Oh So Well!: A review of Rebellution by Natty King

Level up. Generally speaking, it almost seems as if, following an early period of development, an artist will find themselves almost 'destined' for a certain level of stardom for the balance of their career. This will change given what may have going on at any given time in terms of whether or not they have a big tune running at the moment but, for the most part, when they reach a certain level, that's where they're staying. That situation has undoubtedly led us all to overuse the word "underrated" (even when applicable) in regards to so many of our artists as we feel that their talent and their output warrants far more attention than we see them receiving, but even at the higher end, particularly in a genre such as Reggae music, things almost always seem to be set in stone. Of course, "almost always" means that there is room for exceptions and we have seen occassionaly cases where fully developed and matured artists have, on the strength of one thing or another, seen their careers enter and STAY in an entirely different bracket of recognition. Probably the most immediate example I'm thinking of right now would be Spice. Spice had been active for nearly a decade before people really began to pay her attention to the level where she stands now as one of Dancehall's most biggest stars altogether and its, largely, undisputed Queen. Looking back, perhaps you could point 'Romping Shop', her wildly popular combination with the equally wildly popular Vybz Kartel, as something of a turning point, but it almost seems as if that track only added to her popularity as anyone who followed (or goes back now, retrospectively) her career prior to that can tell you - she was always very skilled. Had she not attained her current levels of notoriety, Spice would have likely continued on to enjoy a solid career, albeit one which may've seen her crowned Queen of the Dancehall's underground, at best (instead of going back and forth with Elephant Man for a decade more, she ended up starring on international television shows). I'm also thinking of Kiprich. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that the authour of 'Telephone Ting' and the hilarious 'Baby Song', would enjoy a damn healthy spell as a warhead, lyrically slaying almost everything in sight..... just because (literally used to think of him as Ele's sidekick). I'm also going to include Pressure Busspipe who was well established on the Virgin Islands Reggae scene before he upped his resumé via linking with Jamaican ace, Don Corleon and the rest is history (Pressure's a most interesting case given his origins, someday I'm certain that we're going to be dealing with a whole heap of extremely talented youths from out of the VI who will say that, first and foremost, they grew fans of and listening to his music). All of those are fairly surprising instances of well established names who, via one route or another, suddenly managed to take their respective careers to the next level.

The albums of Natty King

And, interestingly enough, today we're going to take a look at someone who I believe may just be a 'candidate' to do a similar thing in 2022. While you may or may not be an actual fan of his, if you follow modern Roots Reggae music, chances are pretty good that you've come across 'The Man From The East',  St. Thomas, Jamaica native Natty King at some point or another. Be it during his early days when he scored with what remains his signature,  'No Guns To Town', and several other big tracks such as 'Mr. Greedy', 'When The Money Done', 'Environmentalist' and 'Easy Officer' ["Gwan and leave di herbs. Because a food fi di nerves, don't disturb. You're here to protect and serve"]  or if you came along sometime after, you should be at least a little familiar with Natty King and his giant voice by now. His career has followed that basic course as well. After arriving on the scene and demonstrating himself someone to keep an eye on (which we did), the Reggae world seemed to be in the process of figuring out where he would land. I can remember way back when he first came to prominence and the talk around him was largely in comparing his work to that of the legendary Luciano (more on him later), who was a big influence on Natty King's career, because of them both having this deep, baritone voice (all of these years later and you can really tell the difference. They literally sound NOTHING alike) (nothing at all outside of the tone) and singing music from a most similar source. Natty King would go onto have a very nice career, along the lines of someone like I Wayne who also rocketed to prominence on the strength of a giant tune and a few others around the same time, but he wasn't the 'next Luciano'.... we were (and are) too busy still loving the old one.

But, as we've shown, sometimes these things can change. Back in 2005, Natty King would bring forth his hotly anticipated debut album release, so named after his big hit, "No Guns To Town" (one of the finest debut albums in Reggae history in my opinion) (and I own a physical copy of it which is good considering that its creator, Insight Records, have never bothered to bring it to the digital medium) (shame on them). The singer would follow up on that four years later with the Flava McGregor produced "Trodding" and the very next year (we're at 2010 if you're bad at math) would bring "Born To Be Free" (which is important for us today). Now [!], although he would go on to see a dozen years in between album releases, by no means was it a quiet and uneventful twelve years as, Natty King would attract attention for a few wrong reasons over the years, including an arrest a few years back for.... I'm not going to tell you why, you can Google that yourself. Just last year he would also attract a curious amount of notoriety for 'Joe', a tune well away from what we were used to hearing from the singer (though I was SHOCKED that he made it, I had no problem with 'Joe', but I'm a Sizzla fan) (look up an old tune called 'So What' by Prophet Benjamin) ["What if I jam she fast? What if I jam she slow? Some seh I man should not do that because I am a Bobo"] which generated both positive and negative buzz. And, on an entirely positive note, Natty King also made headlines in 2021 when buried the proverbial hatchet and let bygones be bygones with fellow singer Bushman (who we also used to say he sounded a lot like) (he does not, but it is a lot closer sound than Luciano), with whom he had a rather surprising two-decade long feud with (I think that the thought is that they will make a song together at some point.... why not an full album???) over some garbage. Musically speaking, though he has struggled in recent years to get that next hit tune (which may explain the creation of 'Joe'), Natty King's music, at least in my opinion, has remained solid. With very few exceptions, when he's actually made songs, they've been of the typically high quality that we've become accustomed to hearing from him through the years. 'Africa Mi Deh', 'Leave Dem To Time' and 'Change' really didn't make an impact of any size, in retrospect, but were far more than decent efforts. On the album side (which is why we have all gathered here today), though we had to wait a staggeringly long time for his fourth, Natty King did deliver a few EP's between full projects with the finest probably being "Man From The East" of 2015... but where was the album? The answer to that question turned out to be in the same place that the last one was from. The previously mentioned "Born To Be Free" found Natty King teaming up with Austrian imprint, House Of Riddim, and CLEARLY it worked out so well that the first big Reggae album release of 2022, finds the link re-explored and out comes the looooooooong awaited fourth album ("Born To Be Free" released a few months before my twenty-ninth birthday, I turned forty not too long ago) of the artist's, "Rebellution". A most interesting difference between the two is that also on board with the new set is a Wellowell Production label, which IS Natty King's very own creation, so you can definitely get the feeling that he is going 'all-in' for this opportunity. Given the amount of time his name has spent in circulation recently both related and unrelated to music, I am of the opinion that should he followup on it all (with probably a lot of new eyes and ears on his work now) with a downright MONSTROUS release, perhaps in a few years' time, we may be looking back on "Rebellution" as a point when Natty King's name began to carry a lot more weight in Reggae music.

As I've often said in the past, I look forward to situations like this --an artist releasing an album for the first time in quite awhile-- because one of the wonderful 'side effects' of the situation is that it almost forces me to go back and have a listen to their previous work. On this particular occasion, I'm going through "Born To Be Free" and remembering tunes such as 'Slu U In the Open' (which has a shout for possibly being my single favourite Natty King tune ever, although its strongest version did not appear on that album) (you'll look up the iLove Riddim from Rootdown Records if you want to hear it at its best) (biggup Teka) and 'Fyah Bed', and I've recently fallen in love with 'Buzz Rock Warrior'. "Born To Be Free" didn't get a lot of spin in its day, but it has aged quite well and more than worth your time in 2022. Hopefully a similar fate doesn't befell "Rebellution" because it is all sorts of excellent, a big and beautiful example of which can be found on its very first selection, the triumphant 'Jah Is My Guide' (biggup Tiwony, one of the best songs he's ever done (and it features ProfA) shares that title). Natty King comes out of the gate scalding with this big tune which tells us all to seek a most secure type of comfort under the direction of His Majesty. The sound of this one makes it so that I wouldn't at all be surprised to see it featured as a single from "Rebellution" some day and, given just how nice it does come through, if given the opportunity, I would expect it to do quite well and even if it doesn't You and I will love it for what it is. On the very nice song, Natty King outlines what may be happen if you do not accept His guidance on 'Early Morning'. It really went in a much different direction than I was expecting (I was thinking it might be a praising tune), as what we get is this look at these morally vacant individuals who we need to be aware of ["Dem yute nah tek no talk, be careful of di places weh yuh walk. A some nuh know God. Dem no read bible, dem will shoot you down wid dem rifle"]. The song is another stellar effort with a nice and BIG sound to it which go over well with the masses. That praising piece I was looking forward to hearing on the album's second track makes it on the third in the form of the quite familiar 'Hail Rasta Fari', Natty King's version of House Of Riddim's bouncy Catch Me Riddim from 2020.

"Conquering Lion of The Tribe of Judah-
Hail Selassie is the Head Creator
He's my saviour
He's the maker
So I, babylon can't devour
I man ah praise HIM every minute, every hour
Haile Selassie I, you full mi up a power!
Right now pure blessings ah shower
King Negus nah mek mi suffer!"

The charm of this one is in its simplicity. Natty King won't tell you a thing you have not heard before and he won't even say it in a way which is unique really, but 'Hail Rasta Fari' will speak to your mind and and your senses as a simply BEAUTIFUL piece to listen to. Speaking of being nice to the ears - Back in 2018 French label May.B Unity released a very SMART project by the name of the Unity Riddim. As its title would hint, every single song on the riddim was a combination and we got some TERRIFIC pairings such as... well, I'm thinking now I might want to review that, so I'm going to save that for later,  but trust me there was some amazing links that the project made. One of them, in fact, was 'Why Sacrifice', which many people (including You and me) had been looking forward to for years as it linked Natty King with his idol, the aforementioned Luciano. On paper such a union is downright mighty and it played out in an expected manner as this tune SOARED!

Easily a highlight in terms of its sound (the vocal performance is amazing) and the attention it is sure to garner sitting on "Rebellution", 'Why Sacrifice' speaks on the poor choices people make in life and what they're unfortunately willing to give up for short-term and, ultimately, meaningless gains. Luciano's is the first and biggest of five artists who join Natty King between four different selections on this album and some of the others also had me DAMN interested. I figured that burning native of The Gambia, Rebellion The Recaller, for example would turn in a big effort (because he always does) and he does not disappoint on his contribution, 'Free Ghetto Youths'. RTR's presence on this project probably shouldn't come as a great surprise because he has done quite a bit of work with House Of Riddim through the years and is clearly a favourite of theirs, so, presumably, a combination with Natty King would be an easy one to make happen and 'Free Ghetto Youths' is a BIG social commentary saying that we all need to be better at bring forth the next generation. It does get fairly broad at times, which isn't bad an actually gives it a more organic and less stereotypical feel with a vibe which tells you that the two had a great deal of fun making the song. And then there's the MASSIVE 'Prayer a Day', which had me all kinds of excited as joining here was another big artist who's spent a few nights, here and there, at the House Of Riddim, TURBULENCE. WHAT! A Turbulence & Natty King tune??! DAMN! Turbulence appeared on a recent riddim of HoR's (more on that in a bit) and the label also did work on his own most recent album release, "Remedy" (and he's also performed with the HoR band, apparently), and as I have said in the past (and will say many times in the future), when you catch Turbulence in a good form, you have the potential for something special. 'Prayer a Day' is "something special".

"Bun up, bun up, dem corrupt, corrupt
Pure almshouse, dem come and stir up
Dem nah no heart, dem no waan fi live up
PURE DUTTY HABIT DEM WAAN FI PICK UP
Dem no clean, dem dirty
And when you run dem file, dem no worthy
Di vampires blood thirsty
Mi bun dem out cause dis a no nursery
Tell Lucifer, seh wi nah no soul ah sell
A Turbulence: The Future dis, alongside Well O Well
DEM CAAN DRAIN MI ENERGY, NAH TRICK MI NEURO CELL
MI STRONGER THAN DEM DURACEL!

Instead of take up a gun, I rather take up a  bible and go pray
I remember what Jah say about a prayer a day
Even though temptation often come my way
I man nah give in, nah mek dem lead I astray"

BOOM! DAMN AGAIN! You talk about (I talked about it) being attractive "on paper", this one grabbed me immediately because it had never even entered my mind as being probable somewhere along the way but someone had a clear moment of genius in deciding to bring these two together and whoever you are out there: I THANK YOU! NOW! With that being said - we have Turbulence and Luciano and RTR, THE combination and song, in general, that I was most looking forward to hearing on "Rebellution" was definitely 'Africa Calling'. This one features veteran Dancehall DJ, Mr. Peppa (who last year had a big tune on Wellowell, 'Nah Worry' ["Success and progress a dat dem no like. Vex when a next youth ah sort out him life. Fly out and fly in and do as wi like. Buy couple house, couple car, couple bike"] and someone who we've been talking about for the entire life of this blog, basically, THEO NYEEMIYA! The also St. Thomas native and former Prince Theo dropped a HUGE debut (and, unfortunately still only) album way back in 2004, "Set The Captives Free" (a personal classic for me), which we reviewed back in 2009 and I said the following about:

"I’d also like to see him do a combination with Natty King who would be his neighbour in ’the East’"

It only took thirteen years (technically eighteen), but here it is and, unsurprisingly, I absolutely love it! If you are unfamiliar with Prince Theo's work, he is another artist along the same lines as Natty King, Bushman and Luciano - a wonderfully RICH deep voiced Roots singer (and he does actually sound a bit like Natty King in my opinion) (comparing the two, Natty King kind of has a slight 'spice' or a 'rasp' to his voice and Theo a kind of an 'echo' to him) (I'm terrible at explaining that, I know, but I did my best) and, given their origins, I suspect the two may've either long been friends or, at worst have been full-time admirers of one another. And while I suppose I shouldn't be SHOCKED that they linked up for a song, if I ever did see it coming, I surely did not envision it with the 'Gangsta Guerilla', Mr. Peppa on board ["Mi haffi teach dem mi roots. Draw fi mi sword and mi gideon boots. Teach dem fi win, too long wi ah lose, cah di demons out and di beasts dem lose"] . All three shine throughout as they take a look at the African diaspora in its past, present and future and, yes, I am likely as partial as anyone can be, but 'Africa Calling' is my favourite song on the whole of "Rebellution" (and check the horns on that tune, particularly during the latter portions (right around 3:10), they are amazing! Courtesy of Everton Gayle).

Fortunately "Rebellution" does not only succeed while Natty King has his friends on board (because there're fifteen solo songs) and he continues to put forth stellar work throughout. The BackYard Riddims produced 'Universal Love' is firmly included in that as Natty King blankets every positive person and thing in love. I really like the OPEN nature of this track both lyrically and in its vibes. Backed by one LOVELY piece of riddim, Natty King doesn't care who you are or what you do or where you come from, if your aims are righteous ones, he's supportive of your cause on one of the real highlights here. Later, the singer gets into a love of a different variety on three consecutive pieces, 'Lovey Dovey', 'You Bring Joy' and 'Me She Want' and while not known for such works, all three have substance to contribute to the album. The first of them had me a little worried with its title (which is literally a term you would use to critique a love song which is kind of overly-sappy and clichéd), but it thankfully proved to not totally be that wretched 'oh baby baby I love you' filth that I was thinking it might be (thankfully because, oddly enough, it's the album's longest song altogether by nineteen seconds). With that being said, however, 'You Bring Joy' is better than 'Lovey Dovey', it just is. One of the goals in life of most people, I'm assuming, is to find someone whose simple presence MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER and that's what the sentiment is behind 'You Bring Joy' and its total vibes plays into that as well - it is a pleasing sound, albeit one which I wouldn't necessarily refer to as 'bright'. And the fun and infectious 'Me She Want' is probably the best love song on "Rebellution" ["She waan play inna mi locks. Real Rastaman, no waan no wolf nor fox. And she go ask mi if mi have WhatsApp, mek wi exchange numbers, two a wi fi chat"]. I don't think we needed all three of these, but none of them are horrible songs and, as I said, 'Me She Want' is pretty strong, actually. Having covered that aspect of the album, we also get a back to back stretch of obligatory ganja tunes for "Rebellution" in the form of 'Trees' and 'Ganja Smoker'. These two probably couldn't be more different as the former is an aggressive selection which features Natty King basically deejaying (skillfully) through it fully ["Puff, I ah puff and ah smoke. If mi caan get no herb WELLOWELL CAN'T HARDLY COPE!"], while 'Ganja Smoker' is this very laidback, almost playful at times, metaphor-heavy DELIGHTFUL offering. Both of these work for me in different ways and I'm not going to bother choosing one, I think you'll enjoy them both. I'm also going to put the somewhat related 'Old Crosses' in this batch (biggup Batch). There's a song here that has meaning and relevance and it is good. HOWEVER, outshining everything is that GORGEOUS old school style HoR riddim which glues everything together so well (so well). Near its middle, we get the nice touch of a brief taste of a dub of the track and while a big credit goes to the singer as he deals with certain members (not all of them) (not even most of them) of the police force who don't have the best of intentions, again, do not miss that composition behind it. It is gold!

I called 'Africa Calling' my favourite song on the album, but if one song (more like two or three of them, probably. I think 'Prayer a Day' is also in that conversation for me) gave me a reason to pause that opinion, it would be our title track.

 "Mi seh I'm talking to the heads of government
Hey can't you see that the people need strength?
I see di things weh dem ah gwan wid from wah day, Rasta know seh that no mek no sense
Hey, di whole a dem sit up inna di House of Parliament
And dem making a retirement
Some go in, some go out and I know dat no mek no difference

Hey, it's gonna be a revolution
Cause dem no si seh poor people ah bawl
Yes, a revolution
Because a dem, alone, want it all
Yes, a revolution!
Cause dem fi si seh poor people ah bawl
Yes, a revolution
A dem, alone, want it all"

Amongst the finest written and presented pieces on the album, 'Rebellution' kind of reminds me of, 'Hail Rasta Fari'. Though they sound nothing at all alike, they both succeed largely due to a straight forward simplicity which, in their own respective ways, is very appealing. The title track is a call for a change all over the world amongst the powers that be (before the people get together and change YOU) and, again, is very finely written so be sure to pay attention to what is being said on this one in particular. Not lagging far behind is the thunderous praising song, 'Powers'. I hear this tune and I feel passion . I feel Natty King pouring his heart into the space and, when he does, we're treated to a fittingly 'powerful' demonstration of his gifts (like that voice). Across HoR's recent Serious Time Riddim (big riddim, also featured Turbulence (as I alluded to), Rebellion The Recaller, Perfect, Chuck Fenda, a really big tune from Anthony B and others), Natty King opines on the current state of the world on a song which has already generated a little buzz, 'Plandemic'.

"No sah, this a plandemic
You no si ah plan, dem plan it
Now di people dem ah bawl,
Lockdown, dem caan stand it
Who build it fi kill it
Mi know dem intention-
Dem ah try to reduce di population
Dem ahgo vex when mi talk
But Wellowell ah talk up, mi nuh feel good ah mask up"

I don't want to dwell on the topic much, because it is EXHAUSTING at this point, but 'Plandemic' is a good song and I'm actually happy to have seen so many different opinions on the subject in Reggae music. It hasn't been (at least not for the most part) what I would have expected to have heard, we've seen people with varying ideas and points of view, which is always healthy. And finally check both the lively 'Hungry Days' and the even livelier 'Smiling Face', which're two of the biggest pieces on "Rebellution" in my opinion. 'Hungry Days' is semi-autobiographical as we hear Natty King basically celebrating and giving thanks that he doesn't have to struggle in the ways he did as a youth and aspiring artist ["Hey di ting change yah know. Wellowell banner it ah wave yah know. Natty King di whole world a say yah know. 'No Guns To Towns' yah know. paved di way yah know. Life sweeter know. Start tour yah know. Material things mi ah hold yah know. Spend mi owna cash and mi nah owe yah know. Give thanks to Jah cause mi ah glow yah know. So hear mi now!"]. 'Smiling Face' is the artist saying that you need to be careful who you call friend and mind what they're doing behind your back (and sometimes right in front of you) because things, and people's true intentions are not always so crystal clear. I'm not expecting either 'Hungry Days' or 'Smiling Face' to receive a great deal of spin, but you listen to either and they're top notch and more than earn their place within this "Rebellution".

Overall (despite being nineteen songs long, this was pretty easy to write, only took a couple of days), a very strong case could be made that "Rebellution" is Natty King's strongest release to date, with the only question being, of course, "No Guns To Town" (which I still favour, but it has the advantage of time on its side. Ask me again in a decade what I think). This is an EXCELLENT release and at what may just be such a critical time for his his career, Natty King turns every stone and does precisely what you would have hoped he would do. It also sounds really, really good and you can clearly see that several individuals cared for it, nurtured it and had enough respect for the project to pay attention to the smallest of details to make it a winner and WIN it does. I should also mention just how fine Natty King's voice is throughout. Jah Cure has the best voice in Reggae music (he has the best voice in any music), but were I to come up with a list of the next bests (isn't a bad idea, actually), Natty King would have a strong case for being number two, at least for males, and maybe anyone. I don't know if we'll see the music of this one take him back to where he came from and, ultimately, to an even higher level of prominence but we cannot ask for more as, with "Rebellution", Natty King and House Of Riddim deliver the first great Reggae album of 2022.

 

Rated: 4.65/5

WelloWell Production + House Of Riddim Productions

2022

CD [I THINK] + Digital