New from Kalash: Tombolo

"Tombolo" by Kalash [Mwaka Moon Music/Take Two]

Okay so, many a moon ago (like a dozen years or so) (almost exactly, actually), we introduced you to an up and coming fire-breathing artist by the name of Kalash from out of Martinique. He had well caught attentions with early offerings such as 'Pran Pié' with Lieutenant and, even before that, the truly ridiculous 'Bust It Up' alongside Crocadile from out of St. Lucia. Kalash pretty much stayed in our rotation throughout the years, we reviewed his self-titled debut album and mentioned several things the booming voiced DJ was involved in over time. Since then, and during our hiatus, he's remained well active releasing several albums, he's actually become a VERY big name and he's back with his latest, "Tombolo". Kalash's music has seemed to shift more and more towards the Hip-Hop side than I can recall from his earlier work (although I could be wrong about that. Still, listening to his debut, there's more Dancehall in it that he has had in his later work), but he has given Dancehall and Reggae heads a few bites in more recent times, such as the excellent 'Calle La Boca' from his most recent release, 2019's "Diamond Rock", 'Bad Like Me' with Admiral T and others (if you get into his albums, Kalash will give you at least one killer Dancehall or Reggae tune. Check 'System' from "Mwaka Moon", for example). Because of that, when I saw that "Tombolo" was forthcoming and I got a look at the tracklist, I immediately had selected the tune I most wanted to here, 'Everybody Falla', which featured Kalash alongside Dancehall royalty, Bounty Killer. Having now heard the full tune, it did not disappoint. 

And it isn't their first tune together (and from what I can piece together, apparently Kalash grew up a big fan of the Killer's, like so many others), but 'Everybody Falla' is very nice AUTHENTIC DANCEHALL music. Also making appearances are Mavado (on 'My Life', which is also pretty good), Skillibeng, Rvssian and Achis Reggae favourite, Guyane Zouk singer Fanny J. And though not Dancehall (... I don't even know what to call it), check the album's delightful title track as well.

So, if you're looking for something a bit more colourful and varied, definitely check out the latest from an old favourite of ours, Kalash.... just thought I'd let you know. I'm going back bed.

Most Wanted 2013

Well, that was it. In less than three weeks or so, 2012 will have ended, so it presents a wonderful time to start looking back and looking ahead… again. Today we take, for the third time, a glance ahead at all of the nice people we'd like to hear from on an album in the next year. In some cases, it just seems like the right time, while in others the 'right time' may not even exist, so why not just do it. In others still, you have artists seemingly coming into the height of their powers and an album seems to be the next likeliest step. Whatever the individual case, here're ten people who could make 2013 a much happier twelve months with their presences. Most Wanted 2013

{Note: See last year's list}

{Note 2: Artists on last year's list and artists with currently scheduled (or semi-scheduled} albums were excluded}

#10. Lady Sweety

Champion! If I thought that there were any way in any thing that this would happen, surely Lady Sweety , the reigning Queen of 'coming soon' would be much higher near the top of this list - but I don't. Having not had an album in more than half a decade now kind of dims those prospects but, as you can see, at least one person is still waiting for the full on return of one of the absolute most damaging talents in the Dancehall. 2013 would be an excellent year for a new album, but so would have 2010, '11 and '12. If it does actually materialize, expect a huge project and one which may be full special because at her best, Sweety is one fascinating artist and an extremely powerful lyricist. Lady Sweety… meet Don's Music!  

#9. Ras Muhamad

Blow them away. From out of Indonesia, Ras Muhamad seems well poised to continue to impress in a major way, which has seen him, steadily, rack up a very impressive line of singles for a variety of different producers, headlined by some of our favourites at Oneness Records. At the very least, a compiling of these singles with some new material thrown in seems in order at this point, but should he hand in another year in 2013 like '12, I guess it will make the wait more tolerable. HOWEVER, because of is fantastic consistency, the point is rapidly approaching where it just doesn't make any sense for Muhamad not to have a full record out because his skill would just be too large not to have someone make one with him. Personally, I think he's already at that point, which is why he makes this list. Whenever it happens, it will be MASSIVE! 

#8. Naptali

Journey back. Speaking of MASSIVE (and Oneness), it would also be so great if we heard from the star of the single best album that I heard two years ago, Naptali. While he hasn't been the most active of artists over the course of the past couple of years, 2013 may provide the dazzling singing chanter with a similar landscape that he had in 2010, when he would strike with "Long Journey", which remains one of the top fifty or so best albums that I have ever heard. While he has the lost the ability to come from 'out of nowhere' and the element of surprise (at least with me), I don't think there're a huge number of fans expecting Naptali to do something amazing in 2013 (they weren't expecting it in 2010 either) and perhaps he strives under such conditions. And he could turn in an album farrrrrrrrr worst than his previous one and still manage to impress greatly.  

#7. Tuff Lion

11 Strings. Whether you actually know it or not is another matter, but if you listen to enough music and particularly enough of it coming from out of the Virgin Islands, chances are great (they're guaranteed actually) that you've heard quite a bit of Tuff Lion's music in 2012 as, perhaps more so than any other single person in VI Reggae music, his 'reach' as a musician/producer/everything is IMMENSE. Of course you remember his last album, 2008's incredible "Ten Strings" (if you don't recall it, I want you to know that I find you disgusting), which was a project made up of Tuff Lion playing his guitar as a 'singer' across a fine group of riddims provided by I Grade Records. So! If you haven't noticed, I Grade has been amongst the most active and successful labels in the time since and particularly over the past two or three years now - so they've WELL had the opportunity to 'replenish' the vault with new tracks over which the Lion can display his mastery. ALSO, almost every album which comes down from the label these days has work from the Zion I Kings as well. Whatever they have coming for the new year is going to be BIG, but a ZIK album for the Tuff Lion seems almost impossible to top in terms of quality.  

#6. Kalash

KABOOM! Kalash has already gone on to becoming one of the most popular artists on the FWI scene these days and, seemingly, figures to continue his angry march to the top in 2013, which would make for a wonderful a new album, which would be the DJ's first in three years at that point (although his 2010 self-titled album was re-releases, in a "Collector's Edition" last year). Kalash is the PERFECT example of when an up and comer makes good and becomes a full fledged champion in the arena as he has fulfilled on every drop of potential he showed earlier in his career and not only has his popularity ascended so greatly in the past couple of years, his skill has also advanced in my opinion. And he was already well talented, yet raw, the first time anyone had really heard him. He's still untreated in some respects, but that's a great thing and now he has the experience to make and take advantage of his abilities even greater. With Admiral T having fired in 2012, Kalash (and hopefully Saïk) should be amongst the most high profile FWI talents doing big albums in 2013 and I actually expect this one to happen (in both cases).  

#5. Sara Lugo

Things will work out right. You know, I've spent SO much time looking back at the "What About Love" album, and deservedly so, it was and remains fantastic (and you are a horrible, HORRIBLE person if you don't have a copy) (become good and buy one), but maybe it's time to start looking ahead again. At some point in the first half of 2013 we will pass a point where that album hits two years of age and it's star, the always wonderful Sara Lugo, hasn't slowed down a bit in any way and seems perfectly set up for a strong 2013, with or without the release of a full album. The main point of interest here is that, like Kalash before her, I think that even though what we've already heard has been so powerful and so interesting, what is to come from Sara Lugo will be, like her talents, very special and even more impressive (and I cannot wait to, again, look at the rest of you and say "I TOLD YOU SO!"). 2013 may not bring the next album, yet if she doesn't have an one in the year and regardless of the actions of the next four artists you're going to read about (with the exception of #2 probably) it's hard to envision a set of circumstances under which a 2014 edition of this list exists without Lugo's name being four spots higher.  

#4. Baby Cham

Another story. Not that activity has ever been a strength of his (because it certainly has not), but one would think that the soon to be seven years since Baby Cham's last album, which was a huge success, would be more than long enough for the DJ and superpower producer Dave Kelly to have waited for the proper time to line up another winner and I think they will. Recently, Cham dropped a very well received EP ("#Team Cham", in stores now), which was the culmination of quite a bit (for him) of activity in recent times. I'm going to take that as a 'warning shot' of sorts for the full thing which would look spectacular coming in the second half of the year. Also, if you haven't noticed, Dancehall albums from the biggest of names are completely scarce and Cham along with one or two others (maybe like a Lady Saw and hopefully Agent Sasco) would hit shelves with not a bit of competition in sight. 

#3. Kabaka Pyramid

It's building. Not too many artists, and maybe no one at all, had such a continuously impressive 2012 in Roots Reggae music without releasing an album than did the burgeoning Kabaka Pyramid. The chanter has added his name to a list (and maybe even at the head of it) of up and coming talents in the genre and he now seems set to turn 2013 into an incredible display of his music. Hopefully at the pinnacle of it all is his debut album and, presumably, he would have one of the longer queues full of producers and labels lining up for him. His popularity and prolificacy has also matched the quality of his music and now not very much time goes by at all without hearing a new single, mixtape or even EP from the artist and he has suddenly become very widely celebrated and with good reason. As are the conditions of this list, I don't know what he has coming in the new year, but if it does include an album, I have a VERY, VERY good feeling about it. 

#2. Stevy Mahy

Take another trip. While I haven't heard a great deal of new music from the smoldering (in sooooooo many ways) Gwada songstress, Stevy Mahy, she remained quite visible and active in performances (and still is apparently), but I don't think that her studio time was so great in 2012. Combine that with the fact that she has also, seemingly, shifted her attention forward after promoting her debut, the divine magic joyness that was "The Beautiful Side of A Kreyol Folk Trip", as hard as she possibly could have (that album had fourteen songs on it, two of them were interludes. So it had twelve actual songs. She did videos for six of them!) and you begin to think that it may be time for her musical comeback (she also has a jewelry line now apparently, so check out Moun' by Stevy Mahy). I don't know what to expect or if to expect it in the next twelve months, but whenever she does arrive with a new set, like its predecessor, it will be beautiful…. Beautiful! 

#1. Damian Marley

Something for you. Between working alongside Nas for a full album, whatever Super Heavy was (am I the only one who just didn't comprehend what was happening with that???) and Skillrex, it may not seem like it, but should September 2013 roll around sans such a creation, it would do so making it truly ODD eight years from last Damian Marley released a full solo album. This is the case despite a genuine raise in profile in that same time (if that's even possible), so one would think that when he does return, whenever it happens, he would bring with him, arguably, the largest fan base in Reggae music. On top of that, if you haven't paid attention to him (shame on you), Damian Marley is amongst the most talented artists that the genre has to offer and all of those traits, at least to me, make for an album which could well bring up words such as "landmark". Something tells me that it won't mark this year (and instead we'll be hearing from his brother, Stephen, again) (which is fine), but there doesn't exist someone that I can think of with such a unique set of circumstances: In terms of BIG projects in Reggae music, seemingly all roads lead to Damian Marley's next album and hopefully they all link up sometime in the latter stages of 2012. 

New Video From Kalash!

Yeah. Curious that they chose this one as the second single from Kalash's debut self title album, but they did and I actually like the tune a bit more after going through the video. Check it out.

"Flagrant" : A Review of Kalash

When I look at any area and I’m trying to get a healthy feeling of exactly how the vibes of that particular region are, I like to try and take as wide of a current sampling as possible. Forgive me, but I’ve seen far too many HORRIBLE documentaries and specials regarding Jamaican music which mischaracterize the vibes in a particular way, usually largely based on the work of Bob Marley (and I always find myself wondering what that particular filmmaker might think about his categorizations if I were to play him an Elephant Man tune), which is generally assumed to represent the entire scene. So, when I do this I do so try to take in more information and experience. For example, if you’d been following the UK scene for the past few years, of course you’d be fully prepared to ONLY declare it the new home for modern Lover’s Rock music, but in doing so you’d ignore recent lights such as Gappy Ranks and the wicked Mr. Williamz. The Virgin Islands? Of course looking at the finely crafted work of people like Batch and Tuff Lion and the Benjamin Bros. one would just go on and say that the VI is where Jamaica circa 1970 had parked itself, but then I’d be compelled to ask of you - What in the hell do you find in 1970 which sounds like NiyoRah or Pressure Busspipe or even Revalation? So, in hopes of getting as specific as possible, I’m going to do that - Try and get as specific as possible. Up until now, every time it came to analyzing the case of Reggae and Dancehall from out the French Caribbean, I always took a very large and broad sampling, but as I listen to more and more and learn more and more, I’m now more confident in distinguishing places from places, even within that same scope. In the case of the most visited stop, Guadeloupe, we can see crystal clear just how much of an emphasis has been placed on artist development. Perhaps not intentionally, but when you have PILLARS of artists such as Admiral T, Tiwony and others (and pillars in terms of SKILL), getting a next contingent of youths flowing in such as Saïk and Lady Sweety is less of a surprise. Truly, I could sit here and say that in terms of pure talent, Guadeloupe may just be one of the richest Reggae ports in the entire world (and I am saying that). But that GUADELOUPE, the second most popular stop, of course, would be Martinique and when you really start to get into the vibes of Madinina, you don’t see the same thing that you see in Gwada, for the most part. That’s not to say, of course, that there aren’t incredible talents there, if there weren’t you wouldn’t be reading this unearthly long review.

It is, however, the TYPES of talents from out of Martinique which is most interesting as I can honestly say that CONSISTENTLY the island offers some of the most UNUSUALLY talented individuals, producing some of the most colourful results, to say the least. To date, the most ‘colourful’ has probably been [L’Homme] Paille, the first scare crow of the Dancehall. You also see individuals such as Saël (of course), Mighty Ki La, Blenda, Mali, Straika (big artist) and Yeahman’C, who although very talented (especially Straika), in my opinion have much more of a RAW appeal than the seemingly carefully crafted catalogues of the aforementioned crowd of the likes of Admiral T, Tiwony and etc. Also, when it comes to RAW talent, definitely some of the younger artists from out of Nina, such as Elvys, X-Man (biggup X-Man) and a few others and I think I may have found the rawest of them all in the form of the extremely talented young DJ, Kalash. Although it’s taken me longer than I may have hoped for in such a situation to catch on, I now definitely recognize Kalash as the type of up and comer who can do big things in the game and maybe even take his popularity to a level which hasn’t been quite attained for Martinique in Reggae. So what makes him so interesting? The first thing you’re certain to notice about Kalash is the kind of BOOMING voice he has, reminiscent of his Jamaican counterparts such as Aidonia (to whom he is often compared), Baby Cham and Bounty Killer and call me crazy or easy to please if you like, but there’s something about a TALENTED DJ merely jumping on the mic and doing almost anything which will almost certainly and almost always grab my attention, just as it did in Kalash’s case (even though it took me awhile to realize it was him). In terms of the actual words, I’m thinking about the insanity that is either Paille or Mighty Ki La (Paille has . . . A lot of stuff going on there with him although he is very talented, while MKL, although less ostensibly zany, makes music which seems to accept the notion that there can be no middle ground in terms of pacing) which are two other very well known Dancehall DJ’s from out of Martinique (both of whom have albums) and while I’d say that MKL is more talented at this point, Kalash may have already risen to a point of equaling Paille lyrically which is definitely saying something. Well, now you can get your very own taste of exactly how well young Kalash has progressed in any range as he brings forth (to my knowledge) his very first album, for the very popular (and active) Chabine Productions, which is self titled. Apparently the album has already caused quite a bit of commotion and is being well received (in the sense that it’s been selling pretty well), which is, of course, a great thing, but the issue that I’m looking at is whether or not you’ll enjoy it - You might. Listening through Kalash, the album, I was almost immediately struck with two different (and opposing) thoughts. The first is that Kalash is VERY good. He clearly has a talent for this game and when he develops he’s almost certainly going to be a GREAT artist. HOWEVER, it seems as if he kind of shows the problems with youth as, at times, he seems to try to do too much which takes him ‘out of his elements’. The result is an album which, although certainly lacking in consistent quality, just as certainly has more than its fair share of brilliant flashes.

The album literally seems to go in spurts with its quality. Like I said, it lacks consistency and definitely that can be something which is attributed to age and having a big idea of how you want the album to sound (especially your very first album). But with that being said, if you aren’t able to appreciate the first load of tunes on this album - Seriously, go and find something else to do. Maybe I can make an exception to that condition with the very first selection on Kalash’s self titled debut album, but only because it’s an intro, after that however, beginning with ‘Champion Woman’ and last for the next few tunes, you should be impressed. The tune finds Kalash applying a few different types of tempos (or, he has an unaccredited guest), but ultimately raining supreme with the big blaring voice, which is how it should be, as he tells the world what type of woman is certain to catch his eye on the big song. Then the madness begins. ‘Pran Pié’ is FUCKING RIDICULOUS! The tune is absolute madness and it’s definitely one of the greatest guilty pleasures of 2010 thus far. The tune features Gwada veteran Lieutenant (who appears on probably every mixtape made everywhere, everywhere in the world in every genre) (and then a few more), who I’ve never been REALLY impressed with, but the Lieutenant more than just holds his own on the song. Meanwhile, Kalash provides the listener with pretty much everything you need to know that you’re dealing with a superior talent on the finest tune on the album altogether (also, if you were expecting for someone to jump up and say “lord evil”, you weren’t alone my friend). ‘Only God Can Judge Me’ takes the task of keeping the vibes high following that monster and it does very well with its old school Dancehall vibe and it does VERY well. This tune definitely shows that Kalash[nikov] can be effective with something besides the very hype type of vibes and it’s a very nice bit for the future when he REALLY gets a handle on what it is that he’s good at, because ‘Only God Can Judge Me’ is damn near masterful and it’s one of a kind on the album. Still, I’d argue the tune which follows is even stronger as ‘Es Zot Paré’ finds Kalash linking with the always welcomed Saël and doing so in an EXCELLENT fashion. Again, the tune isn’t the normal HEAVY type of Dancehall vibes, but Kalash shows that he can handle the more midtempo set and the tune is ultimately a very nice and bouncy one (love to hear Saël deejaying every so often) and one of the strongest on the album.

And then things . . . Change. I suppose you could make the case that ‘Mama’ is a nice song. It’s reportedly the next one up to receive a big push in terms promotion and it’s OKAY. It’s very straight forward, however, and it’s the type of tune (a kind of a ‘signature line’ of Reggae songs), on which he could have tried something different with the vibes, but it isn’t BAD. ‘Ne M’en Veaux Pas’ isn’t either (in fact, my cousin (a female) think it’s the best tune on the album), but it’s another unexceptional one to my opinion and I think I might hear a little autotune in there as well. The riddim is delightful and I’m thinking I’ve heard it before maybe, (hopefully Kalash passed it to Straika or Saël when he was finished with it). And then there’s ‘Ho No’. If you can, I’d suggest you skip this one altogether, because the melody will be stuck in your head for quite some time and that’s not a good thing because this freaky disco sounding . . . THING is probably HORRIBLE, but I hesitate to call it so because the damn thing is stuck so far in my brain I may need a procedure to remove it. ‘Gimme More’, which features a singer I’ve never heard of by the name of Mahalate (she’s pretty good), didn’t appeal to me at all. It’s a pretty straight forward POP record actually and not that that’s a bad thing inherently (because it isn’t), but again, it’s just unexceptional and it kind of sounds like it was done in a haste. All of that being said, however, if this one is pushed, even a little, it should be a big radio hit without much of a problem in my opinion. ‘Gallys Anthem’ which finds Kalash featured alongside a truly BIG artist in Daddy Mory was somewhat of a disappointment and not because it’s a bad song. Quite the contrary, it’s probably one of the better, however, these days anytime I hear the word ‘daggering’ in any form, I immediately dislike whatever it is that I’m hearing a lot more and the latter stages of the tune throws the unfortunately unburied word around a bit, which is a damn shame, ruining a perfectly good party song. And speaking of daggering, you immediately get the point on the following tune ‘Tout Mouille’ [‘All Wet’] with it’s pornish intro and really a running porn-like moaning behind the balance of the tune, very Vybz Kartel like. The tune, however and again, isn’t a total loss because the flow itself. Kalash shows excellent deejaying at times on the tune, effectively ‘bailing it out’ of being just a bad song, but it certainly would have been better sans the ‘pyro’ (biggup Pleen Pyroman).

Thankfully, on the final three tunes, things begin to right themselves and it all starts in the most interesting of ways as Kalash enlists the aforementioned Paille to join him on the WICKED ‘Don’t Talk’. This one has a big argument for being my second favourite tune on the album on the strength of being a TRUE Dancehall tune (vibes circa 1998 or so), it’s just so addictive and Dancehall heads like myself will eat it up. Not to overlook the fact that Paille’s not too subtle madness is a very welcome addition to the vibes of the album and when he first reaches he EASILY drops one of the finest verses on the entire album and a big lightening bolt to the full quality as well. On ‘Arrête Ton Film’ Kalash appears to tackle the same riddim Shyne and Barrington levy ran with on their famed ‘Bad Boyz’ combination tune and he does an excellent job with it. Again, the song shows that he can deal with these type of middle of the range songs (and just sitting here thinking about it, I’d probably say that Kalash grew up listening to A LOT of old Reggae music, because it’s definitely a welcome surprise to his vibes) which is an excellent quality of his looking forward. And finally is another combination track, ‘Toi Et Moi’, which happens to features Martinique Zouk diva and a label mate of Kalash’s, Christiane Vallejo. The SWINGING tune might be familiar to listeners because it also appeared on Vallejo’s album Metamorphose from a couple of years back. Unlike ‘Gimme More’, this one definitely has a vibes of its own and it doesn’t kind of fall in line with the kind of ‘run of the mill’ type of Zouk or Pop songs. It’s also very nice, although not a fitting end to the album, but strong is strong and ‘Toi Et Moi’ is strong.

Overall, I’m very happy that we’ve progressed to the stage where almost anyone can tune in and pick up Kalash, the album, digitally because it is a PERFECT example of a project where picking and choosing will most certainly come in handy. The tunes on the album which don’t quite measure up, fail to measure up in such a way that although they do remain interesting (everything Kalash will ever do will probably be interesting and just because it’s him doing it), they’re almost completely unremarkable for one reason or another. On the other hand, the truly GOOD of the album, like the first four tunes and the final three, are VERY good and they’re going to be very hard to ignore. So, unless you’re already a superfan of Kalash’s (in which case you probably didn’t need to read this most certainly flawed review), then I’d best recommend picking up this one digitally. And to return to the premise of the review and to speak on Kalash’s talent and potential talent in full - Certainly he needs a bit of ‘seasoning’. I’d like to see him maybe pick on a few more old school type of riddims because, despite his COMPLETELY new school style, he definitely has an ability which lends itself to that arena as well and I’d like for him to STREAMLINE his vibes as well. WHEN he does that (because he will, provided that he sticks around long enough), then with his very appealing style and ‘transferable’ skill, Kalash just may become the poster boy and torchbearer for almost EVERYTHING that is GREAT about modern Reggae from Martinique.

p.s. Yes I was disappointed ‘Bust It Up’ wasn’t on the album, the tune is amazing.

Rated 3/5

Chabine Productions

2010

CD & Digital

Kalash @ Skyrock

[first review in block form. Pretty don't?]

New Artist of The Month: Meet Kalash!

Kalash

Meet Kalash! Sometimes they sneak up on me. Listening day in and day out to so much different music, from so many different artists and from so many different parts of the world, you kind of have to try REALLY REALLY hard to remember a name. I can’t even really begin to tell you how many songs have basically faded away for me from nameless and faceless artists and I’ll probably never remember or even hear them ever again,. It’s a damn shame, it really is. But sometimes I get lucky and I either pay just enough attention, or the artist in question will go on to do something REALLY special and I’ll get an opportunity to make the connection. Such was the case here as, frankly, in retrospect, I don’t even know how many tunes I’ve heard from Kalash and credited someone else as the maker (despite the fact that I kind of knew who he was) in the past. Well, those days are over as the young fire breathing DJ from out of Madinina now makes his debut, front stage and center with his self-titled debut album for the French Caribbean based Chabine Productions.

Perhaps it was by no coincidence that around the time when the album reaches (officially on March 29th I believe), was around the same time Kalash[nikov] began to separate himself from the typical craziness which comes with Dancehall music from Martinique. Doing so would most certainly help his chances of scoring a truly big deal with his album and it would also put him to the forefront because . . . Oh, all of the wonderful things you’d think about him before you actually knew who the hell he was. The first, of course, being the fact that the young “booming” voiced DJ sounds quite a bit like his Jamaican counterpart, Aidonia. An article of information which apparently hasn’t been too lost on the production/remix community in Martinique either:

However, the biggest revelation for me, personally, that this guy was ‘Kalash’, was the fact that a song that I had stuck on to last year, ‘Bust It Up’ actually featured Kalash alongside the angriest man in the world, Crocadile from out of St. Lucia. The song was FUCKING RIDICULOUS! In every way imaginable, the thing was gorgeous and as of writing this, I honestly just figured out that it was him, maybe a week ago (this despite the fact that he clearly says so several times on the tune, I really need to pay better attention). Have a listen to this madness yourself and . . . You’re welcome:

While I’ll hold off on telling you what I think about the album (until next week), what you can expect from young Kalash is a very fiery delivery when at his best (and not trying to sing) (I digress), to say the least. The popular comparison, obviously, is Aidonia, but when you really think about it, the speed isn’t there (it really isn’t there for anyone, however, if you took Kalash’s tone and combined it with Saïk’s deejaying, you’d get an excellent Creole version of ’Donia) and I’d honestly more so liken him to Bounty Killer upon further reflection. Still, whoever you’d like to draw the comparisons to, it’s VERY clear that Kalash is a talent to look out for and it hasn’t been more evident to date than on the first single for his new album (I THINK), ‘Pran Pié’, which features the ever present Lieutenant and has an excellent video shot at Louis Achille Stadium, in ’Nina. The youth hasn’t been around for a very long time (at least I don’t think he has), and it certainly speaks volumes that he’s already reached the platform for an album - Not only for Kalash himself, but for Reggae from out of Martinique in general.

So, keep an eye and an ear out for Kalash and definitely check out my review for his debut album, Kalash, coming next Friday.

Kalash at SkyRock

{note: There's also a French Hip-Hop artist named Kalash L'Afro, be sure not to confuse the two}