Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
To Di World. . . , November 24, 2008
Big respect goes to Jamaica's own Mr. Usain along with the rest of our fine Olympic team for representing the country so nice and wonderfully at this year's games. Their incredible performances have brought quite a bit of attention to not only Jamaica's sporting and sports development, but, in my opinion, to Jamaica as a whole, the sports, the culture itself and maybe even the music. Bolt, Asafa Powell and their teammates also took a bit of Jamaican culture to the Olympics with them which (ESPECIALLY in Bolt's case) was evident obviously from the first moment they stepped off the plane in far more ways than just the accent. What had many people referring to him as being arrogant was the same thing many back at home were celebrating and cheering as Bolt left just a bit of bashment in Beijing and people were dancing in the street (your`s truly included). Fast forward just a few months later and although just a bit of the attentions have railed back, the athletes remain part of everyday conversation (and seemingly will for a VERY VERY long time), as do they throughout the entire Caribbean as athletes from all over the region represented quite well with Bolt actually recently being declared Man of The Year by a popular newspaper and is still virtually all over place. Their achievements have also meant quite a bit to the Jamaican music industry, more directly than just dancing in the stadium, definitely. Even before the games, they left with tunes pushing the great hopes of the situation, like Mavado's WICKED On The Go, which was voiced for Powell and featured the now somewhat ironic line of, "Jamaica have the fastest man inna life, him fasta than car and bike" (yes, we do, just not the one you're thinking of). Powell even has a full on compilation (released by Nike, his largest sponsor) entitled Asafa Powell: Train For Speed which features some of his (allegedly) favourite music to train to such as Wayne Wonder's No Letting Go, Sean Paul's Deport Them, Half Pint's classic Greetings and even Tempted To Touch from Bajan soca superstar Rupee (the aforementioned On The Go is an exclusive for the release). Rather unsurprisingly at the helm of compiling Asafa Powell: Train For Speed, was VP Records (because they own EVERYTHING, if you want to license ANYTHING with reggae, you have to call them). When the athletes came back home, they were greeted by even more music as the artists, from Elephant Man (DUH!) all the way to Sizzla Kalonji (twice) had come with some vibes in celebration of the crowning achievements, taking them to an even greater (albeit expected) stage of exposure.
And, as if you needed something else (and you didn't); you, like I, were not surprised AT ALL when VP Records released the much anticipated COVER PICTURE (which is just as anticipated as the actual music on the disc, each and every year, be honest) of the latest installment of their second most popular annual signature series (after Reggae Gold) Strictly The Best with a caricature of a very Usain Bolt-ish figure on the cover in a packed stadium, looking like craziest and greatest place on earth. This year's edition comes with quite a bit of background facts to it that the casual fan may have missed out on during the year: First of all, the first thing that you may notice about this edition is that it is just one edition. Strictly The Best is usually a double album release with the odd numbered version being the dancehall piece and the even numbered one being more roots and culture and lover's rock material. Why is there only one release this year? Well that may have to do with the fact that VP Records also, early in 2008, bought their largest and most popular competitor, the UK based Greensleeves Records. With buying that label and committing themselves to keeping it open and running it (which they have done and are in fact releasing the big album Stronger from Fantan Mojah on the label this same week) as a predominately separate unit from VP, they also inherited its compilation HEAVY release schedule. Greensleeves had years where they released FAR more compilations than albums (I'm talking in the range of 3 or 4:1) from actual single artists. Although that had changed in the last couple of years, they definitely were still a compilation heavy label. Their own releases were the likes of their Ragga Ragga Ragga compilation which features big vibed (and general R and X rated) dancehall from some of the genre's biggest names; their was also The Biggest Reggae One-Drop Anthems album which features more of the roots talents in reggae and prior to just last year, checked in at a WHOPPING forty tracked double release and was easily one of the strongest roots compilations on the market if for nothing but MASS alone; and the One-Drop Anthems' dancehall counterpart, The Biggest Ragga Dancehall Anthems, which, again, up until 2007 came in the form of a double disc forty track project. Strictly The Best's second disc isn't the only `casualty' of the merger as the Ragga Dancehall Anthems release for 2008 didn't make it through either and I wouldn't at all be surprised if it didn't return at all at some point because seriously the risk of literally VP Records competing against Greensleeves (which means VP .vs. VP) is just too great. Strictly The Best #39, therefore becomes the first since StB #31 to be released on its own and like that edition, the trick here is to pour what is literally two album's worth of material into one seventeen piece (definitely doable). I myself tend to favour Strictly the Best just a bit more than the Reggae Gold release (which is easy this year, RG 2008 was just bad) because, like the older Greensleeves compilations it tends to focus on more underground tunes or just the tunes which aren't, at least not yet, spinning day and night locally and internationally. The dancehall portion, in particular, is definitely a different focus as dancehall on Reggae Gold is limited to only the biggest names (or VP's most recent signee). Strictly The Best is certainly no different in its approach, throwing an all around solid compilation, with a few nice twists and turns along the way.
Strictly The Best, like any compilation is only as good as the tunes you choose for it and the way in which they are chosen. StB #39 sets itself up as the first half being predominately dancehall with the second half being lover's rock and roots. It features tunes which are, for the most part, quite popular but only in the Caribbean and the extended Caribbean communities throughout the world. As if there was any question after the cover what VP had in mind for this edition of StB (and there wasn't) getting things started on Strictly The Best #39 is Elephant Man's Nuh Linga. The tune is based on the popular dance made popular worldwide by Bolt after his three wins in Beijing and there's even a version of the tune made ESPECIALLY for Bolt himself. Nuh Linga REALLY, however, is a fairly pedestran dance type of tune from the reigning king of such tune over the Look Gal Riddim. Just like Bolt, Elephant Man can do better, but overall the tune is DECENT and indeed harmless, but given the circumstances, it `fits' on StB #39 probably better than any of the other sixteen tunes here. A pretty expected way to get things started. Another expected track here, but one which is a noticeable step up from Nuh Linga is Back It Up from dancehall superstar Sean Paul alongside Lefside (aka Mr./Dr. Evil). Anything which bears Paul's name almost instantly becomes a polarizing tune in the dancehall given his international status, but I don't even care what you say; the bouncing Back It Up is downright addictive and one of the better dancehall tunes on StB39 altogether. Completing the opening to the album is the very popular Playing (No) Games from singer Serani, part of the famed Daseca production crew, over TJ's Unfinished Business riddim. The riddim itself is derivative of the old Showtime riddim from Dave Kelly. While I accept Serani's genius in the studio behind the board, I'm still on the fence about him as a singer with his voice which fits SO well at times and just NOT AT ALL at others. Playing Games is a strong enough tune and a few months back was one of the biggest tunes on the scene. Decent start to the album for the most part.
The album scores its single greatest shots, in my opinion, just before it shifts to the roots sides of things with two SHOTS of a similar nature. Both Mavado and Konshens score with what are essentially sufferer's anthems with their Overcome and Winner, respectively. Winner was quite controversial, but it went to establish young Konshens as it reached number one on local charts and is seriously a contender for song of the year with vibes to overcome AT ALL COSTS. It is topped by Overcome, StB39's finest outing overall. Overcome is SPECTACULAR. I've loved it since the very first time I heard it as Mavado, as only he can, outlines exactly what is needed to overcome in this day and age of harsh violence and reality (and he would certainly know) for Stephen McGregor at Big Ship. The tune is just beautiful and accentuates all which is good about the controversial singer. Things on the second side, the roots half are a bit more straight forward and even MORE predictable (if that's possible). The single best tune there is, of course, Etana's very popular I Am Not Afraid. The problem with that, however, is that if you've read this far into this review, there's a good chance that you've been spinning the tune for the better part of a year. VP, ever the promoter, also choose to include Love Created I (Marcus Teaching) from Tarrus Riley and his recent Challenges re-release album (also on VP, SHOCKINGLY). Although I'm being a bit sarcastic, make no mistake about it, Love Created I is a BIG tune, its mere presence here makes it one of the best tunes altogether on StB39. Perhaps the best new(er) score on StB39 is from one of...
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Bombshell!, November 25, 2008
'waited for D-day (Nov.25, '08) of it's official digital release, and at exactly 1.50AM Eastern US time on same day, I purchased it, and later at night on the same day, it was already played on the airwaves in Africa by my favourite DJ. "Mus Come A Road", the remix of "Barrington Levy's prison Oval Rock" Riddim by Mr. Vegas, and the "Dean "Cannon" Fraser"-produced Tarrus Riley's "Love Created I", on the "August Town" Riddim sent fans and listeners wild. My DJ bredren lined the latter up with the Foundation cut "August Town" by Duane Stephenson, and Luciano's cut, "Jah Live" on the "Jah is my Navigator" Album, to create an excursion of versions. I and my DJ friend's cell phone buzzed throghout the rest of the week by fans in appreciation and for personal requests. In all, this is a well packaged collection of crucial!!! tunes.
Ebiye Austin Omosivwe,
KY, USA.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Some great, some not so great..., March 23, 2009
Strictly the Best is a long-lasting series of albums that have been out for years. This year's compilation has both slower & faster jams in one cd. This may or may not be good, depending on what you're expecting.
All in all, I'd say this particular title has some great, and not so great tracks. Definitely listen to the samples before purchasing, if you don't already know the tracks.
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~ Various Artists
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- the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
