'Coronation': A Review of "10" by Spice

Burn off. Gimmicks don't last too long. In all things with even the remotest hint of competition, gimmicks and gadgets will eventually fade and away and we'll get a look under the proverbial hood (probably not the best choice of words today, but I'm leaving it in there). This is even the case in something as wholly conditional, wavering and just banwagon-ed as music. In an arena where tastes tend to shift on a seemingly hourly basis, ploys and flukes will be weeded away. Hell, even actual talent, if it is placed in the wrong 'package' (again, probably not the wisest choice of words this afternoon), isn't guaranteed to either stick around very long at all or, if it is, most certainly isn't sure to attain the level of stardom which it would seem to warrant (thinking about infinitely gifted artists like Madd Anju and Mega Banton). And this is where music seems to go in its own direction. It becomes far less comparable to another form of entertainment like sports, where if you can win, stardom is assured. In music, you can rack up the 'wins' and, one day, for no reason at all, people will just stop giving a shit about what you have to say. SO, when you find someone who can actually manage to grow themselves and develop into someone who the masses gravitate towards, and do this for YEARS, you have a particularly special case, whether you realize it or not. In Reggae, and in Dancehall specifically, this is especially true. For every case of Beenie, Bounty and Buju, there may be a few dozen which're either the absolute polar opposite --being someone who grabbed attention for one reason or another and then lost it almost immediately-- or just someone who, even if they did stick around following some type of hit (or something else which taught us all their names) never really managed to generate that type of flash ever again. And it's so interesting that I mention people like Bounty Killer (new album, "King Of Kingston", coming soon.... at least I hope it is) (any day now with that release date now Bounty), Beenie Man and Buju Banton (and you can put Kartel in there as well if you like), because we have those pillars for soooooo long in the genre, that I think we tend to underrate just how much they have had to grind and how difficult it has been for them to stick around. The previous class of Dancehall royalty did not actively reign as long as they did and the next one, whoever they may be, almost certainly will not either. And amongst all of those Dancehall Kings, there has always been a DANCEHALL QUEEN. 

The most recent Empress, the legendary Ms. Marion Hall, was our greatest and most tenured of them all. Lady Saw was someone who, perfectly, illustrated my basis for this review. She absolutely did have a bit of a 'gimmick' or a 'specialty': She was known for her slack and dirty songs and she reveled in it for quite a while. She'd go harder and score hits and pull it back a little and score more. HOWEVER, you (fan who is interested enough in this topic to read this far into a review this long) know she would not have stuck around as long as she did were it not for the fact that, at her absolute best, Lady Saw was an extremely gifted deejay. She had a sense of melody (particularly on kind of slower Dancehall songs) which took a song and transformed it from being this incredibly dirty track into being something which, even if you took out the words and hummed it in her cadence, could be enjoyed. Furthermore, you ("fan who.....") have also likely heard a variety of different female artists take a similar approach  to making music and receive not even a fraction of the results that Lady Saw achieved. Having reigned for as long as she did, our queen would abdicate the throne, opting for a musical pursuit of her faith and in doing so she created a vacancy which urgently needed to be filled: There simply has to be a Queen of Dancehall Music. 

Enter Ms. Grace Hamilton (hmm, I should probably find a better way to say that as well). I like to think that I have somewhat of a unique perspective when it comes to Spice, the same as I did with Lady Saw, Vybz Kartel and others who tend to make headlines for reasons outside of the studio as much as for reasons inside of it. I'm a music fan. I'm somewhat oblivious and I live in a bubble and I am comfortable saying that I don't pay much attention to many things (I cannot tell you how many things I've learned in doing research for reviews that have absolutely shocked me and turned out to be common-knowledge). Therefore, when it comes to things which are not either directly or indirectly related to music, I'm not the one to look to most times. I don't have a clue what's going on and I'm proud of it. But I think over the time I've accrued the ability to know a good song or two when I hear it. And in her case, specifically, I've been listening to Spice songs for at least twenty years. On one of the earliest (and defnitely most noteworthy) of occasions that I recall linking up the name with the artist would have been during a very public (but ultimately friendly) spat and musical back and forth she had with Elephant Man. That would apex, in her case, with a nineteen year old Spice.... incinerating Sting 2001 stage (literally, twenty years ago) with a rendition of 'Robbery', a tune aimed at Ele, who had been a victim of theft around the time ["Him seh 'shankle my nankle', man seh gimme di chain pon ankle!"] ["Elephant fraid fi fly through dem rob him. Nah go a England again, dem ahgo mob him. Seventeen thousand pounds dem rob him. Lucky dem neva bag him and tag him"]. Even then, way back then, I heard something and I am not AT ALL surprised what became of young Lady Spice. Why exactly? Well, while I certainly couldn't predict her becoming the star she has outside of the realm of music (and, 'when it is all said and done', Spice may be the most well known female the Dancehall has ever produced) (shit, she may already be there), what I heard was TALENT. I heard an undeniable skill which would have, very comfortably placed her in ahead of most of her peers, regardless of gender. Subsequently, as Spice's persona would grow to match her sizable gifts (and there's another one I might regret writing like that) (maybe i should do some editing) (I don't feel like it), she has become a genuine and bona fide superstar in the music. But something was missing. Unless she had attended Aidonia's School of 'I'm Never Making an Official Album and You Can't Make Me', it would have been nice to have come across a definitive release from the artist who turned out to be the heir apparent to Lady Saw's queendom. And though it has taken a decade of twists and turns, the most fitting nommed "10" is here and it was not easy. 

"So Mi Like It" EP [2014]

I'm old enough to remember (so are you most likely) the days of VP Records and Greensleeves Records kind of having a competition (I miss those days) when it came to artists and albums. While there was some go-between (namely Sizzla Kalonji, who would release yearly sets on both labels for several years) (and, in retrospect, that may've been the most glaring source of competition, wondering each year which label would produce the finer Sizzla release), the two labels seemed to have a different approach. VP carried big names, almost exclusively. Beenie Man, Lady Saw, Beres Hammond, Sanchez and the likes (Sean Paul would have been another at the time) were all official VP acts at one point or another. For their part, however, Greensleeves was a bit more ambitious and would, seemingly, keep an eye on who was coming up. Because of that, much of the early work from the likes of Vybz Kartel (who has never released a studio project via VP Records), the aforementioned Ele, Red Rat, Busy Signal and even super producer Don Corleon, could be found in the sizable vault of Greensleeves Records (if I recall correctly, they had even done a deal with the once IMMENSLEY popular Predator, but such a project never materialized). I'm thinking of which group Spice would have fallen into had VP not put an end to that question by swooping in and purchasing their closest competitor back in 2008. NOW, ridiculously, that deal would close just a single year prior to VP closing the deal which just now has finally bore fruits as they signed a twenty-sevenish year old Spice to an album deal. At that time, she would have been riding high on the success of 'Ramping Shop', that infamous combination with Kartel, and it would seem like a good idea for both parties. So it would have taken a Nostradamus-like level of prognostication at the time to know that the deal's very first album would not actually arrive until Spice's thirty-ninth birthday! DAMN! Following years and years of.... a bunch of shit that I don't know very well and even if I did I probably wouldn't feel like talking about (but it would include the artist once mentioning that signing the deal was "the worst mistake I've ever made in my life" and making a tune (and, subsequently, an entire mixtape named after it) called 'Captured' which, allegedly detailed the arduous relationship she had with the label. 'Captured' was a ballad sang with all the emotion of someone suffering from a MASSIVELY broken heart or in the full mourning of the death of a loved one) (and I should also mention that back in late 2014, which was five years after initially signing with the label, VP would release "So Mi Like It", an EP from Spice which seemed to signal a forthcoming album, but here we are, more than six and a half years later), Spice and VP have kissed and made up and we are all better off because of it. Let's talk about it. 

I've come to the conclusion that I will spend my older years annoying the hell out of young people saying "this shit isn't Dancehall" any time I hear something which is given the title despite clearly being something largely infused by Hip-Hop. And although she generally comes through in many styles, I have to say that Spice belongs to a very small but DELECTABLE group of artists who, seemingly, make a point of either exclusively making genuine Dancehall music or consistently doing so. This unfortunately teeny, tiny little lot includes the likes of Agent Sasco, Busy Signal, Beenie Man, Spragga Benz, Baby Cham and,  most notably, Bounty Killer. So, throughout the years, I have been sure to keep an ear to her work and, when she goes that route, I have rarely been disappointed, if ever (this is her first album, but she's already stocked enough hits to have a Dancehall Greatest Hits compilation released, 'Jim Screechie', 'Robbery', 'Swear' (loved that song), 'Back Broad' (probably my favourite that she's ever done), some older personal favourites of mine). And I'm sure such a set will arrive some day (it may take a century, but it'll get here) (You and I will not be here,  however) (someone else can write that review) (I'll be sleeping), but today we're taking a look and listen to what is easily one of the most anticipated albums in the history of Dancehall music, "10" by Spice. Taking an executive producer's credit is Reggae superstar, Shaggy through his Ranch Entertainment imprint, and he helms what ultimately proves to be a very FUN set. Getting us up and going is the autobiographical 'S.P.I.C.E.'. If you don't know who Spice is, here, she lays it all out for you. This song not only covers her history but it also so nicely demonstrates her style. If you take one part Lady Saw (as we'll see on the next track), maybe a little Tanya Stephens (Tanya Stephens is a lyrical genius if you didn't know) (a genius) and a fire which if of her own creation, you'd have something very Spice-like and it exudes all over this one. There're several moments on 'S.P.I.C.E.' which made me smile big like:

"Da album yah due from 2009

So VP caan vex if mi talk mi mind

MI WOULDA REACH FURTHER IF DEM DID DROP IT PON TIME

Couple more album from di time m sign

Nah watch no face, still I push and go through

Badda dan nuff woman and nuff man too" 

She's right. She just is. So much flames does she generate that the riddim full on TAPS OUT and we move on to the next song. If you don't know what 'Send It Up' is about from just the title, Spice quickly lets you know with her very first words, "Nothing  to me like a good dick" (you may, if you're like me and old as hell, remember Saw having a HILARIOUS burner called 'Life Without Dick'). Songs like this get overlooked, in my opinion, because people respond to  them because of the subject and the direction but if you REALLY listen to 'Send It Up', it SHINES. There is wordplay brilliance here ["Dem yah kinda fuck in yah a summin weh yuh need. Pussy grip tighter when mi unda mi weed. WATCH HOW YUH AH FUCK MI, TEK YAH HAND OUTTA MI WEAVE"], but if you like 'Send It Up', you might not get into the details. It's a fun vibes and just an interesting spin through but, there is a giant in there (again, I should probably think about rewriting that) which, reportedly, is the next single coming from "10", so you can imagine an either awkward or incredibly smart edited version forthcoming. The piece taking the lion's share of early attention prior to the album's release is the huge combination and single, 'Go Down Deh' which features the aforementioned Shaggy and Sean Paul. From the initial few times I heard 'Go Down Deh', I didn't love it. I realized what it was and the impact of it (a project like this simply needs a track which jumps out on paper and you bring these three together and that is precisely what it does), it became an international hit, unsurprisingly and it has grown on me quite a bit. But you expect this from such an esteemed and talented trio - you put them together, they couldn't NOT produce a hit, even if they tried. Next up is the most familiar offering  and probably the oldest as well, the Notnice guided 'So Mi Like It'. In all 'measurable' ideas, this is my favourite song on the whole of "10" and it's one of the finest of Spice's entire career. Now seven or eight years old, I'm not at all surprised VP (or whoever did) chose to include it, it is absolutely sensational and a most fitting introduction to Spice. And wrapping up our first spot of selections on the album is another one whose title says virtually everything you need to know about its course, as Spice gives her take on the question if 'Size Matters'. Take a guess. Which side do you think she falls on?

"Fat piece of pussy from the island

Just a print inna mi nylon

Tump up mi pussy like a Tyson

Mek mi speak like so mi deh ya Saigon

Waan fuck yuh wid di lights on

Gimme summn fi mi ride pon

Mek mi flow like a hydrant

Waan summn big like a python"

It's yet another song that might get overlooked in a skilled aspect in favour of just looking at its direction, but you do so at your or own mistake. For as dirty as it is (and it most certainly is) there is a certain, undeniable level of skill to be found on 'Size Matters'.

The song which begins the second third of bites on "10", 'Po-Po', is equally one of its most impressive and surprising. Featuring Spice's teenage son, Nicho, this is a BRIGHT and LARGE vibed social commentary which, I'm sure is very special to Mama Spice as her offspring shows himself to be quite talented, actually, in his contributions.

"Dem no do equality

Dem si wi as a quantity 

Dem kill from city to city

Bun all police brutality

And after such a history, dem still have di audacity-

Fi treat wi wid hostility

Dem no protect community"

"Black man hold yuh sanity

Keep a strong mentality

A full time wi get clarity

Crush dem wid solidarity

Wi no have security wid no assurity

Wi need change rapidly

Too much police conspiracy"

I don't know exactly how much of Nicho's portion was written by himself (although he does take a writing credit, so at least some of it, but his delivery is very strong, particularly of someone his age and, it's early still, but I think I would be somewhat shocked if we didn't hear from him again, musically, at some point. That kid has a bright future should he choose to pursue it, in my opinion. And I should also mention that 'Po-Po' is very catchy. It has this kind of marching vibes to it and good luck in getting its chorus out of your head. 'Don't Care' may be destined to go overlooked on "10" but that would be due to no fault of its own, it is golden to my ears and a BEAUTIFUL chunk of Reggae that I would have loved know was present here before listening through. You've mistreated Spice and she's finally tired of you and your shit so it's time for you to hit the road because she's tired of your apologies ["Waan forgiveness, go ask God. No bring dat to Grace. From you cheat one time, no come back inna mi place"]. But before you go, she has a big tune for you. And once your gone, you're likely to find yourself with Spice 'On Your Mind'. Veteran and (I think) good friend of Shaggy's, Olaf Blackwood, joins Spice on the cool R&B licked piece. What really comes through here, for me at least, is how strong Spice's personality comes through. The vibe here is more chilled and laid back, but the deejay is at her rawest and most direct in its midst ["....to tell you the truth, mi woulda love to. Yuh kinda cute. Mi woulda fuck you"]. Blackwood (who sounds a bit like Serani) accompanies her excellently on a offering which is probably better than I would have thought it would be. Maybe Spice would forgive me for thinking that 'Top' would be a track outlining her... positional preferences, instead it's more of an inspirational piece which comes courtesy of the great Tony Kelly. Typically, with one so up-tempo and aggressive, I wouldn't say such a thing, but I will say that 'Top' has a way of growing on you. You don't label this one, good or bad, after one or two spins. It will change. If you're like me, where you'll arrive is at a place which fully appreciates it. And check the piece which follows it, fittingly, 'Love Her'. This one is OUTSTANDING. At its core, 'Love Her' is about empowering women and the way that Spice approaches it is so interesting because she places herself in the position of an admirer/fan, with the irony being that you know there're many people saying the same things about her. She's had tunes - 'Like A Man', the aforementioned 'Captured' and others which just come off as SMART writes and this one, while far more straight forward, is nearing that level and, rather easily, one of the best "10" has to offer. 

(note: This review will probably end up being super long, but I'm having a really good time writing it) (let's continue) 'Frenz' was the very first single from "10" and I would think that it was chosen to display a bit of diversity from the then forthcoming release, just in case we all had an idea that "10" would turn out to be some kind of an ultra-aggressive, hammering set. It also would help in making the choice that 'Frenz' is produced by Stephen 'Di Genius' McGregor (didn't he turn out to be amazing) and Dwayne 'Supa Dups' Chin-Quee which makes it a potential gem on paper and easily digestible by the masses. The song doesn't sound, however, how you might suspect and you could actually call it 'somber' at times. It's about minding the company that you keep and the ones who pass by in life ["Mind who you lime round, spend time round. They could be the same one that putting you down"] (biggup Ickarus) ( I GUARANTEE you this will be the only Spice review that you read that references a fifteen year old Ickarus song!) (WHAT!). It also shows off Spice's vocals. She can sing a bit, when she's inspired to and, of course, what she says is very important. Melissa Musique, another friend of Shaggy's joins on the penultimate combination of "10" and one I was really looking forward to hearing, 'Different Shit'. It follows the song before, in terms of direction, quite nicely because after warning you to be sure not to keep in bad company on 'Frenz', Spice then tells you WHY - because you got shit to do! You've heard songs like this previously, but the tone of 'Different Shit' is.... well, it's different. It isn't like she's trying to kick you in the ass to motivate you, instead, Spice and Musique are sitting down and explaining things to you properly, like an adult. 

"I speak truth like bible

Don't have time to idle

Some gal life waan recycle

Mi dreams and mi thoughts dem high like di Eiffel

Right now mi deh pon a different level

Nah sekkle fi a likkle

Fight fi find a likkle

My money fi ah triple

Nah have no time fi giggle

Focused pon di goal like when balla dribble"

And now that you have your affairs in order, it's time to hit the gym and get that ass in shape on 'FIT'. This tune is madness, just in case you thought you'd let you out of the door without just a bit more spicy vibes (and you didn't pay attention to the title of the last two songs). As I've said before, you can listen to this one and appreciate it from just a sonic point of view, but if you listen to what she says, you get another level of appreciation for 'FIT'. The song is helmed by the same Shane Hoosong who takes a tremendous credit for "10", producing at least seven of its fifteen servings. Bossman Shaggy makes an encore appearance on the strong 'Bad Girl' which finds Tony Kelly back on the board. The song is a definite highlight on "10" to my ears and I suspect it will be given some time in the spotlight at some point - it deserves it (you check Spice's first verse on this track) (BOOM!). And lastly is 'Nitey' where Spice recovers the album's most familiar grounds, but this time with a smoother and more laidback approach. You take out the urgency, that kind of animalistic path (not that there's any wrong with that) and you get a much different vibes and, despite its subject being well trodden throughout, 'Nitey' is a welcomed breath of fresh air and a pretty nice choice of a closer in my opinion. 

So what's wrong with "10"? Surely it cannot be perfect. It isn't. I only have one real critique, looking back at this release and it is very simple. There're fifteen songs on this album. It's playing time is forty-one minutes (technically its 40:59, but who's counting?) (well, I guess that means that I am) (shit, this entire sentence means that I'm counting, doesn't it???). I mean.... we did wait over a decade you know.... they could have packed it up a little bit. Only two of its tracks, 'Frenz' (which is only a second over) and 'Bad Girl', clock in at over three minutes and two of them, 'FIT' and 'Different Shit' are less than fifteen seconds more than two minutes (and 'Different Shit' is a combination you remember - so that's two people on the album's shortest song). I wish it was a little longer (yet another strange sentence).

Overall, on paper "10" will be one of the biggest albums of 2021, without question. It's been out less than a week as of this writing and it probably has already done enough business to qualify (on the exact same day, which was her birthday and Jamaican Independence Day, Spice releases an album, so does Sizzla Kalonji and Vybz Kartel). That wasn't in question. We knew that before it reached: Spice's debut will be HUGE. Just as certain was its quality. We didn't know exactly how strong it would be, but we knew it would be fantastic and it is. Personally, I am SO DAMN happy that "10" has finally materialized, it's probably TEN too late and a lot of people have dropped dead waiting on it, but You and I are still here, so there you go (we all better hope that her next album isn't called "20") (that would be fucked up!). Having worked so hard throughout her entire career and, finally, having made it to this point, Spice is at her destructive best throughout "10" and even further solidifies her place as Dancehall's reigning Queen. Outstanding. 

Rated: 4.5/5

VP Records

Digital [CD Releases on August 27th]