As the career of an artist progresses it’s always interesting to see just which directions they take and where their career ultimately ends up. This is particularly true with artists who, at the earliest stages of their careers, show some type of promise and potential, be it in terms of popularity or in actual skill (or both). In Reggae, I think it can be even more interesting given the ‘regional’ aspect of our music. Many times you don’t have to go very far to follow an artist’s output and even if you do, you still ‘travel’ in a relatively small and narrow community (which is fine) and that, in part, the rather comfortable nature of our music, goes to make watching an artist mature even more fascinating. It’s also more interesting when you break things up and look at the sub genres. In Roots Reggae, it’s a bit more difficult to see maturation and sometimes (see Sizzla, Norris Man and others) you also see ‘reverse maturation’ as the artist sometimes seemingly see having a bit of reputation to do things that they wouldn’t have previously even considered. However, looking at and interpreting an artist growing up can be a difficult thing. The PRIME example, of course, would be someone like Midnite’s Vaughn Benjamin. Can you, you DEEP hardcore Reggae head think of a point where Benjamin showed marked maturation in his music? I can’t but certainly it must’ve occurred at some point (you have to think that the man couldn’t have come out of the womb with such musical brilliance). In the Dancehall, however, things are a bit more simple and measurable thankfully. BY FAR, in my opinion, the greatest example of a Dancehall artist developing and maturing at the highest level of the game in the last decade or so has been Assassin. The still young veteran began as an artist CONSTANTLY compared to seemingly far more talented ‘classmate’ Vybz Kartel but has since emerged as a young artist who is lyrically capable of just about ANYTHING these days. Kartel, on his own, has also done a bit of developing although, in my opinion on a smaller scale (but the argument could be made that whatever he was, he was closer to it when he was younger than ‘Sassin was, who he is quite a few years older than to my knowledge). Having once been the reigning master of the three G’s of Dancehall subject matter (Girls, Guns, Ganja), Kartel has not only improved on his arsenal in those subjects but has added, although on no grand scale, social elements to his Dancehall while particularly just pinpointing a somewhat new style for himself (one which, I feel, is usually boring these days). You’ll also see quite perceivable improvement and maturity in artists like Busy Signal, Mavado (remains to be seen whether for the better or not) and definitely Baby Cham. Thinking back to Busy’s early work where he just tried to club you over the head with his tongue twisting rhymes, Mavado’s EVIL singing ways and Baby Cham’s struggle to find self identity as most people assumed him to be a robot operated by Dave Kelly (I was never amongst “most people”, mind you), its terribly fascinating to see how far they’ve come.
And now it’s T.O.K’s turn apparently. Earlier this year, ridiculous veteran Dancehall group Ward 21 shot out with their on project, Genesis. The album was by far their most mature effort to date, from a group known for despising such a concept previously. They also (apparently) lost a member who was known to historically have problems doing such a thing. Of course, throughout their entire existences, the Ward has been compared to TOK as THE dominate Dancehall groups (who actually performed as a group most of the time), so, if 2009 saw the release of their new album, it would seem such an appropriate time for TOK to take their own next step and release the spanking new Our World, the group’s third album overall and their first in more than four years. The album comes at a time which finds the group, at least in my opinion, in a pretty unusual spot. Their last album, 2005’s Unknown Language, their most high profile to date, was the one that was seemingly supposed to place their name in the same circles as Sean Paul, Beenie Man and others at the time, as Dancehall artists who have made a SIGNIFICANT impact on the international (and particularly US) music scene. And while it definitely made a dent (thanks largely to arguably their biggest hit to date, Gyal U Ah Lead) I don’t think it REALLY was successful as they may have hoped and they have been largely since passed, in terms of popularity by the likes of Elephant Man and the previously mentioned Baby Cham. HOWEVER, what they have done is seemingly become THE most popular big name Dancehall act in Asia, where Unknown Langauge was reportedly a MASSIVE success and that may very well explain why, to my knowledge, the Our World album becomes one of the very first Dancehall albums to crossover between that Asian market and the rest of the world in a relatively short amount of time (and if you should manage to track down the Asian version, it comes complete with SEVERAL other tunes (including the NICE ‘Champion‘) and a completely separate mixed CD). Our World, in my opinion, is just as clearly TOK’s most advanced piece of work in terms of maturity, as Genesis (which, incidentally, included the HUGE tune Funeral Spot, a combination with TOK) was for the Ward and it shows what they’ve been up to and involved in since the release of (and the downright MURDEROUS touring in support of) the Unknown Language album. It comes via, of course, VP Records, who almost immediately swept down and signed up the quartet and released their pretty well regarded debut album, My Crew, My Dawgs back in 2001 (has it really been that long???). It should also be pointed out that in between Unknown Language and Our World, the group did quite a bit of work as solo artists/producers as both TOK members Bay-C and Flexx have released and helmed well received compilations, Bombrush Hour and D-Link, respectively and, to my knowledge, exclusively for the Japanese market. But, the attention is on the entire group now as Our World once again brings to the forefront one of the biggest collective names in the Dancehall.
I think it’s a pretty good time to release Our World. The initial thought would have been maybe not now so as to not have to ‘compete’ against Sean Paul’s new release, Imperial Blaze, released only a week before Our World, however, with that very popular release sitting in Reggae sections and your album sitting right next to it, featured rather prominently, in can only help, in my opinion. Actually having a good album can also help, lets examine. Getting things started on TOK’s third album, Our World from VP Records is an intro and the title track basically. This thing is BEAUTIFUL! It seriously had/has me thinking of calling it the best effort here altogether and although it’s only a minute and a half, you can tell they put quite a bit of effort into it and the results were worth it. GREAT intro. Next up is a tune I’m of two minds about, World Is Mine. The song, on the surface pretty generic but it sounds AWESOME. Built over the techno-laid back (and addictive as hell) Sober Crunk riddim, the song sounds so large but it never really gets off the ground lyrically and I know the circumstances and I probably shouldn’t hold such high standards but what I’ll tell you is that, if you’re just kind of spinning the song and not pay too much attention, you’re likely to LOVE it and that’s probably exactly what the song was intended for actually. Take it for what you will. Next up is the song which reigns supreme on Our World, just like you knew it would, the LOVELY Guardian Angel across Arif Cooper’s now timeless Guardian Angel riddim from a few years back. The song is a DIRECT example of maturity from the group, in my opinion, as it sounds even stronger than the similarly vibed Footprints tune (Unknown Language album) and I imagine that a sound like such would have sounded corny as hell had they attempted it a few years back, now, with their levels and everything working accordingly (and even two years back when it was brand new), it sounds PERFECT and is movingly at the head of the class that is TOK’s Our World. Very nice opening.
The lion’s share of Our World, just as you might expect, is full of basically ‘hit or miss’ type of material which will probably end up being polarizing as hell amongst fans but, as I said, it’s pretty much what you would have expected. The Good? I Wanna Love You, although pretty corny, is addictive as hell, riding a one-drop which almost seems angry that you’ve never heard it before! That thing is absolutely sparkling (the riddim I mean). And speaking of ADDICTIVE (and only addictive) Couple Up, a tune across Cooper’s hokey National Pride riddim, is the epitome of the word (though the song is probably more like ‘alright’ and not good). The old school R&B sounding Die For You is also a vibe (handclaps and all) which can grow on you. The sound on that one almost gets overwhelming at times and, again, its corny at times and doesn’t really go anywhere that. . . old school R&B didn’t thirty years ago but to my ears, its well done for what it is. And then there’s Afternoon Pornstar. The first time you saw that title you, like me, cringed and you know it. The song sounds STRANGE but was just as strangely chosen by VP to head a small pre-release of the album (which included several mixes of it and also the nauseatingly hype Me And My Dawgs, although that riddim KNOCKS when it slows down). It’s actually not about what you might think and it, so unfortunately, grows on you definitely; 1980’s pop style and all. It’s Over had no such troubles with me because that vibe is EPIC! The now legendary Tony Kelly helms the tune (he also, RIDICULOUSLY, worked BOTH Afternoon Pornstar and Me And My Dawgs) and the riddim is just off the charts. And the kind of exotic nature of the dance floor filler Gyrate is certain to accomplish the undoubted mission that tune was created for. The Not So Good? Gangsters Never Die proves that a big riddim can’t save every song as it comes through Chester Walker’s MAMMOTH Troop riddim. The ‘gangsta stuff’ has never really been TOK’s strongest point with very few exceptions (like Scream) but Gangsters Never Die isn’t one of them. Gimmie Little [If You Want Me] is annoying as hell and only a few steps away from the very definition of Dancehall annoying, LOC’s FATAL Ring Ding Ding. Miss World isn’t very bad and it features the only official combination on Our World, alongside Beenie Man but you listen to that song and you KNOW it could have been a better vibes. It’s kind of nice and easy and I think if they just would have pressed the gas just a bit, you could have had something special as Beenie and TOK do make a nice combination and although not BAD, Miss World is closer to that than SPECIAL. I guess you could also say a similar thing to Whining which kind of pales in comparison to Gyrate which immediately follows it and literally takes wind out of its sails. UNFORTUNATELY, Tony Kelly bats 2-4 as after reaching base with both Afternoon Pornstar and It’s Over, he flies out with Me And My Dawg and just about strikes out with Get Out [Don’t Come Back] which, although sonically appealing kind of limps to its finish and when it gets there it doesn’t get reenergized as much as it stays put. Live It Up sends us out on a predictable way (I don’t know when it became in fashion for Reggae/Dancehall albums to end on kind of solemn and ACOUSTIC tunes, almost as if trying to apologize for all of the gangsta talk before it) with the acoustic and recollect vibes. This song isn’t so much BAD as it is almost horribly clichéd and just something which the album just didn’t need in my opinion. Yes, the gang does say some nice things in it and you should take it to heart regardless who’s saying it (“follow the message, not the messenger”) but, literally speaking, it sounds SO out of place and it just seems as if someone in the planning process would have said, “oh okay and we need a conscious song to finish it off”, instead of it registering incidentally or naturally to bring Our journey to TOK’s World to a close.
Overall, I don’t necessarily think this album is for someone like me and given their apparent superstar status in the Land of The Rising Sun, you probably should take that into account (if you aren’t Japanese) when picking Our World up. My thirteen year old niece, however (not Japanese) pretty much loves it (at least as much of it as I’ll let her listen to) and the younger crowd is generally TOK’s target audience anyway, even as they, themselves, move further and further from that age group. Our World, while definitely a more MATURE and arguably more INSPIRED project than both of the group’s previous efforts, is arguably not better than either and certainly not better than My Crew, My Dawgs (which isn’t as good as I initially thought but is still one FUN album). The album should (and will) find audiences with the younger crowd (so, although they've grown up, maybe TOK's fan base's age has stayed the same); but certainly not within the old ass and jaded Reggae listening community - to which I, unfortunately, belong.
Rated 2.5/5 stars
VP Records
2009
