Customer Reviews

Riddim Driven: Shaddowz

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

 

 

This album contains two of the most toughest riddims in reggae. You will not be dissapointed. If your are Just Downloading Songs instead of Buying the album my suggestion would be Empty - Aidonia, StreetSittin - busy signal, ayayaya - black rhino and dem dead - Aidonia all are real real tough.

(3.5stars)

Rather quickly and oddly establishing himself as the producer of choice when it comes to making the harshest brand of dancehall on the scene right now is Stephen `di Genius' McGregor. The sixteen year old son of reggae legend Freddie McGregor is without a doubt the most talked about producer (and no I'm not saying BEST. . .yet) in dancehall currently and in 2007 established his own very young name as one which rivals some of the biggest active production names in the business right now such as Scatta, Daseca, Mario C and Corleone (who I am calling the Best). All of those producers have a style which characterizes their riddims and overall vibes; such as Daseca which typically will make a heavy dancehall riddim which is soaked in somewhat of an r & b vibe; Scatta, who of the names I mentioned has a style which sticks most closely to what is `traditionally' in the range of modern dancehall; Mario C whose still developing style has come forth under the watchful eye of dancehall King Beenie Man, thus it is no surprise at all that his style is categorized by loud, thumping anthem-like dancehall riddims, over which Beenie has of late scored most of his hits. Don Corleone is by far the most unusual of that bunch as his style is one which can produce one riddim which is almost over colourful and vivid such as the aptly titled Krazy riddim, then later produce the absolutely lovely one-drop, Drop Leaf riddim, as he somewhat even blends the line of what it is to be a dancehall producer, and what it is to be a REGGAE producer. Young Stephen, however, is an even far more unusual case. Given his vast array pf abilities and capabilities, I won't be surprised at all one day should we see McGregor building some of the greatest one drops in all of reggae (he has already, at the tender age of fourteen, virtually done everything on his father's last long player, Comin' In Tough from 2005) but until that day, di Genius' production is linked with an assuredly far different crowd which it will be on that day. Currently, Stephen McGregor is the man behind some of the darkest, murkiest and most vicious backdrops for some of the equally darkest young talent in dancehall. McGregor has a knack and specialty of creating riddims which can almost bring the best (or the worst, depending on your point of view) out of artists, having also brought out the x-rated and more violent side of more established roots artists as well such as veteran roots chanter Norrisman (with his downright AWFUL effort on McGregor's Powercut riddim, Love the Girls). McGregor backs the type of dancehall which critics of the modern style would absolutely devour, but even should you be such a critic, there can be no denying the overall skill and level of `genius' which the music often exhibits.

In the past, young McGregor was closely aligned with veteran DJ/producer/soundman/promoter Delly Ranx, with whom he produced (unknowingly to most, who just believed the creations were in fact Delly's own) several very loud and explosive riddims which were more vivid versions of the type of music he currently makes. First up (on the big stage, he had made several before) was the wildly popular and packed Red Bull & Guinness, the riddim was probably the single most popular riddim in Jamaica for about a six month period. After the RB&G was the similarly vibed and even more packed Ghetto Whiskey (two big crazy sounding alcoholic riddims!). The GW was a bit of a darker, yet slightly more complex version of the Red Bull & Guinness. Next up was the 12 Gauge which sounding a lot like both of it's older siblings, but was even DARKER than the Ghetto Whiskey. Since that time, which was the time in which young McGregor was eating food for someone else, the producer has returned to `home'. Now working out of his own base which is actually the base of his father's very own label, Big Ship, over the last year McGregor has made riddims which further push the envelope of dancehall. With riddims like the Powercut, the truly wicked Tremor and most recently a remake of Dave Kelly's 1996 Stink riddim, the Bee Hive, a conversation of the upper echelon of dancehall producers CANNOT go without the mention of the name Stephen McGregor. Luckily for McGregor (and even more lucky for fans of the music), young artists capable of producing the type of bloody massacres which tend to succeed on his riddims, are lining up around the block and are constantly coming in greater and greater numbers. Not to mention, the past generation of artists, who now comprise the dancehall elite, didn't exactly shy away from that style of music, thus, reading the roster of artists that appear on his riddims is a virtual `who`s-who' of dancehall of the past decade or so. Having voiced names from the likes of superstars Beenie Man and Bounty Killer, to the names of today such as Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel, right down to the names of tomorrow such as Aidonia and Bramma, his bag of artists is virtually bottomless. Of the seemingly thousands of interesting things about McGregor, most important is definitely his age. At his age he seemingly has a catalogue which would be the best in the history of ALL music. In ten years, he will still be younger than thirty (he'll be the same age I am right now, and that's almost unbelievable!), without a doubt, should he continue producing (and with his prolific style, producing seems to be synonymous with breathing for McGregor) inevitably one day his name will rank alongside the King Jammy's, Dave and Kelly's and Donovan Germain's as LEGENDARY dancehall producers (and by that time, Don Corleone will have undoubtedly added his name to that list as well). He is definitely destined to be amongst the greatest.

Another interesting quality to McGregor's music is that, on the album form, while riddim albums continue to come outta road less and less in favour of artist's albums in reggae (THANKFULLY); he has virtually no problem at all getting his pieces on album. With his latest release, Shaddowz for VP Records' Riddim Driven series McGregor reaches (by my count) his seventh riddim album to date after two versions of the Red Bull & Guiness, the Ghetto Whiskey, 12 Gauge, the Powercut, and the Tremor (the first RB&G and the GW were both for Greensleeves the rest were for Riddim Driven). `Shaddowz' is actually a double release with two riddims, both the Shadow (in various forms) and the Dark Again riddims appear on the album. Shaddowz opens with the Darker Shadow riddim for Mavado's Brown Bottle. Brown Bottle is one of the bonafide hits on the album and is also probably Mavado's biggest hit since his album was released last summer. Unsurprisingly, Mavado is a VP artist and the tune opens the album and is currently receiving a big push from the label, thus, if you are a newer fan of dancehall, or just one who doesn't prefer the riddim album format, you can also pick up the song on VP's current release Strictly the Best #37. Mavado with his almost demonic singing style is exactly the type of artist who excels over McGregor's heavy type of riddims as he also scored with the SERIOUSLY wicked Amazing Grace over McGregor's Tremor riddim as well. Another completely obvious artist who absolutely is in love with young McGregor's production is dancehall's current `villain' Vybz Kartel. Kartel checks in with no less than three efforts on the Shaddowz album completely, with his first being the second track on the album, My Scheme. The tune isn't exactly Kartel's best on the album (his best, is the album's best as well, more on that in a second) but it is fairly typical craziness from Vybz Kartel and I have to admit, despite what people may say it means for modern dancehall (or me for that matter), I have always like the style and dancehall just wouldn't be the same without Kartel giving the world something to get mad over definitely! Closing out the opening of the album is surprisingly Anthony B. Having just enjoyed his strongest of years in quite awhile, Anthony B checks in with a song which is powerful and fit's the vibes with his Own Order, but (unlike Norrisman) his song isn't one which is exactly uncharacteristic for him. Own Order is Anthony B taking au ULTRA aggressive stance on those who live dirty! And while it might typical Anthony B, he still fits into his style and it shows a way in which more rootical artist can begin to, more consistently, voice riddims like this without having to sacrifice anything in their vibes.

A very interesting thing on the Shaddowz album begins after Own Order and we'll call it AIDONIA. Aidonia is a newer artist who follows much in the same line as his former mentor Bounty Killer and current mentor Vybz Kartel. Unlike his two mentors, however, Aidonia has yet to add a more versatile facet to his game (although he is currently doing it), therefore, he has made virtually his entire name based on the strength of a tongue-twisting high-tech style which seems bent on proving his gun to be the absolute biggest in the dancehall. His first piece here, on the Darker Shadow riddim, Dem Dead (aka Bawl Later) is one of the craziest tracks I have EVER heard. Aidonia's style is one where he almost wants to say TOO MUCH on purpose and you'll find yourself several times in the course of a single tune rewinding and pausing just to go back to see exactly what he just said. Aidonia's second piece, Empty is even crazier and aimed at (his friend actually) Munga Honourable, pushing the rivalry between McGregor to an even greater level (McGregor's older brother Chino also weighs in on the subject with his In Dem Place, but that isn't exactly his game, actually it isn't Munga `s either and the two would be wise to leave the war thing to Aidonia and the likes). The second verse of Empty (which is on the Dark Again riddim) is truly something to behold and nothing short of brilliant, although viciously violent. Yet, it is still Kartel who reigns supreme on Shaddowz overall with his point-blank lethal Empire Army. Empire Army is somewhat of a tune marking the arrival of Kartel's new group (after leaving Bounty's Alliance) the Portmore Empire (there are actually two official members of the PE on this album (Aidonia is an unofficial member) Black Ryno and Shawn Storm and Storm definitely tops it with his very clever Buk U Up) and it's exactly what you might believe such a tune to sound like multiplied by about 40! Empire Army is one of the very few tracks here which creates its own melody as when you produce a style such as McGregor does, it doesn't actually lend itself to melodies often (one of the few times di Genius actually does change it up is on Chino's In Dem Place which does substantially benefit Chino and on Singing Sweet`s very nice Everyday). Kartel's final effort is Nuh Permission over the Shadow, yet another very strong effort as he absolutely steals the show on Shaddowz. Another artist here checking in multiple times (as does Mavado) is Busy Signal. Busy has gotten somewhat overlooked recently (BIG UP ST ANN'Z!!!) but definitely not here as his two pieces rather easily rank amongst the best. First is Jah Protect Me, showing that he is an artist that has definitely managed to add another scope to his game. Jah Protect Me is somewhat of an odd song as it features Busy full on `singing' (apparently Mavado was unavailable that day) . Still stronger is his later piece Street Sittn which is `vintage' tongue twisting crazy hype Busy Signal. Assassin also (somewhat surprisingly) checks in with the outstanding Carry News. Assassin, I think, is what Busy Signal will eventually become. The comparison is very interesting. With Busy, the talent is undeniable (as it is with Aidonia as well) but you listen to `Sassin over both of them has a natural way of putting a cap on things and still keeping hype and pertinent, every word seems carefully selected, and quietly Carry News is definitely one of the biggest tracks here (in this case over the Shadow riddim).

Speaking of big tunes (not here) curiously and continuously absent from VP's Riddim Drivens by Stephen McGregor is the insanely wicked Bramma de Bomba whose effort on the Dark Again, Stand Alone, rivals ANYTHING on the riddim and yet is mysteriously absent from the album. . .

Overall, its odd that Stephen McGregor's style isn't one that really lends itself to a riddim album beyond the typical dancehall heads (like myself). As I mentioned, the style isn't one which is really melodic or danceable and traditionally, those type of riddims (like the Diwali, the Liquid, the Juice and the Shadow) are the ones which do the best and make the most sense for riddim albums (speaking strictly dancehall of course, one drop riddims do very well on riddim albums), therefore I can't exactly recommend it for you should you not be a really heavy dancehall fan. And if you are trying more to get into the music, particularly McGregor's music then I'd recommend either the Red Bull & Guinness or the Ghetto Whiskey (which are more melodic). However, should you be a dancehall head, then you'll probably eat this one up and just sincerely have a GOOD time listening to who does and says what on Shaddowz, as it takes more turns and twists than any such an album can be expected to. And its not at all confusing why VP would continue to link McGregor's riddims for these type of albums while they aren't exactly the obvious choices. It is definitely a good idea to keep on the good side of the boy who will one day be king.