Singles reviews in SOS - May 2006

YT - An England Story
Sativa 7" - Eighty Five/Sleng Teng riddim
The UK's most exciting dancehall artist jumps on the big tune of the moment with this version of Cham's Ghetto Story on Dave Kelly's wicked Eighty Five riddim. YT's done a lot of these reworkings over the past year or so and he kills it as usual with his tale of the sound systems and artists who ran the scene as he was growing up. He runs through the legends of the UK reggae world, bigging up everyone from Rodigan to Top Cat and Daddy Freddy, to tell a truly English story in answer to Cham's tale of growing up in Kingston. The other side puts the same lyric over the everlasting Sleng Teng riddim but the Eighty Five riddim should see YT getting the radio play here and abroad which he undoubtedly deserves.

Busy Signal - 2 Much Gun
Bling Dawg, Vybz Kartel & Bounty Killer - Full Up A Grass
H2O 7"/Greensleeves LP - Petty Thief riddim
The Petty Thief follows the recent fashion for reviving 90s ragga riddims by licking back Dave Kelly's Man Fi Dead production. Veteran artists like Buju Banton (who voiced the eponymous original cut of this riddim) and Pinchers keep the old time feeling going, while Busy Signal turns in a mesmerising performance on 2 Much Gun which features the breackneck fast chat MCing which is winning him so many fans right now. Bling Dawg joins forces with Vybz Kartel and Bounty Killer for a cheeky rework of Bunny General's Full Up A Class lyric - a killer combination.

Notch - Zoom Gal
Ward 21 - New Gangster Nation
Black Chiney 7" - Octane riddim
Black Chiney produced the 2004 smash hit Kopa riddim and this new outing has a darker vibe, with pounding samba-style drums and swirling breakdowns giving the riddim a hard edge. Notch's melodic cut showcases his singjay style to good efect and his party lyric and catchy chorus should see his effort hit big over the summer. Ward 21 meanwhile come with a dark cut which proclaims their New Gangster Nation amid howling sirens and their characterstically exciting blend of different vocal styles.

FM Crew - Girlz
Erra Records 12"
Brand new bashment from a hitherto unknown artist (FM Crew) and label (Erra Records) - definitely this month's hidden gem. Employing the tried and tested combination style so favoured in dancehall to great effect, Girlz features breathy, sexy female vocals complemented by rough and rugged chatting. This is topped off with an instantly memorable singalong refrain, "We love the girl dem, we love the girl dem". The 12" features a steel pan remix alongside the bumping original.

Ms Dynamite & Ken Boothe - Fall In Love (J Star remix)
White label 7"
The excellent Ms Dynamite version of Ken Boothe's When I Fall In Love, featuring the man himself on the chorus, finally makes it to 7" on this cheeky J Star release. The skanking, pared down sound of a reggae riddim makes a far better showcase for Ms Dynamite's talents than the weak R'n'B which made up most of her recent LP, and her lyrics here steer clear of the preachiness which made it a commercial flop. On the flip, J Star gets to work on a swirling dubbed out version, working the mix to get the most out of the original production.

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Monday 08 May 2006 | Add a comment

News round-up for SOS - May 2006

Something of a row has erupted over Beenie Man's claim to be King of the Dancehall, following reports that the artist will be 'officially crowned' in a ceremony later this year. When Beenie released the hit single King of the Dancehall back in 2005, the claim went unchallenged, but now old time veteran Yellowman has spoken out, denouncing Beenie Man as a fool, a liar and a hypocrite for wanting to bestow the title on himself. Yellowman was dancehall's first major international star - the first ever deejay (as opposed to singer) to be nominated for a Grammy, touring the world and selling millions of albums back in the 1980s. As such he earned the title King Yellowman, which he's quick to point out was not of his choosing: "If me a king? That the people dem say, all over the world. Not Jamaica alone the people dem say it and them have been saying it for a very long time".

Part of Beenie's reasoning is that he's been in the dancehall business longer even than Yellowman: he started out on his uncle's Master Blaster sound system at the age of five, and released his first album, The Invincible Beenie Man: Ten Year Old Boy Wonder, back in the early 80s. Yellowman rejects this: "When me come innah dis business and start deejaying, Beenie Man still a swim round innah him father balls". But anyway, it seems like there's more important criteria than simply the amount of time each artist has spent in dancehall. Yellowman's hits have completely dried up since his heyday in the 80s and he's all but stopped recording, apart from recent comeback single Orphan for the Mad House label. Beenie Man has dominated dancehall since the early 80s, racking up over 50 number ones in Jamaica, winning DJ of the Year more than any other artist and enjoying international success with massive hits like Who Am I? and Dude. In a recent poll by Jamaican newspaper, The Star, 28% named Beenie Man as their favourite living artist; singer Beres Hammond came a distant second with 7%. It seems fair that both artists can claim to be kings of their own eras, though certainly the controversy over whether Beenie Man is fit to succeed King Yellow shows no sign of dying down.

Jamaican sound system Bass Odyssey emerged as victors from last month's UK Cup soundclash at Stratford Rex, beating off competition from UK representatives King Tubby's and X-Ta-C 4x4 plus Sentinel (Germany) and LP International (USA) before defeating fellow Jamaican Ricky Trooper in the final round. Bass Odyssey prevailed despite the absence of longtime frontman Squingey due to illness; his replacement on the mic, Worm, more than held his own.

Our congratulations go out to the Jamaican athletics team, who completely dominated the spring events at the recent Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Jamaica became the first country ever to win all the spring gold medals at the Games, triumphing in the 100 and 200 metres individual men's/women's events, then walking away with the male and female 4x100 metre relay titles. The Caribbean island's track and field team ended the competition second only to hosts Australia in the medals table, finishing with ten gold, four silver and eight bronze medals.

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Monday 08 May 2006 | Add a comment