Golden days. As a music fan and as a fan of virtually anything, the longer we occupy ourselves with that particular thing, the greater the opportunity is there for us to begin to acquire favourites. If you're fortunate and you pay a great amount of attention, you might have several favourite artists and producers and riddims and performances (both that you have personally attended and that you have seen recorded) and a variety of other things which have stuck with you and will remain with you for the rest of your life, hopefully. Favourites have a variety of different classes as well and, as you very well know, they can be very significant and emotional things for people, making it all the more crucial when we come across them. So with that being said (and returning to writing this review after about a month or so. I know. I'm sorry. Technically you've been waiting for this review for over twenty years), today I thought I'd go back and celebrate one of my personal favourites which TRULY has no equal in what it was in its day, for me. There was an, unfortunately, now either wholly lost or extremely underpublicized set of circumstances in Reggae where we had these groups of artists under one umbrella-ing label. The vast majority of these, whether they do or do not exist in any way today, are relics of yesteryear which're left for us to think back to in forms like this as 'da good ol' days. I'm thinking about stations like Beenie Man, Tanto Metro & Devonte and Lil' Kirk at Shocking Vibes for Patrick Roberts. There was the Main Street crew and Danny Browne who, with a wholly infectious and very digestible style of the music, brought Dancehall fans years and years of hits courtesy of the likes of General Degree, Red Rat, Mr. Vegas, Mr. G/Goofy and others. Main Street, in retrospect, has aged quite well in terms of the music it made (having produced, for example, both the wildly popular 'Granny' and 'Pianist', respectively, for Degree) and the impact some of its direct and indirect stars went on to make. On the Roots side there were people such as Richard 'Bello' Bell and Star Trail family (biggup the Star Lion Family) who is probably best known these days for having brought the legendary Anthony B to prominence, but the label was also very instrumental in building up names such as Everton Blender, Norris Man, Capleton and even Beres Hammond who they worked extensively with in their day. Continuing on that same line of thought, I can distinctly recall Star Trail being like half of what would turn out to be a sizable explosion of modern Roots Reggae music (in retrospect, probably the most significant it has ever had) in the mid to late 1990's or so. The other half of that equation would be the reason that we're here today -- about to talk about a random, twenty-two year old release -- and simply my favourite Reggae label (label of any kind, really) of all time.
Of course I'm referring to the immortal Philip "Fattis" Burrell and his Xterminator Records imprint. The easy way to explain it is to say that Fattis and Xterminator developed and brought to prominence some of (and THE in my opinion) greatest artists in Roots Reggae music in its day; they also produced some of the greatest songs and full albums as well and that is a solid legacy in and of itself in my opinion. However, when you begin to look at it as far as what resulted from the work that they did and who influenced whom and what became of that following generation, the label has left a lasting legacy that continues to reverberate to this day and will NEVER stop (have I mentioned that I'm reviewing a twenty-two year old album??? I have? Okay just ignore that part there then). How many artists today grew up listening to that same generation of Xterminator alums and how many MILLIONS of fans did the same and, in turn, passed it on their children? We've gotten to that point already where, looking back to the not too distant past, has grown to this wonderfully nostalgic degree that we find ourselves looking at a random, twen.... oh yeah, nevermind.
 |
| 2002 |
Along with doing releases for artists, occasionally labels would put out compilations, while these were far more prevalent back in da day, you still see them today, generally as riddim albums, but sometimes something a bit more. These release stand/stood as kind of updates as to what the label had been up to at a given time or even as greatest hits type of releases for the label or for a certain artist. Xterminator was no different as, along with albums for their artists (some of them were outstanding) (a handful of them were legendary), they also did greatest hits sets and general compilations from the label. Perhaps one of the best known of the latter was 2002's "Rough Inna Town", a drop featuring hits from both the then-current and past and future stars of Xterminator; and there were others such as an installment of Charm's (I know.... it's Charm (I don't if anyone really knows what was going on with Charm back in the day, if there is someone he/she is not me) but it was solid) "In The Producer's Hot Seat" series (that album contained two of the finest songs I have ever heard, so I had to mention it) and others still, like a Dub album for Jet Star. Within this group and just ahead of most of them was a lovely collection through VP Records at the turn of the century by the name of "The World Shall See". If you are familiar with the actual tune for which the album is named then you probably already know why I dug this one wayyyyyy up for a vault review (if there're perfect songs, it is one of them). I've had this actual disc for maybe five or so years and I always wanted to talk about it because of just how thorough it was for its time. There're three names on "The World Shall See" that do not leap out at even more faithful followers of the genre and the label and one of them, in particular (technically two, actually) I could not name you ANYTHING else they did in their career without research. That, alone, isn't very good (isn't bad either), but what that was attached to just happened to be precisely what you would expect from a general release from Xterminator in the year 2000. It was LOADED with absolute giants of the genres, up and comers and just solid contributors to the Xtm legend. Though there was one unfortunate omission -- Mr. Mikey General -- but every other base at the time would have been covered as far as that era via this one set. On top of that, the material that was present on "The World Shall See" was powerful for the most part. As I said, with a certain tune being at the head of it, this a fine, tiny representation of the label around the time and what something that I really have enjoyed about it is what you find in the 'ancillary' artists (and I mean that in the most respectful way possible, of course, I just really wanted to use that word). There're certain people who have come to link with Xterminator -- about to tell you about a few of them -- but there are certain other BONA FIDE LEGENDS who you may not realize have also done extensive work and recording with Fattis and company. Vocalists of all types end up shining on "The World Shall See" making it, though underknown, a powerful example of one of the greatest outfits Reggae music has ever seen.
Even if you were to take out the set of circumstances and the label involved on this project (and bias towards it) what most immediately stands out just running down the tracklist of "The World Shall See", at least for me, is the extremely impressive line of vocal talents present here. Regardless of what brings them together, even a casual fan of the genre is likely to be impressed by the run of exactly who is present here. If you need an example of that, you need not go any further than the opening selection on "The World Shall See", a personal classic for me and many others I'm sure, 'Stand Tall' by Capleton. I forget this tune was actually produced by Xterminator and it probably (surely) is better known for appearing on the Prophet's opus, "More Fire", also for VP in 2000. 'Stand Tall' was complete and utter genius.
"I see di wicked man will have to fall!
And all the righteous man will haffi stand tall!
A DI WRONG MAN NAME DEM GUH CALL!
And now dem back against di wall, dem fall
Longtime mi ah warn dem and dem neva waan listen
Tell dem no diss di man weh get di blessing
Listen to di birds when you hear dem ah sing
Listen di leaves all on di tree limb
Watch all di fishes in di sea when dem swim
EVERY LIVING THING HAFFI COME HAIL DI KING
And all di water from di spring!"
Despite its nature (it was downright SWEET at times), if you really tuned in 'Stand Tall' it could be overwhelming at times. Capleton kind of built it in a way where, though it didn't change in intensity much, it became a matter of just LOADING the listener with knowledge and ideas that, especially in its latter stages, 'Stand Tall' was.... probably one of the finest praising songs we've ever heard. Speaking of songs which may've been unintentionally candy-like, another superstar and one well known for his work with Xterminator, Luciano (oddly credited by his actual name here, J. McClymont, comes in next with 'Free Up The Herbalist'. The year prior, Luciano would release one of the most popular sets of his own on VP Records, "Sweep Over My Soul" (so named after another Xterminator steered shot) and while this tune did not appear on that album, it would have been, EASILY, one of the finest works there (though, I did not love "Sweep Over My Soul"). 'Free Up The Herbalist' was fantastic and it does have its running theme, it's a ganja tune, it's also a very detailed social commentary and a spiritual song. It succeeds on all those fronts as well and I hesitate to call it one of Luciano's best, period, only because I know the weight such a statement carries, but it is EXCELLENT! Label staple, Prince Malachi, would also have an album on VP in 1999, "Love Jah" and "The World Shall See" plucked from it its GOLDEN title track. It's either been far too long since I've heard this one or I've just spent the last twenty years or so really underrating it because I don't quite recall it sounding this good at any time. Malachi's work with Xterminator, in general, may be overlooked these days by many and if you're one of the people for whom nothing he did during that period immediately stands out, I would DEFINITELY direct your attention to 'Love Jah'. Such a stunningly beautiful piece of praise and, after I'm done here, I'm going to dig up some old Prince Malachi (pretty sure I have both "Love Jah" and "Watch Over Me" on disc).
In 2000, it was well within the timeframe when the great Sizzla Kalonji (you knew He was coming) would release at three albums a year for the three biggest Reggae labels of the day, VP, Greensleeves Records and Jet Star. His VP album from that year was the very interesting Xterminator produced "Words Of Truth", best known for being a double disc, with both a studio and a live album in the packaging. His set for Greensleeves also came via Xterminator, "Bobo Ashanti". To my opinion, "Bobo Ashanti" was one of the.... best ten or so albums Kalonji has ever done and it was crowned by one the greatest tunes he (or anyone else) has ever done in my opinion, 'The World Shall See' (it was just called 'The World' on that album). TEARS! ABSOLUTE FUCKING TEARS! I've said in the past that Sizzla's music changed my life, it changed my way of thinking and it was songs like this ["Then, dem neva know: Seh A KING SELASSIE RULE THE HEART AND THE SOUL"] that did much of that work and opened my eyes to something I had been surrounded by for all of my life. This is the best song on this album (they knew it was, that's why it is named after it) and it's probably never appeared on any album where that wasn't the case and it almost surely never will. BOOM! In 2000 Fattis would fully bring his next charge, Turbulence, to the masses with his debut self-titled release on Xterminator. The following year he would deliver his second album for VP, "Rising", deemed a modern classic on these pages and still the greatest album of his career in my opinion. There's a pretty good chance that the very first time Turbulence would have appeared on any VP project was on "The World Shall See" as he contributed the sublime 'Think Of Peace'. This song wasn't on either of the first two albums and I don't know why, it was pretty good. It wasn't the strongest lyrically (he was still very, very young at the time. It's dated 1999, he was probably eighteen when he wrote it), but it did have a nice vibes to it and, good luck finding it anywhere else. And speaking of the youths, rounding out our first third of selections on "The World Shall See" were the young Morgans, L.M.S., with 'Follow Jah'. LMS is another one [three] whose time with Xterminator has probably gone forgotten, but it says a great deal that two of their four albums were produced on the label, so there was some clear chemistry in the work and it shows on this tune. 'Follow Jah' isn't amazing, but it's very solid and the more you hear it, the more it grows on you. It has a delightful vibe to it which wasn't rare to find in L.M.S.' music, even if I wasn't the biggest of fans.
'Bubble In The Struggle' featured the elder Morgans, Morgan Heritage. Though not as extensively as their younger siblings, MH also did quite a bit of songs with Xterminator as well and this is one of their best in my opinion. Coming in with a nice old school sound, the Morgans used the vibes to check in with a message about people not only surviving and maintaining in troubling situations, but THRIVING within them as well. The immortal Beres Hammond is another one still whom you may not know for appearing on the label but even he made several songs with Fattis and co. One of them, the outstanding 'Hold On', is carried on "The World Shall See". Hammond is someone who, with his delivery and his general CLASS, can get something out of just about anything he does (you have to TRULY be rubbish as a producer to push out a bad song by Beres Hammond) and 'Hold On' was of his typically high level and with a powerful idea of showing just a bit more patience, perseverance and not being afraid to stand up for yourself and show some backbone when necessary. This tune was actually a pretty nice sized hit for Hammond and, in 2003 when VP released his greatest hits anthology, "Can't Stop A Man", it appeared there along with several other Xterminator songs; the most popular probably being 'Full Attention' (it was also the title track of an Xtm produced Hammond album in 1993). You'll also find in this grouping 'The Story Of My Life' by US singer, Anthony Mills. Mills is one of the three that I alluded to whose name surely will not be very familiar to Reggae heads if you don't remember what he would do with Xterminator (and even if you do recall it, there wasn't a tremendous amount of it). His effort here is fine. It's kind of a Gospel themed tune, but what stands out for me, is the music. There is an infectious electric quality to this riddim which seems ULTRA simple at times but really is not when you tune it in. The singer would do more work with Xterminator and is obviously still active these days so feel free to look him up if you like this song, there is a TON more from him. Malachi returns with his second and final effort on "The World Shall See" with 'Life Cycle', taking on the same track behind the title track. Just as was the case on his first piece, 'Life Cycle' is also EXCELLENT. This song I'll call a spiritual celebration of NATURE. Malachi deals with Mother Nature in the greatest sense but also in the most terrestrial and, 'stemming out', how important it is that we maintain the world because we are TRULY lost without it ["Combined together with Jah forces, She's our home and She is our hostess. Oh Mother Earth, oh Empress. Yes I know. We continually need Your service and no many coulda neva deny this"].
Sizzla returns with his own second (of three) selections on "The World Shall See", the well underrated humility anthem 'Why Boast'.
"Why boast when it get you nowhere?
And your riches will soon disappear
Trying to be like those and prove you so unfair
Come to protect the poor
I love them ever-dear
Why boast when it get you nowhere?
And dem riches will soon disappear
Trying to be like those and prove you so unfair
Come to protect the poor and Jah is ever there
Dem neva want us reach nowhere
Yet I know - I & I are everywhere
From Holy Mount Zion to the Earth's plane
The Conquering Lion bringeth no shame
NO RESPECT FOR THE POOR AND YET THE TABLE PREPARE
Continue to ignore, they insult our care
WE COOK THE FOOD THEY EAT AND MAKE THE CLOTHES THEY WEAR
What a tribulation poor people deh bear
Inna every situation, still wi neva fair
They make it all so dem start move queer
And a dem thief out di poor man share"
This isn't quite what I would call vintage Kalonji from that era, but it is damn close. At his zenith during the early 2000's, Sizzla would weave these nearly perfect lyrical GEMS which could reach a listener on pretty much every level. 'Why Boast' was maybe half a step lower, but even such quality rises it near the best on a more than solid release like this one. The other vocalist who appears here more than twice, Capleton, returns with first of subsequently a pair of combinations, 'Jah Kingdom', alongside Luciano. BOOM! These two have linked up several times throughout the years -- with probably the biggest being 'Hail King Selassie' for Black Scorpio -- but I have to tell, as far as any combination between the two, 'Jah Kingdom' is AT LEAST as good as anything they've ever done. I'd have to do some more research to see if I'm forgetting something, but if it was THE best Capleton/Luciano song ever, I would not be shocked at all.
"Jah kingdom come down upon earth
Rastafari voice must be heard
Jah kingdom come down upon earth
King Selassie I a wi shepherd
Jah kingdom come down upon earth
Rastafari voice must be heard
Jah kingdom come down upon earth
Revolutionary soldier is at work
Babylon haffi go stay mute, dem haffi accept di truth
Cah man a revolutionary, every soldier, longtime recruit
Dem haffi stay mute, dem haffi accept-
Well dem caan stop mi from dig out mi truth
Babylon, yah gun dem soon nah have no use
No more ghetto youth dem you caan come shoot
Di youth dem seet and dem find di truth
Dem caan sow wi like no seed nor pick wi like no fruit
I AM DI BRANCH, I AM DI LIMB, DI STEM AND DI ROOT
Luciano! Kick dem wid di gideon boot!
Behold The Lion Of Judah has conquered again and again
Set all the captives free again"
It's direction was precisely what you expected it to be (the same as 'Hail King Selassie') and its quality is as well with these two PILLARS of artists coming together in honour of His Imperial Majesty and to slap down corruption any and everywhere it exists.
The final lot of tunes on "The World Shall See" gets downright colourful in regards to the artists, making for some genuinely memorable moments in the process, including one or two that you might not have remembered/known were products of Xterminator. The legendary Leroy Sibbles also blessed Xtm with some fine work in his day and a great example of that would be his tune here 'Fight' (if you need another taste, look up a song of his by the name of 'Oh Jah') (even if you don't NEEEEEED it, you may want to look it up anyway). This one was a call to action and a call that maybe it's time to begin taking some personal responsibility for yourself and your well being ["If you're a man, you've got to stand on your own two feet. That's the only way you're gonna eat"]. It was just very well-written and I'm sure there're many fans of the music, even some diehards, who may not even know that it exists. The same surely can't be said of Cocoa Tea's 'Mr. Neck Tie Man', as it was pretty well known and Cocoa Tea is someone who voiced extensively with Xterminator, having delivered several albums for the label in the 1990's and 2000's (five by my count). 'Mr. Neck Tie Man', which used the same riddim as Luciano's classic 'Sweep Over My Soul' was featured on 1998's "One Way" for VP (big tune on that album called 'No Faith') and probably a few other greatest hits styled compilations as well. It deserved the run that it received, in my opinion as Cocoa Tea, as is his signature, gave us the wonderful SIMPLE message about those seemingly living two different lives at the same time ["Sometimes you hold the Bible in your hand. The other times you hold the alcohol pan. Wanna know - what is your true religion? Are you praising Jah Jah or it is Satan???"]. You'll also find a pair of combinations near the end "The World Shall See" which grab attention for a couple of different reasons. The first of them is 'The Vibes', linking together the only two artists here appearing thrice, Sizzla Kalonji & Capleton. Though I've never loved this song (it almost seemed like they knew it would be a good idea to make a song together and just.... vibed it together and 'The Vibes' is what they came up with), it's probably a little better than I've given it credit for being, though nowhere near as strong as one might imagine such a combination being. The other combination here on the other hand, 'One Gun', is better than you're thinking. Placing Turbulence alongside rapper Fucious. This tune appeared on Turbulence's aforementioned debut album. I do not hate this anti-violence tune and it does have its moments ["War a nuh nice thing, remember that. A nuh mosquito bite when you get gunshot"] (Turbulence's entire first verse is pretty impressive), but I've never been the biggest fan of Hip Hop and Fucious... yeah, I'll just leave it there. He clearly does his best. The unfortunately all too interesting Jah Cure also popped up on "The World Shall See" with one of his greatest earlier tracks, 'Trod In The Valley'.
Here's another selection many may've forgotten was produced by Burrell. When this one truly came to prominence, the Cure would have still been incarcerated (.....the more things change, the more they stay the same) but 'enjoying' a situation where he was becoming this kind of underground artist that had an ever-swelling fanbase. Many of those were coming to figure out what exactly was going on with him and who he was, but they would stick around for genuine classics such as 'Trod In The Valley'. Lastly was a very, but not really, underknown Mr. Biggs who does a respectable remake of an R&B song by US artist, Tyrese, 'Lately'. The story here, besides the song (and maybe even more so, twenty years later) is that, as far as I know, Mr. Biggs is actually Donald Dennis, one of the most esteemed players of instrument of the modern era and ever, really. He plays bass on every single song on this album and he also does some keyboards and guitar as well and, like all talented active musicians - you've probably heard his work dozens of times without realizing it, particularly on Xterminator material.
Overall, while I didn't want to paint the picture that "The World Shall See" was this all time great classic of a compilation and that it had been woefully forgotten by the masses (although that second part there is true). What I did want to show, however, is just how completely SOLID of a set it was and what a fine job it did in encapsulating a high point in the history of my favourite label/producer ever. Mikey General is missing, as I said, and so is Chezidek (though, in his case, this album arrived before he rose to notoriety. His own debut, "Harvest Time", would come for VP Records two years on from this one), so it could never be called 'DEFINITIVE' even in regards to the work done in a decade's span, but just judging it for what was here, "The World Shall See" was not only very good, but it does retain a very nice sense of nostalgia and, from time to time, is a JOY to go back to listen to. You'll find some of the material here on classic albums which you're likely to draw for far more consistently than it, but if you, like me, just occasionally want to drift back, pretend that you're not an old ass man or woman and enjoy some of the strongest work from the immortal Philip "Fattis" Burrell and Xterminator Records, you can do no wrong in digging up "The World Shall See".
No comments:
Post a Comment