What I'm Listening To: Therapy! Therapy! Therapy!

'Family' by Cali P [Evidence Music - 2023]

This post actually started as a post all about two tunes by the great Cali P and it morphed into what you see here (because I took too damn long to get around to it), so getting us started is... the great Cali P (and his new look), who gives us the first of a pair of big new tunes, 'Family'. Coming courtesy of Derrick Sound and Evidence Music and their golden Fight Again Riddim (which also featured big tunes courtesy of the likes of Lutan Fyah, Chezidek, Bugle, LMK and others). 'Family' is an IMMACULATE unity piece which, for me, really holds is place as it lifts up every single aspect of FAMILY. There isn't Mother and absent Father or ill-behaving child ["Family! I proud of you just like you proud of me"], it is fully-functioning and entirely beautiful UNIT. Let me tell you something with this tune and the interesting one I'm about to tell you about next.... Cali P in 2024.... yep! 

'Up All Night' by Cali P [Evidence Music - 2023]

Cali P and Evidence, this time, link with Gold Up from out of Canada for the very colourful and infectious 'Up All Night'. You're likely to hear it called Dancehall (which is fair, there's elements of that), but it's probably slightly more to the Hip-Hop side, which isn't my favourite, but this one works for me. It doesn't have that.... kind of rigidity that I usually associate with the genre; it's far more free and versatile and a very nice change of pace. Like I said (though I have nothing in the way of inside information on the topic), keep an eye on (and an ear on) Cali P going into the new year with material like this.... oh and all of that other stuff he's been doing for the last 15-20 years. There's always that stuff too ["SO IF YOU LOOK FUH MI, MI RIGHT ROUND DI CORNAH!"]. BOOM!

'Keep On Moving' by Pete Lawson & Sara Lugo [Novo Sonic - 2023]

All things pause as we hit yet another traditional favourite of ours SARA LUGO [WHUTTTTTTTTTT!] who teams up with another talent originally from out of Germany (although I think 'Funky Comfort' calls France home these days), Pat Lawson, who is entirely new to me, for 'Keep On Moving'. 'Keep On Moving' has a purpose, it has a direction - in terms of progression and development in life but you'll have to work on siphoning that out just a bit because, definitely, the star of the tune is its sound. It's just a lovely vibes (especially that chorus) and, in case you haven't noticed: This is a new song from SARA FUCKING LUGO!

'Anxiety' by Patrice Roberts [Xplicit Mevon - 2023]

Ah feeling. So it's coming. If you've been paying attention, you're noticing that early entries for the 2024 Carnival season are slowly but surely rolling out and, unless I'm really forgetting someone and something, the early favourite for me comes via a most familiar and dependable source as decorated Trini super nova, Patrice Roberts recently set out and succeeded in ridding the world of some extra 'Anxiety'. I'm not going to go too deep on this one, because I'd probably end up crying and I don't feel like doing that right now; but there is an INHERENT aspect of Soca music, in my opinion, which is so powerful in dealing with just cheering someone up or mental health, in general. When the music is at its best, there is NOTHING in the world that I know of which can pull that type of feeling out of me and while you don't hear it addressed so often, lyrically, how many HUNDREDS of songs have you heard with artists talking about how much they love Carnival and Soca and how much they miss them! 

"Soca mek wi stronger together!"

"Lyrical Faya" by Cali P [Pow Pow Productions - 2008]

Lastly (because why not???) I've [very] suddenly rewound the clock back a decade and a half to "Lyrical Faya", the album debut of the aforementioned great Cali P, as I tend to do maybe once a year or so. These days, as I alluded to, I'm stuck on the all kinds of wonderful SWEET Dancehall-ness of 'Right Around the Corner', but you know that despite the fact that this album was PACKED, you still have a difficult time finding a soft moment in its run. I think 'Redemption' might be the biggest remembered tune from "Lyrical Faya" but, again, there were so many as the venerable Pow Pow cracked open their vault of top notch riddims and delightfully Cali P took aim.