2009 saw Buju Banton’s return to the forefront, thanks to his exclusively reggae album, "Rasta Got Soul", praised by the critics and even nominated for the Grammy Awards (Buju was to be jailed a few days before the ceremony). Recorded before Buju Banton ran into his legal troubles, this "Before the dawn" follows on from "Rasta Got Soul" by digging, across these 10 tracks (only), into a predominantly rasta register.
The drum roll that opens the album on Rasta can't go, over a new roots riddim, sets the tone: voice, instrumentation, backing vocals, everything is there! What a pleasure to hear that superb voice tame reggae tracks, as on Struggle together, a call for unity in the purest tradition of the genre. You have to go back to "Till Shiloh" and "Inna Heights" to find such a roots vibe from Buju. His deep voice takes magnificent advantage of the well-built rhythms, as on Bondage or Battered and bruised. Innocent, which closes the album and which fate has turned into a prophetic song, is of the same ilk.
Besides these excellent roots tracks, Buju also settles onto calmer tempos. Such is Do good, a rather repetitive nyabinghy track, but on which Buju excels and shows off his vocal qualities. Or Life, a somewhat limp but not unpleasant ballad (in the same vein as Try life, the duet with Gramps Morgan), a style he has accustomed us to for some years, and always with a very positive message. On the other hand, he also has a few surprises in store, such as In the air, an acoustic pop oddity very much in tune with the times, or No smoking at all, which, with a great deal of electric guitar, probably aims for FM radio but remains above all the weakest track on the album.
After the successful "Rasta Got Soul" last year, Buju brilliantly reaffirms the writing of a new roots chapter in his discography, far from the dancehall of "Too Bad". We will know in February whether we will have the chance to see these songs played on stage one day.
