Shine. Maybe even in a 'perfect' world, this wonderful music that we cover wouldn't receive the absolute highest level of attention that the artform has to offer. Perhaps it would still, in some respects, be regarded as regional or niche to some degree and in spite of its immense progression and that's just fine. You love it. I do too and it isn't going anywhere. With that being said, however, there do exist certain individuals in and around the music that I do so badly wish would get more in the way of consideration and observation even amongst more traditional Reggae fans. Here is typically where I would start listing a long line of overdeserving names before drawing a comparison to my prime star in this instance but, this time, I just have one on my mind (well two but... one is a comparison from the other side); Queen Omega. I don't think, strictly based on skill alone, that Reggae music should offer a level of spotlight that Queen Omega should not have CONSTANT access to. She should LIVE amongst the likes of Sizzla, Capleton, Buju Banton (thinking of an older generation, of course, closer to her own) and also Luciano because that is where her talent places her, in my opinion. It should also be said that she makes a brand of music that is very transferable so while I may have similar thoughts of someone like.... Dezarie; if a more casual listener to the genre tells me that they struggle to get into Dezarie's music, I'll understand. Of course I stress Luciano's name (he's my "comparison from the other side") because of the very close relationship he has with the venerable Mikey General. It takes more than talent alone, CLEARLY, and maybe there's a bit of luck involved but it almost bothers me that I have a very difficult time writing a review for a Mikey General album without mentioning Luciano's name but would have absolutely no problem at all writing a Luciano review without bringing up the General (even beyond my typical LOVE of comparisons) even once. One of the biggest points of discourse (arguably THE biggest, actually), for most fans, will likely always be his connection with The Messenjah. That's really too bad because if you do take the time to really get into Mikey General's work and all that he has done throughout the years, you quickly come to know that he has created a very strong legacy of his own.
I've found Mikey General's music to be pretty straightforward for the most part and though I don't consider that to be a bad thing (obviously), perhaps it hasn't endeared him to the widest of audiences. In fact, across the many years that I've been writing these things and 'covering' the music, in general, I don't... I don't think I've EVER come across a truly passionate fan of Mikey General's. That is insane because I can tell you about having conversations with extremely intense people about the likes of Tiwony and Sael despite the fact that they have very little clue as to what either says in their music due to there being a language barrier. I've also ran into similarly loyal fans of the likes of Lyricson, Jah Hem, Mada Nile, Prince Malachi and others who don't necessarily leap out at you from that list of tags on the other side of this page but I don't think that's been the case for Mikey General... which definitely makes it all the more important that I tell you about what he's been up to lately.
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| 2022 |
Back in 2022, Mikey General released his until now most recent body of work, "Hold A Heights". I definitely enjoyed that album at the time and right now, having not heard it in quite some time, IT IS EXCELLENT. It has aged incredibly well and should probably be regarded as one of the best albums the General has done altogether at this point. Most DELIGHTFULLY, recent years have seen the singer be very consistent in his activity and, along with "Hold A Heights", he's also done the albums "Tewahedo" and "We The People" within the last eight years. Three albums in eight years is just fine by my count but FOUR albums in eight is even better and Mikey General now hits that mark with his brand new album for 2026, "Medhane Alem". I'll tell you, I do consider myself to be at least somewhat diligent when it comes to searching for new and up and coming releases and I had no idea whatsoever that this set was in the offering and only ran into it after it had already released. That's fine (it's greater later) but I do wonder how much early publicity was out ahead of it because I can recall there being just a bit more (many ANY. ANY would be more than none) in the case of "Hold A Heights". With a musical history dating back to nearly half a century now, as you might imagine, the British born General has recorded with an endless number of producers and released albums via several as well. In recent times, he's also continued to spread the wealth, with the aforementioned "Hold A Heights" being done in association with Reality Shock, while "Tewahedo" came via our good friend James "Dr. Seuss" Lord & co. at Irie Sounds International. That trend persists on "Medhane Alem" with the work of a variety of different producers and studios being represented with Mikey General, himself, also taking lead in production, along with young Yared Taylor (the General was born Michael Taylor and I do not believe that he is a relative of Yared's, although I could be wrong). Like much of his work, however, "Medhane Alem" is umbrella-ed beneath General's own Qabalah First Music and comes to us, digitally, via our ooooold friends at Zojak Worldwide. The last review I wrote (like three days ago now) was for Akae Beka's new album, "World Tap In", and I stressed in that case how exciting such a release was for me not only to sit and listen to but to be able to review as well and this case may be different in the routing, the end result is the same: I was REALLY looking forward to hearing what "Medhane Alem" had to offer and what does end up happening here, to the surprise of absolutely no one at all, is yet another solid release from a singer whose history says that he is nearly incapable of doing anything else.
"Medhane Alem" translates into "Saviour Of The World", signaling that you will find no great deviation or change of pace from Mikey General here. If you've become a fan of his via what he's done up to this point, it is very likely that you will like this one as well. As I've mentioned in the past (and much like Akae Beka, coincidentally), I've become more and more of a fan of General's as I've gotten older and it's gotten to the point where, as you can see, I'll happily drop whatever I'm working on at the time to get to work on a review of whatever he's up to (Signatures: Destra coming soon). As I started to get into the actual songs on the album, I would come to see that I had some type of familiarity with a couple of them but, for the most part, "Medhane Alem" is an album of twelve new and fresh songs from Mikey General for me, BOOM! Matters get started with what is easily one of the biggest moments here, 'Solace'. A couple of very interesting things happened on my way through this one: First of all is that I kind of recognized it... well, maybe not exactly. Research shows that it was released as a single in January but I'd never heard it; instead, I had heard a tune by the name of 'Time Is The Master' by Deshanty Plus, which shares a riddim with 'Solace' and both come via Marlon Muzic.The other interesting thing that caught me here was that, while listening to it just casually, in a curious way and not at all frustratingly so, I found myself wondering if it were ever going to end. The song checks in at a very healthy five minutes in length (making it the album's second longest) and they make the best of every single second. 'Solace' is delightful! It is such a lovely vibe to hear within a rather clever praise and I may come back and change my mind but, at least for now, I'm calling it my favourite song on "Medhane Alem" altogether and I would imagine that it would be a fine tune to see him perform some day as well. It has THAT type of energy, down to the very last note. 'Road Of Life' doesn't miss a beat, literally. If 'Solace' had you bobbing your head; it will continue right along here. You SIMPLY cannot get more SIMPLE than 'Road Of Life'. It is very straightforward and direct in dealing with negativity. What I took from it was the General telling us all to STOP WHINING AND COMPLAINING SO DAMN MUCH (he wouldn't say it like that, of course) and to stop looking for things that bother you and stress you out ["cause this world ain't so bad as how they make it how to be"]. Our title track stands up next and if you were expecting something super spiritually charged, you would be correct (I don't want to talk about what you are if you were thinking this would be something else).
"I come to tell you about the saviour
One who can change your behaviour
Our strength and redeemer
Maker of our souls
And if you should hear His voice, harden not your heart
Repent, repent, repent and serve the lord
Medhane Alem
That's your only friend
Medhane Alem
I tell you once again"
If you find yourself struggling and you're down on your luck, the General is offering you a way out and a way UP. 'Medhane Alem' is a sublime track with an equally top notch riddim. Speaking of riddims - 'Prayer' almost sounds like it taps a streamlined cut of the Queen of The Minstrel Riddim (which I knew immediately because as soon as it comes in, I start singing Sizzla's 'Guide Over Us' in my head). It also is a song that can lay claim to being one of the best vocal performances on "Medhane Alem" and the General uses those vocals to delivery something very strong, in my opinion. It's okay to make mistakes and do wrong and do bad things (if you don't, you aren't trying hard enough. Failure is as much a part of life as oxygen) but, again, when you find too many things going wrong and not in your favour, perhaps there exist a way for you to positively turn things around. I LOVE songs like this where every thing isn't perfect and rosy and ideal. To paint that picture for people is unreal and unnatural and just awful. Even when you do what exactly what you're supposed to do, sometimes you will make a mistake and it is not the end of the world despite how it may feel at the time.
I alluded to the length of 'Solace' and there being one song that is even longer and that piece is the nearly six and a half minute long 'Never Alone'. It does have some things going for it (lyrics and Mikey General probably maxing out his BEAUTIFUL voice once or twice) but I don't like this song. I've never been one for Gospel and 'Never Alone' is either pure Gospel or close enough to it to send me away and that's just fine. I also wasn't fond of 'Rose Anne' (nothing personal to anyone reading this who may be named Roseanne) initially but it has grown on me just a little. Going on another classic track, Mikey General tells the story of a woman with eyes for really bad people and things ["I'm so sorry for you, Rose Anne. Cah you no chat to no man who nah fire dem gun"]. At first, I think it may've hit me as this kind of stale and formulaic type of vibe but I was wrong about this one in the short and long terms. It's much better than I gave it at first and it is STILL growing on me while I'm writing this right now (to the point where I now have to go and change the transition to the next song). 'Pay The Man', on the other hand, is experiencing no such growth because I was convinced that I was goin to enjoy it even before I laid my ears on it.
"Look how hard the bredrin ah work
Sweat til him wet in him pants and him shirt
And still you want to dish him dirt
Don't want to give what him worth
Well he's the professional
You want to treat him like a criminal
TAKE THE CAPITAL AND THE PRINCIPAL AND LEAVE HIM WITH THE MINIMAL!"
Give a man his due! Whether it's money or credit or love or whatever it may be - GIVE IT TO HIM! This is extremely basic yet HIGH LEVEL common sense at work and you so rarely hear it in a song. You'll hear about oppression and negativity mainly but I was really impressed how the General specified it but, in doing so, the idea remains very broad and slightly open to interpretation and relatable because I think we've all either been in that situation where we've felt undervalued (and we're also all probably guilty of making someone else feel like that). The painfully short 'Pain' may not do a great deal in KEEPING your attention for too long -- being the only song on "Medhane Alem" south of three minutes in length -- but it does a decent job in its brief time. This song is just about the terrible way we sometimes treat one another and fail to show sympathy and empathy for other people, and maybe even going as far as to take advantage of them. The song is just fine but, in unfortunate reference to its size, 'Pain' just.... sort of stops. It ends rather abruptly and does so at a time when whoever is playing the guitar on the riddim is making their case. A big credit goes to that individual and everyone playing on that lovely riddim.
The other song featured on "Medhane Alem" that I was familiar with (without realizing it) is 'Breath Of Life'. Earlier this year, Mikey General released a tune with Dutch Alison Hinds doppelganger, Miriam Simone, which I had heard but I had forgotten the title and, of course, whoever put together the tracklist for this album neglected to give Simone a direct credit (you will find her name in the liners but not on the song title) so I had never even considered that this was that tune. Thankfully it is and the critique I may've had about there not being something of a changeup present on "Medhane Alem" is thrown right away. This is a song about giving thanks for the sake of giving thanks. Whatever you have or whatever you don't - you have LIFE and, for that, you should give some level of thanks. With that being said, HOWEVER, overwhelming and outpacing the message of 'Breath Of Life' is how DAMN SWEET it is. This very nice oldschool riddim comes via Dreddarecords (biggup Joggo) and it SHINES! With or without vocals, that things glistens and brings such a golden sound to one of the album's finest offerings. I remember seeing it and thinking/hoping it would mean that an album from Simone was forthcoming. Who knows, maybe we can get albums from Mikey General AND Miriam Simone in 2026.... wouldn't that be SO nice! More life is forthcoming on "Medhane Alem" in the form of the very healthy 'Life'. As another selection bubbling around the five-minute mark, 'Life' goes in quite a few different directions with the centralizing theme being the experiences that we all go through and accumulate in life and how we need to at least try to make the most of it. The General gets to this point by referencing several things such as the importance of leaning on wisdom and listening to your elders and a variety of things. The sonic appeal on 'life' isn't quite as high as some of the other tunes here but it's still a very nice vibes and a well poignant track. The all sorts of fun 'Humble Calf' begins to wind us down and does so in an unforgettable way. As soon as this one comes in, the intensity turns up, you probably get a smile on your face and you definitely feel like a good time is on its way and you would be correct in that. The song is about overlooking and underestimating people that you meet along your way, outwardly, and I imagine that Mikey General, personally, would have encountered many people who treated him in such a way to becoming who he is. FORTUNATELY, it hasn't depressed him at all and what you get is this upful and vibrant piece and CONFIDENT offering, seemingly written by someone with the security of knowing that, should they feel the need to, they're more than capable of shutting up a naysayer or two. And the album reaches its end with another standout, the anti-procrastination and anti-nosey anthem, 'Handle Your Business'.
"Jah bless the man with the diligent hand
Jah gonna help him execute his plan
Jah gonna take him to his destination, even though the journey might be long
I know it is crazy to feed someone who's lazy
You got two hands, two eyes, two feet and still nah look food fi eat
You better handle your business
And leave people business
Cause the best kinda business is to mind your own business"
The riddim sounds VERY familiar to me (almost sounds like an old Xterminator track and the General is a product of the great label) but I'm almost certain it's actually new to my ears. Whatever it's origins, it is outstanding and, just like the full song, one of the finest to be found on this release.
I do want to mention, quickly, a nice little quality about "Medhane Alem" and it is one that I find myself giving relatively frequently - and I do love when I come across it. I'll spare you the numbers but, my (probably inaccurate) calculations say that the album averages a chunk over four minutes per song. VERY NICE. Particularly in Roots music where you tend to have more instrumentation like this, it gives your sound more time to grow on the listener and you get displays such as what you hear on 'Solace', especially.
Overall, if you are the slightest bit of familiar with the work of Mikey General then I can assure you that "Medhane Alem" is more of what precisely what you are familiar with and that's a good thing from where I'm sitting (in the kitchen). I directed this review in a certain direction, talking about the General not being as appreciated as I'd like to see him be or as much as others around him but that isn't going anywhere. I can't do anything about it with this review and, one would think, if were going to happen, it already would have for the 62 year old singer. HOWEVER, what I can do is to assure the people who're listening and have been for years that the new album is more of what made a fan out of you, originally. While I won't call it his absolute best work, "Medhane Alem" is another clear winner from an artist in Mikey General who, although he'll likely never be THE most popular, has spent his career REWARDING everyone who has taken a moment to listen to his wonderful work.
Rated 4.10/5
Qabalah First Music
2026
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