Next up in our Signatures series is an entry that has been a long time coming. Pressure (and then Pressure Busspipe) has been a favourite of mine from virtually I the first time I heard his music. Back in the days of the Star Lion Family, leading into what, arguably, is the single greatest debut album in all of modern Reggae in my opinion, "The Pressure Is On", through the magical time he spent working with one of the greatest Jamaican producers of all time, the St. Thomian chanter has continued to impress every step along the way. In doing so, he has amassed quite the catalogue and today we attempt to narrow it down and take a look at some of the best of the best from someone well in the process of putting together a legend. Signatures: Pressure Busspipe.
{Note: I typically limit this list to fifteen tracks and plan to do so in the future but.... who cares?! It's mine and I can do whatever I want!... so I just made two #15's anyway}
{Note 2: DAMMIT!}
#1. 'Love & Affection'
You've got my attention. Pressure's biggest hit to date remains his MASSIVE hit from nearly a decade ago, the Don Corleon produced 'Love & Affection'. The tune (unless I'm REALLY overlooking something) also remains the single most popular tune in the history of Virgin Islands Reggae music and, on that front, really did a considerable amount of damage in taking notoriety from that well talented scene to the proverbial next level. It's also aged considerably well and, for someone like Pressure, who, as you will see as this list unfolds, has a history of making outstanding love songs, 'Love & Affection' remains the greatest of them all. Probably one of the best love songs in the history of the genre as well.
#2. 'The Pressure Is On'
THE PRESSURE IS ON! THE PRESSURE IS ON! There are signature songs and then there are SIGNATURES. 'The Pressure Is On' firmly belongs in the latter category as the title track, signature and even the first tune from his epic debut album from 2005. For older fans, there is a decent chance that 'The Pressure Is On' might just be the very first tune you heard from the St. Thomas superstar and it was SPECTACULAR. All of these years later, I think back to when I got that album and, back then, Pressure was definitely working on establishing his name as a solo artist, as a member of the Star Lion Family and to see what he's become.... isn't terribly exciting, especially considering the very first thing I heard when I began listening. One of the best songs of his entire career.
#3. 'Stop This Train' featuring Lutan Fyah
Let me off now! I'm still putting together this list (currently sitting at ten songs) but I had a moment where I was thinking about combinations, specifically, and while I may end up with one more before we're done, 'Stop This Train' was one of two that IMMEDIATELY came to my mind. This tune, which appeared on Pressure's HUGE 2014 Zion I Kings produced "The Sound" album, linked him with Jamaican lyrical wizard, Lutan Fyah and they did not disappoint. 'Stop This Train' was brilliant and ALL SORTS OF FUN! Its melody sticks so firmly in my head that when I think about it, I probably get 2/3 or 3/4 through singing the song in my head. It was a song that was pretty damn difficult to forget and, as long as I'm around, I probably never will.
#4. 'All Said and Done'
Must overcome! TEARS! RUNNING DOWN MY FACE AND I CAN'T DO A DAMN THING ABOUT IT! I have to say that, though I was fond of it from the very first time that I heard it, Pressure's cut of Kabaka Pyramid's Bebble Victory Rock Riddim, 'All Said and Done', has grown on me IMMENSELY in the past few years since its release. The song was almost a couple of different ones inside of one. On one hand was this damn STUNNING melodically and bouncingly beautiful track; while on the other, you had this lyrically DIRECT, hard-hitting and SCATHING social commentary.
"Selassie gi wi solidarity
And di poor man - dat a fi mi charity
Mi do Jah work and neva look fi popularity
When fyah bun again, none a dem mi no sorry fi"
In the midst of it all, when you found a common piece of ground, it was epic: A giant diamond disguised as a song.
#5. 'King Selassie First'
Conquering Lion. The lasting champion from the "Rebel With A Cause" album, 'King Selassie First is in a RIDICULOUS class with... only a very, very few other songs. If you listen to enough Roots Reggae music, new and old (and you do), you know that there exists an ENDLESS line of tunes giving praise to His Majesty. There're several anchoring topics in the genre and HE is one of them. HE is the greatest of them and HE is the most prolific of them. Songs that have no words and songs that are totally incoherent are done in praise of HIM. So, with that being said, if I were to attempt (and I might someday) to distinguish the absolute best of what would likely be... hundreds of thousands of songs... 'Rebel With A Cause' would definitely be in the upper echelon of these and may even have a claim (however slight it may or may not be) to be THE absolute best. It was THAT good and it remains that good to this day.
#6. 'Last Night'
Badda don. Big credit goes to Yard Vybz who lent Pressure their OUTSTANDING Badda Don Riddim. The track was SO DAMN SIMPLE and Pressure absolutely put it to the sword (Mavado did excellent on it as well) and turned in an underrated GEM of a love song. There're certain individuals who we know for doing one thing with their delivery but are capable of doing other things and doing them at a VERY high level (and I'm not just talking about that wail that Sizzla or Norris Man does that may fit for the specific type of music that they make). On 'Last Night', Pressure demonstrated a rarely maxed out but EXCELLENT singing voice, making for a downright golden listening experience and one of my favourite songs from him ever.
#7. 'Same I Ah One' featuring Akae Beka
Seeking balance. One of the many jewels in the unity crown that was the "Beauty For Ashes" album, 'Same I Ah One' SPARKELED and it still does, nearly eleven years (exactly) on. Friends (as far as I know) and oft-collaborators, what Akae Beka and Pressure did on this song, for me, rates as their greatest piece of work together and, arguably (well, CLEARLY, in Pressure's case), from either altogether. Crafted by the loving hands of the Zion I Kings, 'Same I Ah One' had this rather odd pacing where it seems almost ponderous at times... then as lithe and airy as you could possibly imagine. Also, it doesn't switch! It isn't like Pressure is marathoning while Vaughn Benjamin is sprinting, they both do both and do them effortlessly. I also have to mention, as is the case with much [most] of Akae Beka's work, that I am still working on this song. These days, there is a single line that has so much of my attention, when Benjamin says:
"As wi gather the mass of people in the ghetto, plenty
WHEN DEM FIND MEANS OF A MEASURE WITH THE ARISTOCRACY"
How powerful of an idea is that?! He paints as clear a picture as a possible, so you get the image of two groups of people from two vastly different walks of life who have surely just as varied life-experiences finding and standing on a piece of common ground.
#8. 'Zion Is Home'
More than words. Off the top of my head, Pressure has three albums which I consider to be damn near perfect (biggup Perfect) and you'll find my favourite absolute favourite songs from all three. Leading "Rebel With A Cause" is 'King Selassie First', 'Stop This Train' topped "The Sound" and though the title track and my closer are fantastic enough to EASILY make it here, THE best song off of "The Pressure Is On" is 'Zion Is Home'.
"Live yuh life and give praises, whatever the case is
Never you ever judge and compare
Africa is where my birthplace is
Where my lineage traces
MEMBER- ONLY LOVECAN TAKE YOU THERE
REACHING OUT TO SUNBURNT FACES
SINGING 'AMAZING GRACES'
More than words, Pressure love you dear
Hey, red gold and green laces
WE'RE A NATION, NOT RACES
IN OUR HEART IS WHERE THE WORD OF JAH APPEARS
ZION IS HOME!"
TEARS! Some twenty years (+) later, nothing has changed. 'Zion Is Home' hits you in the heart. It touches your mind and it challenges you to focus on what is being said and not just sit there and be pleased by the GORGEOUS track that you're hearing. It's also some of the most REFINED music of Pressure's career. It literally sounds like a remake. It sounds like the kind of song that he grew up singing for his entire life and, by the time he got in the studio, he was more than prepared, having spent the previous twenty plus years singing it. It wasn't. It was all his and if you want to make the case that 'Zion Is Home' is not only the best song off of "The Pressure Is On' but his best, PERIOD; you'll get no complaint out of me.
#9. 'Lead I Home'
"CONQUERING LION BREAK THE CHAINS AND LEAD US ALL FROM BONDAGE
YOU, ALONE, CAN HEAR THE CRY, NO MATTER WHAT THE LANGUAGE"
Without end. Somewhere, buried in the back of my mind, was the faintest of melody for a song which doesn't have the greatest of melodies and it took me until I was finished with this list and going back to see if I had forgotten anything big to put a title on what I was hearing. "What I was hearing" was an absolutely BRILLIANT song from an album that maybe people don't even remember, 'Lead I Home', which appeared on 2014's "Africa Redemption". Released just a few months after the not-at all-forgotten "The Sound", the Baby G produced album featured Pressure alongside HUGE name such as Chronixx, Jah Mason, Damian Marley & Tarrus Riley (on the same tune) and even Garnet Silk but was 'Lead I Home', which found him going at it completely solo that reigned supreme. EVERYTHING (every. single. thing.) about this song was STUNNING... all of it. From its larger than life sound to Pressure's unrelenting delivery - were this list in need of a kick in the neck (AND IT WERE), 'Lead I Home' would be it.
#10. 'Virgin Islands Nice'
So nice. Arguably Pressure's second most popular song to date, 'Virgin Islands Nice' earns its place on this list for a couple of reasons (it's popularity being amongst them). Yes, its quality sets it here. It wasn't just a matter of style without substance. It's very good. The thing that most stands out for me though is that I find myself talking a lot about VI Reggae music and, if you really think about it...... there isn't that ONE tune out there that stands up for Virgin Islands Reggae music, specifically... well there is, it's called 'Virgin Islands Nice'. Pressure made it.
#11. 'Best Thing' featuring Yahadanai
Put upon this earth. If you did come across Pressure's music ahead of his debut album, perhaps you did so on another album deemed a 'modern classic' on these pages, "One Atonement" by the ever reclusive (and I do mean EVER) Yahadanai. Unless I am REALLY overlooking something, the album gets my choice as the single finest the genre has ever seen from a Guyanese artist and it's because of songs such as 'Best Thing' which is either my first and second favourite from that set, entirely (today it's #1 but I've been listening to a great deal of it for this, obviously). You have songs that are made in the idea of supporting women (Black women, specifically) and 'Best Thing' was one of them. What sets this apart from the pack, for me, is the fact that it almost takes an aggressive stance in some aspects. It's a forceful... almost COMMONSENSICAL shot at the poor soul who has yet to learn how to treat women.
"SKIN SMOOTH CAUSE NO MAN EVER BEAT YA
AND IF HIM EVER TRY THAT, SELASSIE I WILL BRUK HIM FINGA"
Yaha did just lovely on his own but Pressure on 'Best Thing' took this "thing" to another place. We'll almost certainly never get the pairing again but these two got together and left the world with a song for the ages.
#12. 'Coming Back For You'
No matter what you do. 'Love & Affection' is the best love song Pressure has ever done. It's his biggest hit, it's the King & Queen of that particular castle and that's unquestionable (not actually, of course. You're entitled to your opinion and maybe you can't stand 'Love & Affection'). #2 would be up in the air. My choice might actually be the title track for... Pressure's third (I THINK) album. Following the explosion of 'Love & Affection', "Coming Back For You" would find him returning to the same masterful hands that organized his debut, Dean Pond, and once again, the results were stellar. 'Coming Back For You' was GORGEOUS. The melody was infectious, it stuck with you and, as far as love songs go, lyrically it was outstanding as well. Clearly such songs are important to Pressure (he even has an album full of them) so when you can stand out of THAT pack - you're doing something special. 'Coming Back For You' was SPECIAL.
#13. 'Jah Alone'
All I need. Of course, there is an obvious aspect of 'Jah Alone' that you observe in discussing it and that is Pressure's clear and prevailing affection for The Almighty. You'll find a number of similarly vibed songs throughout this list and throughout his entire catalogue as well. Something else, however, that may go overlooked in doing that is just how SWEET 'Jah Alone' is as well. It is a BEAUTIFUL song and while tunes such as this one tend to have somewhat of a more... royal or... GRAND presence when they register on the complex side (and this one does) (if you think about it - you don't hear too many kind of middle vibes praising song. They're generally either SPECTACULAR sounding or they're as basic as can be). 'Jah Alone', on the other hand, almost SOUNDS like a love song at times. If he weren't saying anything and just sort of humming out a melody (and you listen to that riddim, you might get to thinking about it being a love song. However, as soon as the tune actually jumps in, 'Jah Alone' transforms and by the time you get to a chorus, 'Jah Alone' is downright HUMBLING. This song is spectacular in its quality and with its infectiously deliberate pacing, what ends up happening, whether you realize it or not, is one of the most captivating songs of Pressure's entire career.
#14. 'Modern Pharaoh'
I don't fear you. HOPEFULLY you remember a compilation album from the Zion I Kings by the name of "Joyful Noise". Arguably my absolute favourite compilation.... like ever, the project released way back in 2009 and just brought together a tremendous collection of talent which impresses still to this day, over a decade and a half on. One of the genuine highlights on an album full of highlights was Pressure's ABSOLUTELY MAMMOTH 'Modern Pharaoh' on the jovial Grasslands Riddim, which found him taking on and tackling the major oppressors of society.
"Only Jah protect the needy and poor and poor
One thing that I know: I'll never be a victim no more
Of that, I am sure
False leaders keep straying the mass, from the past
But at last, I'm not lost
JUST SPEAK THE TRUTH, CAUSE IT NO COST!
Modern pharaoh
Release all the shackles and chains
I DON'T FEAR YOU!
Cause the same blood flow through my vein
Modern pharaoh
Here comes the fire and flame
Where all yuh works of deceit cause my nation nuff pain"
'Modern Pharaoh' is one of the best of the best in this group.
#15. 'Be Free'
The world is yours. Of course, when you think of the years Pressure spent working alongside the great Don Corleon (and they had a great pack going for awhile with Pressure, Alaine and Munga Honourable) what likely comes most immediately to mind would be #1 on this list but if you're thinking that "Love & Affection" was the ONLY big moment the pair produced, you are sadly mistaken. My second favourite tune that they did together (unless I'm really forgetting something), would have been the GORGEOUS 'Be Free'. Sitting on a SWEET Corleon composition, Pressure pushed a broad idea which, for me, centered around one unifying them: HAVE A GOOD TIME. Do positive things, look out for yourself but go after your goals and do the best you can to have a great time in what you spend on this planet.
"My people be fre cause the world is yours
And take control of your life, of course
Can't be held down by no evil force
Who The Most High Bless, no man can curse"
#15. 'No Limitation'
Build up our nation. I'm still working on fleshing out this list (I think I currently stand at ten songs, trying to get it up to maybe... fourteen) but I've already decided that my closer is going to be the brilliant 'No Limitation'. Why??? Well, I feel it did a fine job in closing Pressure's debut album, the aforementioned "The Pressure Is On" (probably end up with three songs from that one), that I thought it would well serve the same function here. This song found Pressure aiming for the stars. Be it a general upliftment of the masses or even something in the way of overcoming bad situations, the man said we had no limits on what we were capable of ["Take yuh shackles and chains off yuh brain"].
'No Limitation' has experienced something of a 'second wind' in regards to how I feel about it as, within the last couple of years or so maybe (maybe a little longer), I've noticed something very interesting about how it is written. You'll find the standard, tried and tired sayings that you will find in hundreds of similarly themed songs, such as "stay focused", for example. HOWEVER, what will follow that, what will come before it is SO far away from "tired" that it's almost like he's using the saying just to put it down; as if he's saying that 'although it may be true, I'm thinking about you on a deeper level'. So, instead of just saying, 'you can overcome', Pressure says:
"Never say you can't cause dat nah work"
Which doesn't even sound like the well refined and BEAUTIFUL piece of music that it clearly is (and speaking of the music, this riddim sounds like it was constructed in some damn lab somewhere over a dozen or so years) (biggup Dean Pond again) (and biggup Eno Stafford), it comes off as someone who, legitimately has your best interests at heart and is just having a discussion with you about your life. It probably wasn't THAT complex on his end (forgive me, I am an overthinker) but what I've heard from 'No Limitation' TRULY has provided me with endless enjoyment and it more than deserves its place on this list.
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