (obviously). Certainly place Turban in the area of others such as Lutan Fyah, Jah Mason, Anthony B, Perfect etc. and what I think most distinguishes himself from them is his approximation of ENERGY. I really like the way he seems to basically throw himself on the track, with full passion and even when the intensity isn’t SO high, he still really goes after the riddim.
So obviously the next step for Jah Turban, after having dropped quite a few singles and appearing on international compilations, is an album. We’re still waiting on that, however, to hold the vibes high until such time, Jah Turban has linked with yet another Danish imprint, SJP Records which is blessing the masses with a VERY nice six track EP from the artist which is not to be missed, ”Africa Is Our Home”[pictured].
The EP features what is probably Turban’s biggest tune to date and the one for which he has a video, the outstanding (and Lutan Fyah-ish) ‘Babylon U Doom’, as well five other really impressive selections, including ‘Move Vampire’ which sounds VERY promising (you can hear the entire thing on Juno). The EP is set to be internationally released, digitally, on December 3 (and we’ll be picking it up), but if you do not want to wait, you can pick it up right now at SJP’s website, Skyjuice.dk. Despite the fact that he’s apparently fully based in Denmark, I definitely would like to see Turban return to the Caribbean and start mixing amongst some of the more familiar producers, but that’s certainly not to say that he is suffering where he is, because apparently SJP, whoever they may be has been really good to him and he, in turn, has been really good to the fans - Releasing QUALITY material.
So keep an eye and two ears out for Jah Turban. The EP drops worldwide on December 3 and hopefully we can get to know him a bit better (album album album!) in 2011, because a very strong talent like his is just too fucking big for Denmark right??? (biggup Denmark!).
As you probably can tell by scrolling and clicking around here and simply looking at the tags, I tend to try to feature artists who don’t necessarily get what I feel is the type of attention or the level of attention that is warranted by their talents. In Reggae music, and in all of the various forms I cover, the word ‘obscure’ tends to take on an even more pronounced meaning, as you’ll find artists who, even should they advance to the absolute best they can be, the vast majority of their potential fans may not ever even hear their names. So, besides the constant reviews, one of the most crucial things I try to do is feature an unknown/up and coming artist each and every month (with the exception of one) in a feature called 'New Artist of The Month' (now retitled as 'Artist of The Month'. If you dig into them you’ll see that my aim is typically global, as I’ve only covered one artist who is Jamaican born (‘The Great’ Naptali) and I’ve covered artists from all over the Caribbean - Montserrat, Martinique, Trinidad, Dominica, Guyana and Aruba. We’ve also touched Europe, Holland in particular (three times including the Dutch Caribbean), but also the UK and Germany. And there’re also three artists here born on the continent of Afrika as well, so we’ve been around the world and back to deliver some of the most underrated and underknown artists with big big talent. Now, after eighteen artists in nineteen months, I thought that I’d give a recap/update to what they’ve all been up to, as far as I know and an update to how well they’ve come along in the process and definitely be sure to check each and every artist on this list because while some haven’t done much since we featured them, I’m still confident that ALL of them are worth listening to and have bright futures should they continue to pursue the music.
Where it all began. At the time, it was my eighth post altogether and I was still figuring out exactly how this thing worked (which is why it looked so damn horrible), but what little I remember from actually choosing the bonafide cutie from out of Martinique, Goldee, was because I originally saw her as a kind of Zouk ‘bridge’ to more accessible forms of music. Of course, that’s ridiculous now, in retrospect, because Zouk is, out of the three I primarily cover - Reggae (including Dancehall and everything else), Soca and Zouk - THE most accessible of the three. She made a very very interesting and CATCHY form of the music and at that time she had been one of my rising favourites, definitely. As for what’s become of young Goldee from since then, I’m very happy to say that she is one of a very few artists on this list to release an album after I featured her, ”Le Moi De May”, which was very good. She’s subsequently turned out to be a very big attraction as a Zoukie (and a TRADITIONAL Zouk artist is what she is) and I still find her awfully captivating and am eagerly awaiting what she does next.
Makes me smile. What can I say about Smiley? The Aruba born Netherlands based singer/chanter was originally on my radars for having done the big combination alongside Jamaican veteran, Junior Kelly, ‘Dem A Wonder’. Since then, he’s done nothing but improve and improve and show definitive skills as an artist and one who potentially has the ’legs’ for a very long and impressive career. He also managed to deliver a second HUGE single in the form of ’Distance’, which would also deliver the single best video I saw in all of 2009. The tune, alongside ’Dem A Wonder’ and five others would also appear on Smiley’s very strong EP from earlier this year, ”Lively Road” (named after another big big tune from Rootdown Records) and if I am to take you behind the scenes, I’m going to tell you that Smiley (and his wonderful management) even sent us an autographed copy of said EP, so there you go. We’re still waiting on the full length album, but if you’re not going to give it to us just yet, certainly Smiley has done just about everything imaginable to keep attentions high in the meantime and, again, I absolutely cannot wait to hear what he pulls next [nice website too].
The chosen one. Out of all eighteen names you’re going to read about here, without any conditions applied to it - At the time I wrote about them, I wasn’t higher on ANY of them than I was on Ms. Mischu Laikah. NONE. Since then, however, I have to be honest (well I don’t HAVE TO, but I am) in saying that the fact that she’s yet to deliver the full album, or even a very detailed EP (at least not to my knowledge) may be the biggest single disappointment on this list as well. Seemingly she was so close and even WORKING on the release a year and a half ago and after seeing artists such as Smiley (whose name I first heard after Laikah’s) and Maikal X (whose name I first heard, in any significant context, after Laikah’s) rise to stardom and just have successes in general, one would think Laikah would have taken similar routes by now (I’m just saying - If she wanted to . . . Oh sign with Rock ‘N Vibes, I wouldn’t complain none at all). Apparently she’s been performing and touring Europe quite a bit and that’s certainly valuable experience, but from the most selfish of standpoints . . . Damn I want that album!
The difference. It was just maybe two weeks or so ago that I had been thinking about WICKED Bahamian singer/chanter, Jah Nyne, and how it’d been awhile that I’d heard something new coming from his way. Originally, the artist had well captured my attention based on the significant strength of his seemingly unintentional and incidental RIDICULOUS command of melody in his music. The lyrics are nice, the vibes, in general, are very nice as well, but Nyne just makes his music have this distinguishing FLARE which is definitely going to capture the imaginations and interests of many fans. Well, simply too much time had gone by and it just happened that someone (presumably his manager or his publicist, sent me a couple of new tunes from out of nowhere, the lover’s tune ‘I’ll Treasure You’ and the big Roots anthem ‘Rise’. Previously (a few months back), Nyne had also been active with the Italian label Goldcup Records as well, voicing the label’s big big Mirror Riddim amongst others. In his case, it’s obvious that he’s still building towards his peak, so I will be patient, but should this time next year approach with still no album from Jah Nyne, I shall be most disappointed, but waiting patiently still.
Ooooh Shelly. If you look right over there > at the ‘Labels’ section for this blog, you just might notice that out of any artist on this list, Shelly G is the only one who has more than three tags, showing that she’s been very very popular around here and not only just to me. A year ago, when we featured her, Shelly G was the reigning Soca Monarch in her native Guyana and while she lost her crown this year (although not technically because she did not compete and thus was not defeated by the eventual winner, the very curious Bonesman, who turned CREEPY strip dancer at OECS - I digress), one could definitely make the case that 2010 has been one of the biggest in the entire career of Shelly G. Not only has she released her second album since she first appeared here, ”Work It”, but she’s also done more videos and she’s began to release singles at a seemingly more active pace, well away from the Carnival season. Most importantly (to me of course), it turns out that Shelly G is quite a nice person and is at least somewhat fond of my work and she links me relatively frequently and . . . Yes, she’s beautiful which always helps EVERYTHING. I can’t ask for much in her case because she’s done so well although definitely reclaiming her throne in 2011 would be a nice place to start.
X Man. Definitely Trini chanter Daniel Bless is one of the most obscure and, in the absolute sense, NEWEST name on this list, just as he was the day we chose to feature him and his music. Since then, I haven’t heard but a few new tunes from the artist, but as far as I can tell he’s been quite active performing and hopefully a big break is nearing. What initially attracted me to the artist was his COMMITMENT to his words. He didn’t (and still doesn’t) have the most varied or versatile of deliveries and lyrically he wasn’t the most impressive, but what he definitely seemed to have was a very hard working type of appeal to him and while not SCINTILLATING at so many things, he was definitely GOOD at them. I’m not at all surprised that he hasn’t exactly been jumping up and catching attention from all over just yet as he’s probably still a couple of years away from reaching his peak, but as I said originally, he’s definitely a work in progress and - Should he progress according to how I perceive his talents - There’ll aren’t many names on this list with MUCH more of an upside.
Class act. Outside of getting various response from the artists themselves and from managers, labels and the likes, I’d have to say that the first time I did this feature and REALLY received a big reaction was when we tuned in and picked up this syrupy sweet voiced US based, Sudan born singer, Dynamq. I saw the thing being linked on various social networking sites from artist and other labels alike, it also featured on a former site I used to write for (which I had no influence on and just drew from my blog) and I even saw a completely unrelated article written on the ‘Sudanese Child’ which referenced it as well. I was pretty damn proud of that I have to say and I still am, but the main part was that the world had obviously woken up and did what I had failed to do when given the original opportunity (I had his album, ”Sudanese Child” and just . . . Kind of lost it). Since appearing here it’s obvious that Dynamq has enjoyed a rather significant increase in his general STATUS in the music, but he also hasn’t forgotten the studio and he dropped one of my more quiet favourite tunes of last year in ‘Reggae Feeling’ for the Tune In Crew (who also contacted me as well) and most recently he appeared on the big Ska piece from Rootdown Records, the Kokoo Riddim (incidentally, the very same riddim backed the aforementioned Smiley’s aforementioned big tune ‘Lively Road’ as well).
Real general. While 2010 is clearly turning out to be the year of Gappy Ranks in terms of UK Reggae artists, STILL the name Mr. Williamz has to be taken into consideration for big names for the future and it’s because of his work to the past. Williamz has developed this RIDICULOUSLY healthy old school style for the new age of Reggae and Dancehall and, in the process along with people such as Gappy Ranks, he’s built up the next generation of UK artists after what seemed to be a very long time of stagnation for the region, at least from the outside looking in. He does still figure to be a year or two away from the start of his prime years of efficacy which is a devastating though because already he’s clearly one of the most talented younger artists, regardless of origins. Since being featured, Williamz has apparently focused most on touring and such things, but he did manage to score on Roots Survival’s Protection Riddim earlier this year. If not 2011, then most certainly 2012 will be the year which HOPEFULLY sees Mr. Williamz doing his greatest damage (maybe even returning to Jamaica, where he grew up) and I cannot wait.
The heights. I was damn near THRILLED to see the feature on Jah Marnyah receive SO MUCH reaction in so many different ways. Besides on the actual post with the comments, there were many emails (including a couple from two of my regular readers I believe) and we even saw the post pop up on some old media site from out of Marnyah’s native Montserrat (biggup Arrow). Hopefully it can help to some degree as he seems to be an artist only lacking in the area of ATTENTION and status, once that gets higher, for someone as TERRESTRIALLY talented as he (meaning that his style isn’t something too far out of the ordinary) I’d expect Jah Marnyah to, very frequently, begin appearing on riddims from all the big European labels (including, hopefully, Necessary Mayhem). And he’s already begun - Jah Marnyah appears twice on French label Akom Records’ HUGE Vitamin & Highlight Riddim release earlier this year and he’s also worked with another strong French label, A La Folie as well. I was hoping that 2010 might give us an album, but it’s looking unlikely in the final quarter of the year and perhaps that’s for the best because with another year of seasoning (even though he clearly doesn’t need it) 2011 might see Jah Marnyah as an ‘album of the year’ candidate.
Your time is now. Throughout this post (like I just did), I’ve been saying things like ‘next year should ba e big one for this artist’ and things like such, but I can’t really say things like that in this case, can I? Why not? Well, first of all it’s wrong, I’m not at all expecting to hear very much from Naptali in 2011 and second of all . . . I just don’t care. The Clarendon native has done enough in 2010 to pretty much secure his place for the next two or three years in my mind because as of the final third of September, he still is the mastermind of the best album I’ve heard this year so far, the MASSIVE ”Long Journey”. The album generated such a VERY nice feeling in my mind that it facilitated Naptali’s being chosen (giving me an early opportunity to do some research anyway) and there was quite a bit of response to it as well, including a feature on Naptali’s website. Since then it’s also garnered other nice words and reviews from the masses and not only that, but it also led us to another remarkable young artist who I’ll tell you about just a little later.
Anything ah anything. The concern with telling someone about a big new Soca artist after Carnival is that 100% of the time that new artist won’t have an album (and won’t have one five years from now either) and because they’re new and unproven, you run the risk of having them basically go unheard from for the next ten months or so, with the nature of the music itself. Thankfully, there’re exceptions in some of those instances and I give you such an exception, Ms. BUFFY! Buffy’s big tune, ’Anything’ was so fucking huge and had so much in the way of appeal that almost IMMEDIATELY after writing her feature I saw that, most thankfully, she would definitely be finding a way to stay relevant and active before the next Carnival season in her native Trinidad began. She, apparently, fancies herself somewhat of a Dancehall artist in a Soca market and, as far as releasing singles, she’s definitely taken the ‘year-round’ approach of Dancehall artists in releasing her singles and she continues to do so (with her most recent piece being ‘Tell Me That You Love Me’). She’s also scored a big tune, ‘Boom Boom’ alongside Jamaican Dancehall diva Macka Diamond and a whole heap of other big singles as well (such as the curious ‘Wine Gyal’ and ‘Dirty Wine’ over the Faxx Machine Riddim), pushing her name even further up the ranks. Of course the real test will come next year in seeing if she can maintain the ‘Anything’ born hype . . . But I don’t think there’s any way in hell that she’s going to lost it at this point.
Funky Comfort. What you’re going to see here is the artist on this list who, EASILY, has been the most discussed on this blog and I definitely plan on keeping it as such as long as she continues on her way. Sara Lugo is the “another remarkable young artist” I alluded to in discussing Naptali and each and every day I find something new to like about her music. She’s probably also the youngest person on this list (with the possible exception of Buffy) and her style is one which LEAPS well beyond her years as she makes this very very COOL and methodical type of Jazzy Reggae music which absolutely works for me. Apparently she’s still hard at work on her debut album with producer Umberto Echo, but she has been making WONDERFUL releases in the meantime and doing so for a variety of producers. Since we featured her, Sara Lugo has appeared on tunes with Jamaram (who she tours with as well), Ephraim Juda (big tune, ‘Too Fast’), she’s also released the WICKED Part of My Life on Frenchie label, Greenyard Records’ Design Riddim and most recently she surprisingly joined Swiss based Gwada chanter, Cali P, on the flaming ‘Wine Now’ for Hemp Higher’s Scrub-A-Dub Riddim. So, maybe in the early stages of 2011 when you’re listening to Sara Lugo’s HUGE debut album and it’s just destroying you, you’ll remember who told you first because just as I felt back then, what we have here is a potentially SPECIAL talent.
Flames. Apparently I’ve been underselling the talents and the perception of young Kalash, the wicked new rock voiced Dancehall DJ from out of Madinina. To me, he was definitely a very strong talent, but one requiring a bit of seasoning and refinement to take his RUGGED style to the proverbial ‘next level’. Well, pretty much everything I’ve read about him from since (and granted there was nothing that stood out in particular and neither did the amount of it) has pretty much crowned the man as a great artist already and . . . Well, I don’t have much of a problem with that and I definitely like people appreciating the vibes. As for me, however, since his self titled album dropped, I’ve given more and more attention to Kalash and while we haven’t heard much in the way of new material (to be expected), I’m REALLY looking forward to hearing him a couple of years on because when we look at French Caribbean Reggae and Dancehall, most of the bigger names, like Tiwony, Admiral T, Krys, Lady Sweety, Saïk etc. come from out Gwada and should Kalash keep progressing, he should definitely be joining that elite group (but hell, according to a lot of people he’s already there, so what do I know).
Rise. Obviously, because I just talked about them not too long ago, I’ll be brief with these final few names (because not much has changed). In the case of Dominica born Aima Moses I just want to reiterate the niceness that he does have a tune available digitally, which is ‘All The Same’, big tune you can pick up now. And I’ve also noticed my feature on him referenced, indirectly, in a couple of places as well, which is pretty nice, so biggup Aima Moses.
Who??? Okay, not too long after I’d written the feature on ROYAL DAINTIES, I got a link from a label who had voiced them on a recent project (biggup Jahlight) and they informed that, in fact, Royal Dainties had undergone a name change and was now voicing and performing as MR. ROYAL. I like the name change, as an artist who has been around for quite some time now, perhaps the name change will energize not only himself but producers who SHOULD be calling him up to voice their riddims, so hopefully that’s exactly what will happen and 2011 will be a big year for Trini chanter Mr. Royal.
Princess Gone. And finally is the third (I THINK) Dutchie on this list, the blistering Lady K-Wida. I’m all but certain that K-Wida has, in fact, retired from making music and from a selfish point of view, it’s sad to see so much musical talent go to waste (if it is true) and maybe she’ll come back someday. But if she’s gone for real, then we definitely wish her good luck in whatever she’s up to and wherever she’s doing it.
Shalli
Shalli singles - 'Show My Love', 'Shalli Sings', 'All About Love' & 'Shalli Sings' [Remix] - All digitally available now
'Feeling Inside' Digital Single - Available Now
