Smile Awhile With Irie Sounds International!

Okay so, it's definitely been a minute since the last time we caught up with our old friend James "Dr. Seuss" Lord and company at Irie Sounds International (a quick search on these pages says it been.... almost seven years since last we mentioned one of their projects) (the excellent Palestine Riddim which you should check out) and catching up with old friends is usually a good thing, especially when it sounds like this. The label fortunately did not take the same hiatus that we did over the past few years and has been hard at work. I was pleasantly surprised to see to their co-credit was a tune from last year  that I really enjoyed but had no idea that ISI had a part of creating, 'Stand Up', which was Bushman's take on the pandemic. I have subsequently discovered that the tune was part of the Picking Up The Pieces Riddim which features other fine tunes by Ras Attitude, Chezidek and others (like Binghi Ghost, whose 'Win the Race' is very nice and that riddim was BEAUTIFUL) and they also did the Glory Riddim, carrying lovely tracks from Lutan Fyah, Alaine and someone I'm about to tell you about today as well ["Glory to Jah in the highest! His Imperial Highness!"]. I was surprised to hear that James had packed up and actually moved to Ethiopia as of last year (how cool is that?!), but not at all shocked to hear that he was still hard at work and he told me to check out his latest release, the fittingly named, Smile Awhile Riddim. The track features a pair of selections from a couple of our favourites and if you aren't doing anything else at the moment, I'd like to tell you about them. 

'Life Is So Amazing' by Perfect Giddimani

When I first heard 'Life Is So Amazing' one of the first things that went through my mind was just how well ISI had done in choosing a name for this riddim. The "SMILE AWHILE" fits it perfectly. It is just so.... damn EASY. It is serene and everything seems to go so nicely into its proper order and space. For his part, Perfect makes the most of Smile Awhile with 'Life Is So Amazing', taking advantage of this SWEET simplicity in praise of His Imperial Majesty. 

"Life is so amazing

Give praises to the King of all Kings"

If you are at all familiar with Perfect's work, you know just how unpredictable he can be at times (and I mean that in a good way), but though he does apply just a little pressure at times on 'Life Is So Amazing', he keeps it largely level headed and, in doing so, delivers a gem.

'And Ethiopia' by Mikey General

Though I have no actual confirmation of such a background to this tune, I'd like to think that, upon learning what Irie Sounds had been up to (and WHERE they'd been doing), that it inspired Mikey General to bless us with 'And Ethiopia' which comes through as both a general praise of The Almighty as well a GORGEOUS tribute to Ethiopia, itself.

"Let me tell you bout the land where I love to be

Where I feel so happy and I feel so free

The land of His Imperial Majesty"

The General goes both historical and current in the tune which also touches themes such as unity and even the geography of the country as he paints a portrait so nice that the Ministry of Tourism of Ethiopia may want to think about doing something with this tune. 

I'm presuming that this is just the beginning for the Smile Awhile Riddim and if it is (or even if this is all we're getting) our first taste of it has been delicious. Perfect Giddimani's 'Life Is So Amazing' and 'And Ethiopia' from Mikey General are both available now via Irie Sounds International.