Modern Classics Vol. XXIV: Coming Home by Ras Shiloh

Ras Shiloh - Coming Home [VP Records - 2007]

We’re going to call this one a matter of ’hiding in plain view’. While certainly not being a complete unknown and definitely not so around these parts, Ras Shiloh is an artist who has spent the vast majority of his career existing, as so many of our artists unfortunately do, in a place where he isn’t necessarily going to get the credit he is due. In his case, of course, some will say that it has a great deal to do with the fact that he is so vocally similar to the late and great Garnet Silk and while that most likely does have something to do with it (who knows how many fans are still referring to some of his work as late or unheard work from Silk), I’d also suggest that Shiloh’s career and the standing of his career represents one of the greatest MISHAPS on the part of Reggae fans in the modern era - EVER. While all of his output isn’t stellar (all of no one’s output is), Ras Shiloh has been SO consistent in his career that not only will briefly listening to some of his work impress a listener educated in Reggae Music, but it would also impress them to the degree that they would very much want to hear more. Example? In 2007 Ras Shiloh had what has to be considered, in terms of albums, one of the best years of any Reggae artist of all time as he dropped not only one, but two potential ‘Modern Classic’ level releases. Incidentally, both of those albums came from two of the greatest producers of all time and can via the two biggest Reggae labels in the world also . . . And no one talks about it anymore. One of those albums was the gorgeous ”Only King Selassie” release, which was produced by the legendary King Jammy and distributed by Greensleeves and the other, which we’re now about to take a look at, ”Coming Home” from VP Records, linked Shiloh with Bobby Digital. It was the more dynamic and ‘beautiful’ of the two and an absolute DIAMOND of an album.

The Music

1. ‘We Need More Love’

The opening tune of Ras Shiloh’s ”Coming Home” was one which, maybe more than most others on the album, required just a second of ‘musical digestion’. It didn’t leap off of the track and the listener, it slowly took them over instead. What grabs you here is just how the tune kind of gradually wraps itself around its title and becomes it. It would be one thing to write the lyrics around the concept, but after thoroughly listening to the song, you do far more than simply HEAR what is being said. You kind of start to feel it. Don’t you?

Best Lyric: “Tired of walking the streets being scared of my shadow. Some people are living for today with no investment in tomorrow. Brothers killing brothers for no reasons, no special time, place nor seasons. Why can’t we show some brotherly love for each other?”

2. ‘Let the People Be Heard’ featuring Morgan Heritage

After warming you up properly with the opener, Shiloh and Digital take things really spicy with the second tune in, ‘Let the People Be Heard’, the first of three official combinations for the album - This one featuring the siblings of Morgan Heritage. This track was one powerful social commentary and call to the ‘powers that be’ to make just a bit more room for the poor and to hear their concerns. Shiloh often kind of fades into the background with so many different voices but, on the whole, what a link!

Best Lyric: “All dem waan do is incarcerate we. The world dem give poor people is like slavery. On di pay give wi caan feed pickney. Don’t even mention educate di pickney. Dem sen dem soldier in di street fi shoot wi and paramedics fi come clean up body. Hiii it ahgo get too bloody, best dem try I help di people make some money”

3. ‘Give A Little Love’

Next is a tune which slows us down just a bit and somewhat builds upon the subjectry of the opening track, but (and this is obvious when you check the vibes of the tune) it’s definitely one which will give you more if you pay it a more than superficial amount of attention. That is, of course until the end. ‘Give A Little Love’ comes with a ‘small’ built-in surprise as, in the tune’s latter stages, Ras Shiloh loses things just a touch and throws that incredibly voice to all corners of the room most impressively.

Best Lyric: “Never say ‘no’ when the children them are in need. Show them love and Jah blessings you will receive”

4. ‘What Have You Done’

TEARS! ‘What Have You Done’ is a tune which was seemingly one geared after my own heart (particularly in the last week or so since I began to dig back into this release). It is absolutely GORGEOUS! The vibes are nearly perfect and while Shiloh doesn’t throw his voice to its peak, he comes fairly close to doing just that and he goes about pushing a message which just reminds all to be righteous in your ATTEMPTS and to take into account the words of His Imperial Majesty at all times.

Best Lyric: “Testimony. I’ve been to hell and back, calculated the score. And now I’m sure!”

5. ‘The New Rising Day’ featuring Bascom X

Remember Bascom X??? There was a time when the chanter was looked upon as having just as much potential as peers such as Lutan Fyah, Fantan Mojah and Turbulence, but it just hasn’t (at least not yet and it doesn’t figure to anytime soon) (ever) materialized as such for him. Still, he most certainly has offered flashes of brilliance in his woefully under-active career. None were too much more SMART than this link with Ras Shiloh for ”Coming Soon” where the two made a WONDERFUL duo on one of the most ‘scenic’ of tunes on a very scenic album.

Best Lyric: “Searching to find some peace. UNITY. Spread some joy amongst the youth today”

6. ‘Need Your Love’

Ras Shiloh takes ‘Need Your Love’, a bonafide love tune, in a very familiar direction and one which turns into this kind of ‘crystallized’ vibes. What I mean is that this one was definitely one made for a purpose and while it surely isn’t the finest moment on the album, it clearly accomplishes what it was intended to do. Sweet sweet love song? Check.

Best Lyric: “They say love is blind, but I bear that in mind. Rasta knows everything is sealed and signed”

7. ‘Are You Lonely’

Even sweeter love song? Check. Between the two ostensible love songs pushed right near the middle of this album, the second of the two, ‘Are You Lonely’ is the better and more inventive of the pair. This song - My Wife loves - and after having had in playing on the house radio for more than a few spins, I’m sure you can imagine what her question was. “Garnet Silk?”. Not quite, but a lovely tune nonetheless.

Best Lyric: “Go to sleep with pictures of you hanging in my mind. I recall sweet things we used to do all of the time”

8. ‘Volume of the Book’

“They act like they don’t know”. BOOM! Here it is, the best song on the album. Unsurprisingly Shiloh finds himself on a biblical level taking this one to the proverbial next level and stepping such in such a HUGE way. I can remember first hearing this song and having such a powerful and IMPRESSED feeling of it that it kind of stopped me, in a sense, from listening to the rest of the album. Of course, had I actually done that, it would have been a damn shame, but ’Volume of the Book’ just might be one of the best songs I have ever heard in my entire life.

Best Lyric: “It was written in the volume of the book, under a cool meditation while the whole earth shook”

9. ‘It Will Be Over’ featuring Natural Black

Had I just left ”Coming Home” alone following ‘Volume of the Book’, I would’ve mentioned my favourite combination on the album and probably my second favourite tune altogether actually, ‘It Will Be Over’, featuring Natural Black. This tune came in signaling that a powerful change was on its way because going along as we were, the world is headed for disaster. It also provided the necessary lyrical boost as well, with one side being so undeniably powerful, but so ‘serene’ at the same time (and it isn’t the way you‘re thinking either).

Best Lyric: “What’s the use to be killing great men that’s teaching the world the right solution. Makes no sense to mislead the nation from the captivity of civilization”

10. ‘Rebel With A Cause’

Easily one of the finest riddims on the entire album backs ‘Rebel With A Cause’ and Shiloh uses it to somewhat build on the sentiment of the previous track, but in a slightly more aggressive and IMMEDIATE manner. “Here I come” is the lasting declaration for me and it is also one which helped me to come to the ultimate conclusion I did for the entire album because Shiloh certainly doesn’t appear to be calling US to action, instead, he’s coming to initiate the ACTION himself.

Best Lyric: “They are evil, in high and low places and deceivers trying to cover their traces”

&

“HERE I COME, here I come again. I’m a rebel with a cause. Mystery babylon must fall”

11. ‘Coming Home’

Surely there is great insight to be found in the title track of a great album, right? Surely. Lyrically speaking, this may just be the finest moment on the album because, at least to my completely over-analytical brain, it’s a song which very much carries a dual meaning. I’ll elaborate more on this in my synopsis, but what I’ll tell you here is that you essentially LOSE half of the vibes of the tune should you just look upon it, categorizing it as a ‘repatriation anthem’. It is so SO much more . . . Or is it???

Best Lyric: “I can’t wait to get home to Mama, to feel her warm embrace. I’ve been longing to touch her and see her smiling face”

12. ‘Come Down Jah Jah’

Ras Shiloh’s take on this proven winner is a . . . Well it’s a proven winner. I really like songs like this where I can kind of drift away in my brain and just sit back and be entertained and doing that here, Shiloh absolutely rules this tune. I really like the way it builds itself up and while he doesn’t take the voice off the register, he pushes it just far enough to satisfy the big tune. Dazzling.

Best Lyric: “Out there is a battlefield. No one trust no one. Trying to be humble, but still, you can’t be a simpleton. Raving dog will take your bone, leave you stranded in the cold. Upful in this yah gideon, you can’t let them steal your soul”

13. ‘All What A Go On’

I don’t know if I’ve ever REALLY heard anyone dig very deeply into ‘All What A Go On’ (and I’m not about to here either), but it is MASSIVE! It is a HUGE tune! I suppose you can kind of call the tune a ‘social commentary’, but it also seems to have some type of spiritual overtones to it (maybe that’s just what I’m getting from it, however) and it sounds very unique and original - Just the way the tune is situated. So, I’m going to call it one of the highlights of the album - Make sure you give it a HUGE listen before disagreeing (and even if you do listen deeply and disagree, you’ll still be wrong).

Best Lyric: “All what a gwaan inna di system, the more you give is the less you receive. And on, goes the system - Fighting the hands that feed”

14. ‘Voice of the People’

Heavy listening fans should recognize the riddim behind ‘Voice of the People’ as the same which backed Capleton’s mighty ‘Jah Is My Everything’ from the ”Reign of Fire” album and while Shiloh doesn’t quite reach the lofty levels set by King Shango, he does manage to come close. Unsurprisingly, the tune does follow closely the ideology expressed in ‘Let the People Be Heard’, but this tune well makes itself stand out because of its very urgent tones which, this time, fall all on Shiloh’s shoulders.

Best Lyric: “We will not surrender! Caste asunder (!) your evilous policies. Won’t be mobbed by numbers, we died from hunger. Screw your speech (!) we want food to eat!”

15. ‘Waste My Time’

‘Waste My Time’ is a tune which is most attractive because of the way in which it is written. What Ras Shiloh does is set up doing a variety of negative things as a ‘waste of time’. You don’t hear that very much. Certainly we’ve heard artists talk about the negative effects, both the tangible and the abstract, but for someone to look upon that type of behaviour and essentially say ‘I have better stuff to do with my time’, is very interesting and on top of that Shiloh is clever to point out that wasting time doing negative things is merely a ‘gateway’ of sorts to SERVING time.

Best Lyric: “Disagreement brings mis-unity. In this judgment you’ve got to face reality. My people we are one family, with one aim, one life and one destiny”

16. ‘All Of Me’

And finally (and oddly), Shiloh rounds up ”Coming Home” with another love song. 'All Of Me' is the second strongest on the album (after ‘Are You Lonely’) and it does take awhile to kind of blossom (on that sweet classic riddim), but after it gets up to speed it’s no problem at all. So sweet up someone special, grab them by the waist and do something. I just don’t want to hear about it.

Best Lyric: “All of me needs you. All of me - It’s true, you bring out the real man in me”

Synopsis

Although explaining it will almost certainly end up sounding very complicated coming from me (but I’m actually going to try to make it no so ridiculous this time), in my opinion, at the heart of comprehending the ”Coming Home” album is one simple question:

What does Ras Shiloh mean by “home”?

In order to find the answer, I believe that there’re two songs which really need to be considered. The first, as I alluded to, is the title track. As I mentioned, the song definitely has a bit of duality and you don’t even have to dig into too far to hear it. On one hand, there’s -

“We’re coming home
Ethiopia awaits us
We’re coming home
And we’re burning babylon”

And

“I can’t wait to get home to Mama
To feel her warm embrace
I’ve been longing to touch her and see her smiling face
I know she’s gonna welcome me home
I’m no longer alone”

While on the other there’s -

“We’ve been drifting for too long
Unable to find our way
Asking Jah to lend a hand
And protect us day by day
We’ve been suffering for too long
Help the weak to be strong”

Now think about that! In the very first passage, the concept of “HOME” is one which is even given a name - “Ethiopia” - and thus is looked upon as a very real and tangible and physical location, as in the simplest form, ‘I am going home’, meaning I am physically going to a place. Then we see “Mama” in the place of Ethiopia and surely one could just make the connection to “Mama Afrika’, meaning home, but like I said, if you stop there you lose half of what I believe is the prevailing message of the album. The final batch of lyrics ties it all up neatly for me. Here, home is looked upon as a type of refuge from “suffering for too long” and a place where the “weak” can become “strong”. This isn’t necessarily a trait of “home”. Home can be a place where I simply lay my head, this place Ras Shiloh is referring to is a very nourishing place and when you take that and go backwards - Ask yourself who are the two greatest nourishers of the world - Of course there’s The Almighty (“Asking Jah to lend a hand”) and then there is the Mother (“I can’t wait to get home to Mama to feel her warm embrace”).

The other tune which I feel is very instrumental in overstanding the main premise of ”Coming Home” is actually the album’s very first track, ‘We Need More Love’.

“I’m tired of walking the streets being scared of my shadow
Some people are living for today with no investment for tomorrow
Brothers killing brothers for no reasons
No special time, place nor seasons
Why Can’t we show some brotherly love for each other”

“We need more love
Love is what we’re searching for
A place for the children to play
Where is the sunny day?”

Once again we see familial terms thrown about, this time “brothers” and “children” and it is one of those, in particular, which definitely stands out. “A place for the children to play” is what Shiloh says (and you should already see this one coming now). That piece stands so far out to me because it doesn’t actually line up. Just before that he says, “we need more love, love is what we’re searching for”, but never does he say anything about a PLACE before the very next line. What is he talking about?

He’s talking about HOME. What is home? It is this very nourishing place. It is a place where His Majesty is present. It is a place where my Mother is. It is where I go for her “warm embrace”. It is a place where there is “brotherly love” and it is a “place for the children to play”. We can definitely stretch this to make it DIRECTLY mean the land of Afrika, but that’s not ONLY what Shiloh means and he doesn’t ONLY mean “HOME” is a concept either. Shiloh’s idea of “home” is one which is going to exist physically, but it has no specific location, it is wherever all of these can be accomplished for you at a given time.

‘Give A Little Love’ is another tune which explores this thought in my opinion and I’d like to mention what happens with both ‘Let the People Voice Be Heard’ and ‘Voice of the People’. These two tunes, to my opinion, quickly go about taking “HOME” and applying it to the entire world - As in, if we all are going to love here, it would be best if the largest man has a say AND the smallest as well - And that’s just a MIGHTY course of thinking if you follow it in that track of consciousness. What else is it??? It is the basis for one more glorious moments in a career which, although not full of much activity, is no complete stranger to such times. None too much more glorious from Ras Shiloh than “Coming Home”, a bonafide Modern Reggae Classic!

'Back To Normal': A Review of "Strictly The Best Vols. 42 & 43" by Various Artists

Definitely going last and seeing what all of the other ‘competition’ has to offer has its advantages. In the general sense, it obviously gives you a more direct objective in terms of what you have to do better than and what you cannot possibly do worst than and, of course, when you speak of sports and the likes (particularly sports), that can give someone a potentially very large edge. In music and most forms of entertainment, what it does it kind of give you your own ‘audience’ as your product/event/whatever becomes the most anticipated of that time and when you do that in a given year, at the end of that year, it can really carry quite a substantial ways into the following year as well. In Reggae music we have a few significant year-end type of occurrences which typically standout amongst the rest. Certainly no one will EVER forget that on Boxing Day, each and every year, there is potential madness and skullduggery afoot in Portmore at Sting (although said “madness and skullduggery” this year will most unfortunately not include a clash) and there’re a few other events as well. On the album side, Lloyd Brown has taken care of his obligations for us this year with ”Cornerstone” and we’ll see him again in about eleven months and, as is customary, next up is one of the highest profile compilations of the year, ”Strictly The Best”, also from VP Records. Outside of ”Reggae Gold”, ”StB” is probably the biggest named annual release that we have and it’s also one of the most interesting as it comes in pairs . . . You REALLY should know all of this already, so let’s get into the specifics. This year’s installments, #’s 42 & 43, respectively, do come with a bit of a personal twist for me because I was rather pleasantly surprised by last year’s #’s 40 & 41. Typically, while this series carries more of a hardcore fan’s vibes than does ”Reggae Gold” (that isn’t hard to do), it usually only does so slightly and I think that last year’s editions (particularly #42) were some of the best in some time. So, with just a tiny bit more lustre for people like you and me, we roll into this year. How does it all workout? Well, while it isn’t necessarily a ‘down’ year for the ”StB” project, it certainly isn’t as good as last year’s versions, but it does offer enough pieces to get more than a glancing attention from most fans.

Strictly The Best Vol. 42

The first thing that I noticed about the even number installment of this year’s ”Strictly The Best” set from VP Records was how much it seems to almost diametrically differ from last year’s [#40]. A year ago I was so happy to see just how much of a ‘new push’ there was in terms of who appeared on the compilation. Names such as Maikal X, Sherita, Jah Vinci, Million Stylez and Hezron certainly weren’t (and still aren’t) household names to any degree (and the average age on that one, with people like Gappy, Etana and Busy also on board must’ve been a lot lower). This year, while we still have such artists, they’re older people and perhaps that is some type of sign as far as the intended artists this year.

Whatever the case, while the artist who stars on the first ‘show’ on ”Strictly The Best #42” isn’t an old man, the thirty-two year old Jah Cure isn’t a rookie, but he is joined by one, (the incredibly hard to spell) his SoBe Entertainment labelmate, Phyllisia, on their well traveled but still strong single, ‘Unconditional Love’. I’m not exhaustedly tired of this tune just yet and if you haven’t heard it yet (. . . What is going on with you???), it’ll do wonders for you and if you take time and the ‘quantity’ of the tune, it’s probably one of the best songs here actually. Next in is a returning and very impressive Courtney John on ‘Love Is’. I always say that I need to pay more attention to this sweet voiced singer, but the fact that I haven’t begun to do so just yet always makes me happy to see him on compilations like such because even if it’s a big tune (and it is, as it is almost always) I’m not tired of it. Such is the case here with a song which is CLEARLY one of the best and should you call it the supreme tune here (and, thus, on both of the album’s), that’s fine with me. Lastly for the opening lot is a singer who is also not an old man and fairly new to this series (I think this is his first song on one of the "StB" albums), but one who is already a veteran, 2009’s BIG breakout name, Stevie Face, with ’In The Living Years’ from his outstanding album, ”Tell It Like It Is” from last year. It would have made more sense on ”StB40”, but I suppose ’better late than never’ applies on this song and should he remain active, you can probably reserve a spot on future installments of this compilation for Mr. Face as well (and hopefully VP will pick up one of his albums at some point also).

As I said, 2010 appears to be the ’retro-year’ from ”Strictly The Best #42”, so you can expect a whole heap of familiar names throughout and the ones which aren’t too familiar aren’t unfamiliar because of their lack of time in the business either. For example, there is a chance that you may not be very well acquainted with the music of veteran Ed Robinson, but he’s been around for quite awhile and this year he struck up with arguably the biggest hit of his entire career, ‘Our Heroes’ which, to my ears chimes in as also the biggest tune on this album (it’s the best song on either album actually). The tune takes the listener through every corner of the history of Reggae music and for me, it has become such a powerful and BEAUTIFUL song and I was so happy that VP placed it on this album in anticipation of Robinson’s own album supporting the tune which is scheduled for early next year. HUGE HUGE tune! Similar to Robinson’s own is the case of Andy Livingston, a Reggae veteran of well over a decade at this point, but one who may not be too well known to the masses. He also had a big year which was boosted on the strength of his big single, ‘My Promise’. I don’t particularly LOVE this song, but I’m well into the tiny minority on that so, definitely give it a minute to grow on you before casting it aside because it’s done a heavy amount of damage in 2010. And I suppose I could throw in this same string the far better known George Nooks who comes with a remake of ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’ as well as Fiona who brings back Stevie Face, for another remake, ‘Baby Come To Me’. Both of these tunes, sonically speaking, sound excellent, but I’m not too much of a fan of either actually and they definitely fit more precisely on VP’s fine ”R&B Hits Reggae Style” which dropped a fourth installment back in August on which the latter of these two tunes appeared. Of course, on the completely opposite end of that is a neophyte, by comparison, Tessanne Chin who returns to a VP album with ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’ which is another remake of a song that I’m entirely too lazy to look up. I don’t particularly like this one either, actually, but I have such a GREAT feeling about Chin these days and I’m almost certain that either 2011 or ‘12 will see her doing big things on an international level, so stay tuned.

Apart from those names, the balance of ”StB#42” is full of artists who’re either very current or just very familiar and popular on the VP circuit, historically. Perhaps none are more popular than superstar Tarrus Riley who offers up ‘Superman’, the latest single from his 2009 album, ”Contagious”, which is a song which I enjoy more and more every time I vibe it. Of course, you knew Gyptian would be popping up in one way or another and here he is with ‘So Much In Love’. I don’t enjoy this one as much as I once did, but the ‘saving grace’ of the tune is and probably always will be the fact that the Jon FX licked riddim is absolute GOLD. From the current poster boy to the former, chasing Gyptian’s tune, sequentially, on ”StB#42” is Sanchez who returned with his first album for VP (or anyone else, for that matter) in a very long time early this year, ”Now & Forever”. His tune, ‘Feel Good All Over’, unsurprisingly is a remake of an older one, but it is VERY nice and the best such tune on the entire album perhaps. And also present is an artist for the future, the always OUTSTANDING Romain Virgo, with ’Dark Skin Girl’ from his self-titled debut album from this year. This song isn’t far from being HUGE and it is clearly one of the highlights of this piece. If Sanchez’ isn’t the most VP-familiar name on this album then that distinction goes to Gramps Morgan who, as a member of Morgan Heritage, has probably appeared on dozens of their albums and compilations over the years. Now still working on his solo career, he gives us the excellent ‘Come Back To Bed’ and it fits in so nicely (as it always does in his case, I really like this song). I can’t say the same about ‘Butterflies’ by Gappy Ranks, however. While it isn’t horrible, I’m just not quite sure what to make of it and I never have been.

And finally, joining Fiona and Tessanne as the female representatives on ”Strictly The Best #42” are a couple of VERY talented ladies. First is Alaine, now out all on her own, and scoring hits such as the angelic ‘You Are Me’ which is probably my second favourite tune on this album altogether. And fittingly closing the show is the legendary Marcia Griffiths who reminisces of times gone by telling us about ‘A Beer and a Girl’ over Penthouse’s so nice Big Stage Riddim. Between her tune and Ed Robinson’s I think we have that base well covered and simply adding Griffiths’ name to a project can inject some always welcome CLASS as well.

Strictly The Best. Vol. 43

Given the state of ‘Dancehall’ today (I.e. not really being Dancehall but . . . Something else), I wasn’t too hopeful about what we’d get on the odd numbered edition of ”Strictly The Best” this year, even before seeing the tracklist (and that’s generally the case for any non riddim album Dancehall compilation from me these days). However, although this release isn’t what I’d call stellar by any stretch of the word, I was pleasantly surprised to some extent.

Jr. Gong and Nas, having saturated the hell out of 2010, certainly aren’t going to surprise anyone by popping up on a compilation this year and the two, after having also appeared on ”Reggae Gold 2010” in June, are back to open up things on ”Strictly The Best #43” also. Their tune is the well worn ‘Land Of Promise’ which mines an old Dennis Brown tune (the ‘Crown Prince’s’ vocals are still intact) and . . . Yeah, you know that one by now. I don’t need to say anything. Okay, it is a big tune. I will elaborate more thoroughly on the next tune in, ‘How We Do It’, which links Bounty Killer and Ele across ZJ Chrome’s Mad Collab Riddim. This tune is part-WICKED and part-OKAY. The OKAY is Elephant Man who offers his usual flare, but Bounty Killer is downright DOMINANT on this track with the flow. Even these days, certainly past his prime years, when the Killer locks in on a riddim and is FOCUSED, no one can do what he does with the big voice ANGRY style of deejaying. And where you have Bounty, you must (you don’t have to, but they just do that) have a Beenie tune somewhere and on ”StB#43”, Beenie represents with one his biggest songs from 2010, ‘I’m OK’. I love this song and while I haven’t had the opportunity to mention it much this year, I’ve been very impressed with Beenie Man’s work this year and this tune was arguably his best, so definitely check it. And speaking of personal bests, I’ll also mention the fourth tune on the album, ‘Nah Sell Out’ by Khago, which rides the same Seanizzle built One Day Riddim that Beenie’s tune rode in over. I’m still pretty unsure of what I actually think of the funny voiced Khago, but he definitely shows moments of brilliance occasionally and this offering may just be his most intelligent showing to date (and good luck getting it out of your head also).

The biggest surprise on ”StB#43” came in the form of Achis Reggae favourite I-Octane who gets in two different tunes on the album, neither of which, musically, probably ‘deserve’ to be on this album (in terms of style). The first is the most fitting, ‘Puff It’ on the Orange Hill Riddim. It’s not one of my favourites from Octane, but it’s still pretty good actually and with that riddim (which is just STRANGE), I’m pretty sure it’s going to catch some big attention from some who haven’t heard it yet. And Octane also returns to wrap up things on the album with ‘Think A Little Time’, which is a song that I really do like, but isn’t Dancehall or even that freaky shit people try to pass off as Dancehall these days. I don’t why it’s here actually, but I’m not going to complain about good music and this is a good tune and one of this releases best to be perfectly honest (albeit out of place) (hopefully VP is trying to tell us something) (album!).

“Dem kill mi friend along di way
So bloody trigger spill back
But no!
I just chill back
An hold di meds a hilltop
Criminal dem waan fi tun di I inna, I will not
Marcus Garvey words dem I fulfill dat”

It may, in fact, just be the best song on the album, but thankfully my sanity prevents me from designating it as such. And the other surprise is the showcase of the MAD Basik Instink Riddim with a couple of tunes, ‘Wifey Anthem’ and ‘Video Light’ from Taranchyla and Delly Ranx & Froggy, respectively. Neither song is much, but that riddim is fucking ridiculous and probably has enough PURE Dancehall vibes in it to make up for the much misplaced ‘Think A Little Time’. And Charly Black shouldn’t be a surprise at this point, but he isn’t very familiar and I suppose we can honestly still call him ‘up and coming’. His tune on ”StB#43”, ‘Bubble Again’, is and always has been SERIOUS and in terms of actual skillfully done and deejaying it’s one of the best tunes here and in terms of anything actually it is the same case. Black is a big artist so keep an eye on him.

Apart from that, you pretty much know what to expect here. So let’s cover the bases. Vybz Kartel??? Check. Kartel, of course, gets two tunes and they’re actually two of his better efforts of 2010, ‘Better Can Wuk’ and the Smokin’ Riddim laced ‘Dumpa Truck’. They’re good songs, I prefer the former to the latter (‘Better Can Wuk’ is REALLY good) and that’s what I’m going to say, I’m sure you can find a million sites with people declaring them the greatest in the history of sound, so happy hunting. Mavado??? Check. He also gets two spins. His first, Di Genius produced ‘Nine Life’ was a very big hit from him earlier this year. I’ve always found that tune to be decent, nothing too special on it, but I’ve heard it trashed a lot over the months and it is not rubbish to my ears. And the next time we hear from Mavado, he’s with the artist he essentially ‘replaced’ as THE Dancehall singer of the moment, Tessanne’s Brother in-law, Wayne Marshall, on ‘My Heart‘. I don’t like the song, never have, but I can see a value in it and with anything regarding Wayne Marshall - Unless it’s six years ago (and it isn’t) and he’s on a track with Kartel (and he isn’t), I’m probably not going to enjoy it, so have a listen for yourself. Don’t take my word for it in his case. Sean Paul??? Yep. He’s here too with his own tune on the Smokin’ Riddim, ‘Turn Me On’, which might be the best tune on that riddim. He gets a cool little mix of the riddim and he absolutely dazzles right over it with old school style of Sean Paul deejaying. And of course Gyptian is here again with his bubbling ‘Nah Let Go’, as is Busy Signal with the infectious insanity that is ‘How U Bad So’ from the infectious insanity which was his album, ”D.O.B.”.

And finally, with all of that being said, hopefully you knew which was my favourite tune on ”StB#43” because Assassin is on the album after all. Anytime the man does a track these days, I’m WELL impressed and I’m never more impressed on this album than on the Stephen McGregor vibed ‘Hand Inna Di Air’ from THE MOST TALENTED PURE DANCEHALL ARTIST IN THE WORLD - Assassin . . . And it isn’t even him at his best.

Overall, while I’m not anywhere in the neighbourhood of being as enthused about this project, in full, as I was last year, I’m not disappointed either. In cases like this I always start to think more could have been done and I would’ve liked to see the youth movement of last year continue in the instance of #42 (especially via bringing back Hezron who has been flaming in 2010), but they’ve done very well with bringing in Ed Robinson. As for #43 (and I don’t know if I said it, but #42 is STILL the better of the two, as the even numbered edition usually is, but maybe less so this year), it is what it is. Dancehall is SO fair-weathered these days that you get the good with bad (probably more bad) and the album reflects that. Still, it does get good marks in the cases of Khago and I-Octane (Bramma VP! BRAMMA!). Altogether, I don’t have any problem recommending this one to newer heads in the physical. You can pick this one up and you might actually enjoy all thirty-two songs. Older fans, you fly down on this digitally and pick and choose what you want. 2010 isn’t a great year for ”Strictly The Best”, but it’s always so nice to see coming in and we’ll definitely be looking for it in 2011.

Rated: 2.999999/5
VP Records
2010
CD + Digital VP Records

Check It Vol. XX

Beenie Man EP [Tad’s Records/Zojak Worldwide]

First up this week is a piece which I certainly should’ve mentioned before as I kind of/sort of knew it existed, but didn’t actually have it (and I still don’t, but definitely the time is past due). For me, in terms of actual skill in Dancehall Music, at the top of the line 2010 has been all about exhibitions of Assassin, Busy Signal and Beenie Man. Certainly there’re others, like the next gentleman I’ll tell you about who have big years, but in terms of the actual craft of making Dancehall music, those three have been at the top (and you can find somewhere to put Bramma in there down the line also). Of course, the standout element of that trio is Beenie Man who’s been around from absolutely forever and is having a year which seems to signal that maybe the longest prime in the history of the Dancehall is still ongoing. This WONDERFUL release is a catch-up of sorts if you haven’t been paying a great deal of attention Dancehall this year or so (and I don’t blame you). The release is highlighted by ‘I’m OK’ and ‘I’m Drinking Rum & Redbull’ and it’s just fun fun fun from Beenie Man and hopefully 2011 will bring up that next LP.

Digital

Vybz Kartel - “Dancehall Hero EP” [ZJ Chrome]

Next in is the always active Vybz Kartel who comes through with an EP built around his latest big hit, ‘Dancehall Hero’. The tune is basically a very BROAD slap to those who rather routinely call his name to catch a hype (and do so at a nauseatingly active rate) and while he doesn’t call names (at least I don’t remember him doing so), if you’ve been paying attention (and you haven’t), you pretty much have an idea who he’s talking about. I kind of like the song, I like parts of it, but I can’t help but think that if he found himself in this situation about five years ago or so (and he wouldn’t have, because he would’ve responded to everything), this song would have been fucking ridiculous. On the EP release fans can get the tune, edited and raw as well as another recent piece, ‘You Mi Need’, also in two forms.

Digital

The Winnings Riddim [Di Genius Productions]

The Winnings Riddim is the latest offering from Stephen ‘Di Genius’ McGregor and although it’s a bit more ‘electric’ than I generally like . . . I do like this one. I do have to say, however, that in terms of riddim albums, this one isn’t GREAT and I think that, in general, McGregor’s riddim albums have kind of plateaued over the last couple of years or so (with only a couple of exceptions). But who cares? It’s Di Genius’ new riddim and that means that you’re interested. With him, McGregor has brought his usual cast of characters such as Mavado, Aidonia, Laden, Bramma, Busy Signal, Beenie Man and of course Chino. Surprises include a very nice tune from Flexxx, going all Peter Tosh on the people with the wicked ‘Stepping Razor’, a big and unexpected combination between T.O.K. & Wayne Wonder and a most unfortunate appearance by the worst named man in the world, Chi-Ching-Ching.

Digital

Congo Judah - “The Crown” [Judgement Yard/David Ghetto Records]

Hopefully I’m not the only one who remembers from a few years ago when Sizzla’s website for Judgement Yard was going strong and doing big things. Nowadays, it’s pretty much ran its course, apparently, but it still serves well as an archive of source. Anyway, one of the coolest things about it, in theory at least, used to be the fact that it was the only place online where you could get albums from some of Sizzla’s protégés, such as Joseph Shepherd and Congo Judah. Judah’s album, ”The Crown”, was the first of the lot, if I recall correctly, and now it is available through most of the digital channels, now a few years on. You might notice that I said, “in theory” when thinking of how cool it was when you could get exclusives off the website - Why did I say that? ”The Crown” is REALLY REALLY REALLY bad. It is AWFUL! So trod carefully my friends.

Digital

Commander Messiah - “Cry of The Sufferer” [Vizion Sounds Records/Zojak Worldwide]

This most most interesting release kind of caught me by surprise I have to admit. Commander Messiah’s is a name which I’ve definitely heard before, but I don’t know that I knew the nice singer from out Ghana actually had an album to his credit. Well, not only does he, but it came (I’m thinking this one may be a couple of years old now) via one of my less-active favourites, Vizion Sounds from out of Guyana and the UK. The album, ”Cry of The Sufferer”, which sounds pretty damn good to my ears (trying to get a copy of it now) is currently available now digitally. Certainly it isn’t the greatest thing in the world, but do give it a quick listen.

Digital (a CD probably does exist also)

“King Juggler” [Vizion Sounds Records/Zojak Worldwide]

Also jumping up this week as we stomping through the back catalogue of Vizion Sounds is this very familiar compilation that I definitely do remember from a few years back, "King Juggler”. What happened here was that the album was essentially a riddim album for Dean Fraser’s version of the old Three Blind Mice Riddim and, looking back, there was some TRULY big material here. Of course, with names such as Tarrus Riley, Duane Stephenson, Luciano, Louie Culture, Gregory Isaacs, Anthony B, Natural Black, Ras Shiloh, Big Youth and surely First Born, it didn’t hurt with stockpiling this EXCELLENT riddim album.

Hard to find CD & Digital

Gabriel aka Levardes - “The Rebirth EP” [Loud Disturbance/Zojak Worldwide]

I remember being so impressed by Gabriel a few years ago from before he mysteriously disappeared, only to return a little while back for seemingly no other reason than to detonate on Merciless’ career. So, technically you could probably say that I’ve been looking forward to an album . . . like thing from him for nearly a decade and here it is, an EP, ”The Rebirth”, from the suddenly very digitally LOUD, Loud Disturbance Records. The release features seven tracks from the DJ, including the well received ‘Check Me’ on the Karmasutra Riddim and the all around WICKED ‘Police Harassment’ on the relicked Duck Riddim. Certainly it wasn’t worth the long wait, but Gabriel continues to be most very interesting after so many people, including me, gave up on him a looooooooooooong time ago.

Digital

The Police Riddim [Own Mission Records]

I’ve fortunately been dealing with the latest from Frenchie label Own Mission Records, the Police Riddim, for a week or so now and I’m definitely well impressed just as I was not too long ago when the same label reached with the nice Bun Up Riddim (which birthed ‘Nah Go A Jail’ from Echo Minott, one of my favourite tunes of the year). While Echo isn’t to be found here, on the whole, the lineup on the Police Riddim is certainly the better of the two and some of the best work done by the label altogether in compiling talent. Voicing this ’moody’ composition are Pressure Busspipe, Cali P, Straïka D, Chezidek and a BIG combination featuring Gwada all-star Tiwony alongside the up and coming Mystikal Heights from out of St. Lucia. Also, longtime fans (of any genre) should recognize the ever present voice of Hip-Hop legend KRS-1 chiming in here and there as well. Very good set.

Digital

Black Lion - “A Better Place” [Black Lion Music/Zojak Worldwide]

Watch me here - I saw this one on a list sheet and it stuck out (amidst a whole heap of material which would normally be far more visually attractive to me, but I’ve known about Black Lion for quite some time now and he is a big artist and a very talented youth. Now, that isn’t to say that you’re going to enjoy EVERYTHING from his debut (and to my knowledge only) album, ”A Better Place”, it certainly does have more than its fair share of soft spots, but to my ears, they’re outweighed by the good. What is good here is the highly addictive and just GORGEOUS big single from awhile back, ‘Push Lady Push’, the big title track, ‘What A Gwaan’, ’Too Late’ (big tune), as well ’My Love’, a combination featuring fellow Beres Hammond disciple, Ginjah. So, don’t expect the greatest and remember I never told you to, but expect a decent vibes throughout.

Digital & Hard to find CD

The Jah Love Riddim Vol. 1 [Ranks Productions]

Should I go into how much of an obvious lack of creativity must be involved in strumming up a riddim and then calling it the Jah Love Riddim??? Normally I might, but the label is called Ranks Productions, so apparently naming stuff isn’t their strong suit. Fortunately, Tony Ranks and company at the label is pretty damn good at making music and the actual riddim is pretty good as is their taste in artists for the most part. [Lady] Spice’s name highlights a very eclectic group which also includes Natural Black, Lukie D, Tyrical, Louie Culture and Red Roze. So, yes - We’ll forgive them for drawing Danny English.

Digital

“Fully Loaded” & “Beat For Beat Vol. 1” [Mr. Roots Productions/Homebase Music]

And finally I close this week with a couple of pretty new Soca releases from Mr. Roots Productions and Homebase Music from out of Grenada which have thankfully gone digital and have immediately strengthened the world of digital Soca music. The first is one which I covered last year, ”Fully Loaded”. Unfortunately the digital release checks in at only ten tracks, which is half the number on the disc, if I recall correctly, but don’t let that stop you from picking up big tunes from the likes of Machel Montano, Patrice Roberts, Mr. Vybe & Mr. Killa, Mr. Vegas and Skinny Fabulous and Kage who was very impressive with the FUCKED UP (!) ‘Colours & Bumpas’ (be very very careful with that tune).

The other release, ”Beat For Beat Vol. 1” features two riddims, the Body Move and the Mango Seed. Here, listeners can find the likes of Patrice Roberts with the Dancehall-ish ‘Give Him’, reigning two time Antigua Soca Monarch Tian Winter and Mr. Dale on the Body Move, while Macka Diamond, Ziggy Ranking and Problem Child carry the Mango Seed.

Digital {Fully Loaded On CD}

Beautiful Tunes #38

Yep! Don't know which week this is let me check, I think it's #38 . . . Yes it is. Anyway, this week we have 3 familiar names, one VERY familiar, one familiar to me, but not to you and one which is pretty active around these parts and is, predictably, most timely as well. No more delays, let's go.

Okay so, this first is a one which I apparently inspired by posting all of that damn Soca. MY OWN FATHER checks in for the very first time (I THINK) this week with a tune which he told me about when I talked to him a few days ago, 'Heroes' by the legendary Denyse Plummer. He has just recently found the everlasting joy that is YouTube and he said after seeing my own drops, he was confused because he only thought I did Reggae Music. No, we do everything around here old man so, he said he'd suggest a favourite of his. This one isn't too old, if you ever see my Father's collection there is a TON of OOOOOOOOOOOLD Reggae and OOOOOOOOOOOOLDER Calypso. But here this one is and even if you don't like Calypso (and you probably don't), listen to what she's saying. Big tune ("Always wait until the heroes dead to put a crown on their head") and apparently it netted her a Monarch title about a decade ago as well - Thus the performance.

Next in is a tune from an actual friend of ours, The Missyl [pronounced 'missile'], originally from Bonaire, who is eternally trying to get her career started as a Deejay (and she actually has some talents, not the most consistent person in the world, however). Anyway, we had lunch (again) with her on Tuesday and I showed her my blog and she said she had a tune in mind that I wouldn't really like, but would make me smile and she got it full-on. Her suggestion was 'Smile' from Koyeba. NOW! I can listen to this song, but it isn't a great song, clearly. HOWEVER, the tune plunders the chorus from a Sizzla song, 'Show Me That You Love Me' and it's nice and it IMMEDIATELY made me smile. So biggup our friend and biggup Koyeba, while I don't love this tune, I am a fan of the boys from Suriname.

And lastly we have a very very predictable suggestion. A little while back I told you about our Artist of The Month of November, Jah Turban who was in the process of making quite the name for himself on the Danish Reggae scene - And of course we just happen to have a reader from Denmark, via the UK, Johnathan, who, after seeing that I did that, began to send me tunes from random Danish artists. The best of the lot was Wendy Wonder and the best of her own lot (maybe not the best, but the most attention-grabbing) was yet another tune from the obviously MASSIVE Alis Riddim, 'Wake Up'. I actually did know about her and it's kind of funny how it all worked out behind the scenes, but definitely keep an ear out for Wendy Wonder (sounding kind of Sara Lugo-ish) and if you haven't figured out just yet - Yeah. The Alis Riddim - Do that.

I'm pretty easy this week, because I've had a tune in my head from my Mother's birthday and it's one which hasn't been stuck in there in quite some time, so I think you'll like it too (if you don't - BE GONE!). It's the Killer with the masterful 'Miss Ivy Last Son'.

• Reviews this week for the new "Strictly The Best" albums (which is almost done and probably the easiest review I've written this year). And hopefully Jahdan's "Babylon Nightmare" as well.
• Link me at AchisReggae@hotmail.com to participate on 'Beautiful Tunes' next Sunday or any Sunday thereafter
• Biggup Nico everytime
  

Completely Random Thoughts 22: Da Grammys

Okay so, earlier this week the nominees for the 2011 Grammy Awards were announced and (on the recommendation of a reader), I thought that I’d briefly take a look at the nominees in the Reggae category and give my thoughts on them and the award in general because I haven’t really done any thing like this yet and I do very much have a few strong opinions. First of all, however, the nominees for the 2011 Grammy Award for the Best Reggae Album are:

• “Before The Dawn” by Buju Banton
• “Revelation” by Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry
• “Isaacs Meets Isaac” by Gregory Isaacs & King Isaac
• “Legacy: An Acoustic Tribute to Peter Tosh” by Andrew Tosh
  
• “One Pop Reggae” by Sly & Robbie
  
• “Made In Jamaica” by Bob Sinclair and Sly & Robbie
  

My thoughts. If you read my work to any degree, you’ll know that I almost never say such things, but in my opinion, of he six nominations, four of them are BAD albums. I mean they’re really bad. The only two which aren’t, Buju’s mediocre and increasingly worsening ”Before The Dawn” and Sly & Robbie’s ”One Pop Reggae” compilation, which was pretty good but probably not good enough to make my (or one else’s) “Best Compilation” list for 2010, certainly aren’t GREAT by any means. But are you really surprised?

The most obvious thing that came to my mind when I saw the nominations, even though there’re six of them, is PREDICTABLE. There is nothing here which comes as a surprise really because the ‘template’ for Grammy nominations has been pretty much defined over the years, we may not be able to predict which albums are going to nominated (or we may in some years), but you definitely know which TYPE.

There are the popular elders such as Burning Spear, Bunny Wailer, Scratch, I’ll place Sly & Robbie in there as well and a few others who’re going to be nominated almost every time they do something kind of new. There’re the Marleys and while ”Distant Relatives” didn’t pick up a nomination this year, all I need to do to make the point is say that last year, Stephen Marley completed a ridiculous act of winning the same damn award twice (two years apart) with one album. There’s the popular number - Meaning Shaggy, Sean Paul and whoever else is popular at the time - And then there’s Buju who, despite arguably being one of the most controversial artists in the world, regardless of genre, has the distinction of having his last four studio albums have been nominated for the award and whatever else he makes next will also be nominated. And you know it.

That’s it! If you do not fit into one of those categories, most likely you aren’t going to get nominated and most unfortunately that excludes probably 99.999999999% of relevant Reggae artists. It also excludes our most relevant of labels, VP Records [pictured], to a large degree. Say what you will about the label (because you will anyway), but if you know enough of them to complain, chances are good that you know enough to be disappointed in who has NOT been nominated for the Reggae Grammy.

By my research, no album which was a VP only album and didn’t fit into one of these categories (the only exception has been Shaggy) has been nominated for a Reggae Grammy since 2003 when, SHOCKINGLY, the label had three different albums selected [”Ghetto Dictionary: The Mystery”, ”Still Blazin’” and ”Anything For You” by Bounty Killer, Capleton and Freddie McGregor, respectively]. Not so shocking was the fact that none of them won of course, because Scratch hadn’t won a Grammy yet. And before that, there haven’t been many either and it is just SO fucking strange that you have the award which goes back to 1985 and have a dominant label which has only had a handful of albums mentioned throughout that time.

"I could burp for 45 minutes continuously on a record next year and still get nominated for a Grammy"

Specifically over the last few years it’s pretty much gotten ridiculous. How in the world Queen Ifrica’s ”Montego Bay” was not named last year is a mystery which probably has no common sense explanation. The same goes for releases from the likes of Tarrus Riley, Duane Stephenson and Etana over the last few years. These are artists whose international images haven’t been tarnished (and obviously that isn’t a problem because . . . Yeah. Buju) with controversies and seemingly they would be very fitting names to have brought up (especially when you consider how nice it would be to have not only NEW talent winning that award, but a female as well). And while I’m certainly not trying to overrate the impact of this award on people like you and me, I believe that this is a sign of something which is one of the main reasons why I, personally, like to pay the vast majority of my attention and the attention of this blog to CURRENT artists who are in or very near their primes, because this is one of the grand perceptions - That in Reggae Music ‘older means better’.

"Just 35 more years!"

This year in particular, removing my own feelings (because as much as I love it, Naptali’s album simply isn’t winning a Grammy and that’s fine, I get it), how can someone like Romain Virgo not be a PERFECT candidate for nomination? This youth presumably can be around making music as he does for the next HALF-CENTURY or so, and perhaps in the final decade or two of that, he’ll be old enough to ‘qualify’. Big deal. There’s Duane Stephenson, SANCHEZ, Luciano, Spragga Benz, Lady Saw and who knows who else would be on a list of names who would seem to be, for one reason or another (besides just the overall quality of their projects), very good choices for nomination and all of whom released albums which have been better received than ALL of those which have been nominated this year. The Reggae Grammy is simply ’backwards’ and ’backwards thinking’ and it pretty much always has been. In my opinion it is a slap in the face to our music. I cannot imagine that in a year when artists such as Eminem, Jay-Z, TI and Lil’ Wayne released albums that the Grammy for Best Hip-Hop Album would be settled between the likes of . . . Biz Markie and Bushwick Bill. And that’s certainly not to put those artists down, but it is to show the difference in the methods of thinking and perceptions between the two (and after checking, both Jay-Z and Eminem are nominated this year, and Eminem won last year and looking over the winners and nominees in the Rap category, they are much much more current to my knowledge than in Reggae).

Hip-Hop, and probably every other genre, has a contemporary award (I’m sure they have more than one also). Reggae essentially has a lifetime achievement award, with room for *special circumstances* (I.e. people named Buju and people who have platinum albums).

{Biggup reader Stephen}
{And for whatever it's worth, I think "Isaacs Meets Isaac" is going to win, but I haven't been correct on a Grammy prediction since "Welcome To Jamrock" won}