Issential Knowledge

Greetings Reggae Massive,

Don’t worry, I haven’t forgot about you.  I have been hard at work since I was given the opportunity to re program the Reggae Essentials channel on Rhapsody.com that is available for free.  I’m also working on revamping the Dancehall station and building a brand new Dub Wise station that will be available soon.  Please check them out and let me know what you think.  Give Thanks

I see a lot of records come across my desk as i process music for Rhapsody, but this new Release from Heavy D. of Heavy D. and The Boys caught my attention.  Heavy D. has been known to dabble in Reggae as he was born in Jamaica before being raised in Mt. Vernon New York, and I had heard about this all Reggae album that he was working on.  Since D.’s career has been born in the world of Hip-Hop, I expected a dancehall based record with lots of features as that would be the natural route.  Much to my surprise “Vibes” would best fall into the sub genre of Lover’s Rock.  My first impression of the album is that it is surprisingly authentic and genuine both lyrically and musically.  It is hard to take D. seriously as crooner but he has a astonishingly good voice which is well balanced with the sound of a full Reggae band.  The album starts strong with the hard hitting single “Long Distance Girlfriend,” and also sets the tone for the subject base of the project.  He goes on to display his singing skills on “No Matter What” and the rock steady track “Queen Majesty” which are definitely worth a spin.  Heavy then measures his chords to the Dancehall legend Barrington Levy on “Love Me Like This,” while also displaying his best Deejay impression.  Then he looses me with  “All I Have” and “Hugs and Kisses” but picks it back up when he brings along Sizzla for “Private dance.”  It is always helpful to have some notoriety and experience when branching out into a new genre.  The only track really worth mentioning after that is my favorite selection from the album “Chasing Windmills.”  On this particular track, D. shines and it is clear that he stumbled upon a potential anthem.  This one is definitely in rotation on Reggae Essentials.  All in all,  I’d say that this was a great effort from Heavy D. and overall successful project.  Though there were several obvious misses, 5 of the 10 tracks will definitely be in rotation on your next Reggae mix.  This video is protected by UMG on Youtube, but here is a link to the video of the single “Long Distance Girlfriend.”  If you look closely you can see Julian Marley making an appearance and blessing the drums.

Jah Bless    -    One Lovell