Customer Reviews

Riddim Driven: I Swear [Vinyl]

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

(4.5 Stars)
Tracklist-
1. Good Morning Jah Jah- Jah Cure
2. Marijuana- Richie Spice
3. I Swear- Chuck Fender
4. Mama's Blessing- Anthony Cruz
5. For You- Sizzla
6. Woman to Man- Richie Stephens
7. Conquer Dem- Natural Black
8. Dem Story- Junior Kelly
9. Tell Me- Luciano
10. Why Can't You- Pliers
11. What a Life- Melchezidek
12. Your Goals- Jah Penco
13. Tragedy- George Nooks
14. Long Way- Iley Bless
15. Never Had to Lie- Omar Silk
16. Zion Gate- Ultimate Shine

The latest installment of VP Record's Riddim Driven series features one of the biggest cultural riddims in a long time. The I Swear riddim from the burgening 5th Element Camp is awesome and its highlighted by some of the lesser known artists in Jamaica right now.
Today for a riddim album really to succeed it almost has to have some kind of glitch, something it does to differentiate the songs from each other besides the artists themselves. Super producers such as Lenky Marsden, Vendetta and Dave Kelly have stepped to the forefront on version albums because of their ability to change most, if not all the tunes. The I Swear riddim never actually changes, but the tunes sound different because its builder Devon from 5th Elements enlisted the help of backup singers on nearly every tune. Another area in which it is different is that the stars here are really the newer artists, even though truly big and established artists are present (i.e. Luciano, Junior Kelly, Sizzla & Pliers) the young/unestablished artists really shine through here.
The best tune here is the title track I Swear I would venture to say that when the producer heard Chuck Fender's lyrics he decided to call the riddim by the song's name, its truly a big tune and its drawing me closer to buying the yute's album (which is in part the reason for albums like this). Also like Marijuana by 5th Element artist Richie Spice (Pliers' younger brother), Mama's Blessing from Anthony Cruz, Conquer Them by Guyana's own Natural Black (which sounds and borrows slightly lyrically from Sizzla's song of the same title) and Your Goals by an artist I had NEVER heard of before Jah Penco. Buried on this album is a tune called Long Way by Iley Bless who I have heard of before but had never really paid a heavy ear to, he almost locks the flow off on that one, it sounds really good; and of course Melchezidek (formerly Chezidek) from the Xterminator camp sets it off nicely on What a Life. There are no bad songs the vets don't really shine here, but For You, Woman to Man, and Why Can't you, from Sizzla, Richie Stephens and Pliers, respectively, are good tunes as well (so are Jr. Kelly's and Luciano's tunes Dem Story and Tell Me as well). And check out Jah Cure's downright odd vocal style on Good Morning Jah Jah!
Overall, my only complaints here are that the riddim track itself isn't present without artist and that artists such as Bushman, Turbulence, Queen Omega (or a woman at all for that matter) or Jah Mason didn't record on the riddim (which isn't really a good complaint at all) I'd without a doubt reccommend this one and hold it up as the best version album I've heard all year.
Very big riddim, big album, check it out.

To be truthful I was very disappointed with some of the music coming out of Jamaica but this year 05 the 5th Element reaffirmed that beautiful music still comes from the Island in the Sun.
In addition to this riddim also check out other riddims like
Cry Baby Riddim, Drop Leaf Riddim, Hard Times Riddim, Sunshine Riddim and last but not least the Soul Food Riddim which is based on basically just an acoustic guitar but still beautiful.

This Album is a very well produced piece of material. For those fans of Culture Reggae out there you MUST pick up this one. While all the songs are on the same riddim/beat they all sound different.
My personal favorites are the first 9 tracks... BIG BIG tunes

1. Good Morning Jah Jah- Jah Cure
2. Marijuana- Richie Spice
3. I Swear- Chuck Fender
4. Mama's Blessing- Anthony Cruz
5. For You- Sizzla
6. Woman to Man- Richie Stephens
8. Dem Story- Junior Kelly
9. Tell Me- Luciano


Put this CD in your player and be prepared to feel the music.
REGGAE musik the heartbeat of a people.
ALL THANKS AND PRAISES TO JAH RASTAFARI