2007 is over. Now we can take out our notebooks and tot up the year. Which artists left their mark on the year? Which concerts, riddims and labels stood out? In short, what should we remember from the 2007 vintage? The editorial team's answers.
Jah Cure: The event of the year, undeniably, is him. Whether you like it or not, Jah Cure left his mark on 2007. The singer came out of prison this summer, after eight years behind bars. Eight years during which his reputation never stopped growing, thanks to regular support (Capleton, Sizzla, Jah Mason, Fantan Mojah...) but also, and above all, to numerous hits. This year, Sticky and To your arms of love joined Longing for, Love is, Nah build great man and True reflection in the charts. A new career opens up for him.
Tarrus Riley: His album "Parables" came out in 2006 but it was this year that Tarrus Riley truly exploded. Beware and especially She's Royal barely left the year's charts, making Jimmy Riley's son the roots sensation of 2007.
Beenie Man, who had a difficult year between marital troubles and repeated problems with the taxman, remains one of the public's darlings: with two number one hits (Back it up and Give it up with Barbee), Beenie Man kept people talking, in the specialist press as in the tabloids. Which says it all.
Mavado continues his terrific run from 2006. This year again, he placed a staggering number of tracks in the charts (Squeeze her breast, Chat too much...). And above all released a remarkable first album (see above).
Munga: Capleton's protégé, inventor of the paradoxical concept (who said murky?) of "gangsta ras" and emblematic figure of the vocoder fashion, Munga may be the one who will give the current generation of rasta artists a second youth. Or not. In any case, he fights a lot, and marked the year for that too.
And also:
Mavado's partner at Daseca, Busy Signal was not to be outdone this year. He even treated himself to two exemplary number one singles (Nah go a jail and The days) with lyrics hewn from the rock of the ghetto. Richie Spice, who has stepped up yet another level, gave himself a very good album with "In The Streets to Africa". Female artist of the year, Queen Ifrica finally received the attention she deserves, including that of Unicef with her track Daddy don't touch me there. With her crystalline voice, Etana brought the good old soul reggae of her predecessors back into fashion. Under Corleon's wing, Pressure delivered a handful of convincing singles including the hit Love and Affection, title track of the album due in early 2008. Six years after settling in Jamaica, Alborosie has taken flight. With Kingston Town, the Sicilian-born deejay has found success, as has Collie Buddz with his album "Come Around". Over the solid compositions of dubmaster Manjul (who released a new album in 2007), Guinean Takana Zion delivered a promising first album, "Zion Prophet".
- Mavado - Gangsta for Life - The Symphony of David Brooks: Built like a film noir, with guns, traitors, a sleazy atmosphere, the figure of the absent father and songs of redemption, "Gangsta for Life" is a concentrate of "gangsta" liturgy Jamaican-style. Scorching.
- Chezidek - Inna Di Road: With Massive B's finely chiselled productions, Chezidek makes his best record and the new-roots album of the year at the same time. Quite simply.
- Junior Murvin - Inna de Yard: Junior Murvin's falsetto magnifies Makasound's concept. The best of the series?
- Stephen Marley - Mind Control: We had been waiting impatiently for the album from the man behind his brother Damian's success with "Welcome to Jamrock". We were not disappointed.
- Kiddus I - "Graduation in Zion 1978-1980": At last an album for Kiddus I, gathering his pearls from the 70s and calling for more volumes to come. Historic.
Sizzla: Among the first targets of gay rights associations, Sizzla had not been to France since 2003. A gap brilliantly filled with three concerts in Paris (watch the video)
Jah Cure at Sundance: back in Europe (we had seen him accompany Beres Hammond before his imprisonment), Jah Cure closed the Sundance Festival in Eindhoven this summer. In the middle of a full bill, the singer from Papine was the one everybody was waiting for. (read the report)
Ja'Sound goes to sleep, Garance Festival wakes up. It is hard to have quiet years with reggae festivals. In 2007, Ja'Sound drew the curtain, while Garance made its return to Paris. With a new format (two nights at the Zénith rather than one night at Bercy) and above all the Dub Station nights until dawn, the spice of a very classic line-up (and which have lasted ever since). Meanwhile, Reggae Sun Ska celebrated its tenth anniversary. Ja'Sound, for its part, will be back next year.
Les Zicalizes: The travelling Île-de-France festival goes from strength to strength. In 2007, for its 11th edition, the bill, spread over several dates, was exceptional: Cornell Campbell, The Congos, The Viceroys, Tappa Zukie, Clinton Fearon, Avaran, Ijahman Levy, Kiddus I, Jamaica All Stars, Rodigan, Manjul... Roll on next year.
Beenie Man: the return to France of the number one entertainer after three years' absence from French stages was the occasion for a catch-up session, to discover or rediscover the immense repertoire of the "Grammy Kid". (watch the video)
On the reggae side, two very reggae-FM riddims in the vein of Drop leaf, Season and Cry baby clearly stood out this year: first the superb Ghetto blues by Christopher Birch, with the hits Coming over by Chuck Fender and Cherine Anderson and Again by Wayne Wonder, but also very good tunes from Fantan Mojah, Voice Mail and Christopher Martin. Then the enormous Guardian angel by Arif Cooper, and its host of successful tunes, including TOK's title track, Jah Cure's To your arms of love, Daville's Give thanks for what you've got, Richie Spice's The world is a cycle, Tami Chin's Over and over again and Christopher Martin's Take my wings.
But it is above all in dancehall that creativity showed itself most, with much more polished productions that gave birth to varied and original riddims, such as Don Corleon's Bluetooth and Artillery, Big Ship's Tremor, Dark again, Shadow and Darker shadow, but also Fire Links' Air waves or Baby G's Gang war. So many instrumentals of a new kind, in the image of those by Daseca, label of the year, and its two chart number ones (The days by Busy Signal and What you gonna do by Bugle).
And also:
Sonar Kollektiv: the German label racks up successes by opening reggae's borders to electro (Black Seeds, Eva Be, Fat Freddy's Drop...). Looking forward to what comes next.
The Reggae Compassionate Act: The controversy over the homophobic lyrics of Jamaican artists saw new twists in 2007. After three years of the Stop Murder Music campaign, gay rights associations achieved their aim: obtaining written agreements from artists accepting to renounce singing homophobic lyrics, after signing the Reggae Compassionate Act. The first signatories were Beenie Man, Sizzla, Capleton and Buju Banton, four of the artists most targeted by the campaign. Except that... A few weeks later, Beenie Man and Buju Banton went back on their commitment. The fight goes on.
Tiken Jah Fakoly speaks out: The years pass and Tiken keeps his outspokenness. Invited to Dakar for the 7th international Hip-Hop Awards festival, from 12 to 15 December, the Ivorian singer repeatedly denounced the regime of President Wade, urging him to "leave power". Which earned him the status of "persona non grata in Senegal".
Rivalries between artists: In terms of competition and rivalries, 2007 was a very hot year. Between artists first of all since, besides the usual friction between Bounty Killer and Beenie Man, the whole new generation went to war. Vybz Kartel and Mavado, Busy Signal and Aidonia, Sizzla and Norrisman, Chino and Munga, Flexx and Deva Bratt... there is no counting the clashes between artists, on stage and off. And the most dramatic thing is that from simple verbal provocations, it very often went on to wretched physical confrontations. This "phenomenon", far from new, has reached such a level that producers ended up getting involved too, building real stables in which the artists seem like so many little soldiers ready to do battle. Fortunately, thanks to those same producers, this trend could take a more artistic direction again and answer to more musical motivations.
The vocoder: A bit like a diesel engine, the Jamaicans' tendency to use the vocoder (or autotune) on productions took hold in a big way in 2007. Today it is hard to escape. Nanko, Gyptian, Collie Buddz yesterday, Demarco and Sean Kingston today. Munga's trademark, pushed by producers Corleon and Daseca, the vocoder was adopted by the biggest names in dancehall: Mavado, Vybz Kartel, Busy Signal, Bounty Killer and even Capleton, almost all of them have succumbed. You like it or you don't, but autotune levels out vocal performances and drowns everyone's differences under a digital layer. Tomorrow, all the same?
Lucky Dube: 2007 will remain marked by this tragedy. Lucky Dube died on 18 October, shot by thieves who were trying to steal his car, in the suburbs of Johannesburg. The whole country paid tribute to the singer, President Thabo Mbeki hailing an artist "exceptional and renowned throughout the world". Brought before the courts, his killers will be tried on 18 January. With his last album, "Respect", in 2006, Lucky Dube leaves behind 21 albums.
Natasja: A car accident in June put an end to her rise. Of Danish origin, Natasja was the first non-Jamaican artist to win the Irie FM talent contest. Which is no small thing!
Tyrone Taylor: He had his moment of fame in 1983 with his lovers rock hit Cottage in Negril. The singer, who was fifty, died on Sunday 2 December in Kingston, of cancer.
Craig Dennis: A member of the Big Ship stable, this young singer barely had time to record a few tracks, including two combinations with Vybz Kartel, before dying in a road accident.
And also:
Blood & Fire: Reggae has lost one of its most prolific labels. Many reggae fans took their first steps guided by the English label's brilliant reissues. Closed since July (including the online shop), its catalogue is now available digitally on the web.
Reggae MC: The magazine that wanted to play the card of a less specialised reggae, open to other audiences, ultimately failed. Unable to find its readership, Reggae MC did not make it past its first year.
Ragga Magazine: And that makes two. For years, we knew that the number one reggae monthly was in fragile health. Year in, year out, Ragga had become the doyen of the reggae monthlies. The poor results finally hastened the magazine's fall. That's it: there are no more reggae monthlies in France.
For 2008 we are expecting, in no particular order:
- Busy Signal's consecration
- New albums from Groundation, Damian Marley, Luciano
- Munga's first album at Corleon
- The return of the Scare Dem Crew: first a featuring with the Alliance then a single... next step, the album?
- Young I-Octane, who is drawing an upward curve
- Stephen McGregor, son of Freddie and boss of the Big Ship studio who has established himself among Kingston's "top producers"
- The awakening of Ja Sound, after a good hangover
- The advent of Rootz Underground, Steve Newland's band
- The return of Warrior King? And why not?
- The confirmation of Idonia
- The end of autotune, a not always very tasteful resurgence of the vocoder.
- Jah Cure in France
Tarrus Riley: His album "Parables" came out in 2006 but it was this year that Tarrus Riley truly exploded. Beware and especially She's Royal barely left the year's charts, making Jimmy Riley's son the roots sensation of 2007.
Beenie Man, who had a difficult year between marital troubles and repeated problems with the taxman, remains one of the public's darlings: with two number one hits (Back it up and Give it up with Barbee), Beenie Man kept people talking, in the specialist press as in the tabloids. Which says it all.
Mavado continues his terrific run from 2006. This year again, he placed a staggering number of tracks in the charts (Squeeze her breast, Chat too much...). And above all released a remarkable first album (see above).
Munga: Capleton's protégé, inventor of the paradoxical concept (who said murky?) of "gangsta ras" and emblematic figure of the vocoder fashion, Munga may be the one who will give the current generation of rasta artists a second youth. Or not. In any case, he fights a lot, and marked the year for that too.
And also:
Mavado's partner at Daseca, Busy Signal was not to be outdone this year. He even treated himself to two exemplary number one singles (Nah go a jail and The days) with lyrics hewn from the rock of the ghetto. Richie Spice, who has stepped up yet another level, gave himself a very good album with "In The Streets to Africa". Female artist of the year, Queen Ifrica finally received the attention she deserves, including that of Unicef with her track Daddy don't touch me there. With her crystalline voice, Etana brought the good old soul reggae of her predecessors back into fashion. Under Corleon's wing, Pressure delivered a handful of convincing singles including the hit Love and Affection, title track of the album due in early 2008. Six years after settling in Jamaica, Alborosie has taken flight. With Kingston Town, the Sicilian-born deejay has found success, as has Collie Buddz with his album "Come Around". Over the solid compositions of dubmaster Manjul (who released a new album in 2007), Guinean Takana Zion delivered a promising first album, "Zion Prophet".
- Mavado - Gangsta for Life - The Symphony of David Brooks: Built like a film noir, with guns, traitors, a sleazy atmosphere, the figure of the absent father and songs of redemption, "Gangsta for Life" is a concentrate of "gangsta" liturgy Jamaican-style. Scorching.
- Chezidek - Inna Di Road: With Massive B's finely chiselled productions, Chezidek makes his best record and the new-roots album of the year at the same time. Quite simply.
- Junior Murvin - Inna de Yard: Junior Murvin's falsetto magnifies Makasound's concept. The best of the series?
- Stephen Marley - Mind Control: We had been waiting impatiently for the album from the man behind his brother Damian's success with "Welcome to Jamrock". We were not disappointed.
- Kiddus I - "Graduation in Zion 1978-1980": At last an album for Kiddus I, gathering his pearls from the 70s and calling for more volumes to come. Historic.
Sizzla: Among the first targets of gay rights associations, Sizzla had not been to France since 2003. A gap brilliantly filled with three concerts in Paris (watch the video)
Jah Cure at Sundance: back in Europe (we had seen him accompany Beres Hammond before his imprisonment), Jah Cure closed the Sundance Festival in Eindhoven this summer. In the middle of a full bill, the singer from Papine was the one everybody was waiting for. (read the report)
Ja'Sound goes to sleep, Garance Festival wakes up. It is hard to have quiet years with reggae festivals. In 2007, Ja'Sound drew the curtain, while Garance made its return to Paris. With a new format (two nights at the Zénith rather than one night at Bercy) and above all the Dub Station nights until dawn, the spice of a very classic line-up (and which have lasted ever since). Meanwhile, Reggae Sun Ska celebrated its tenth anniversary. Ja'Sound, for its part, will be back next year.
Les Zicalizes: The travelling Île-de-France festival goes from strength to strength. In 2007, for its 11th edition, the bill, spread over several dates, was exceptional: Cornell Campbell, The Congos, The Viceroys, Tappa Zukie, Clinton Fearon, Avaran, Ijahman Levy, Kiddus I, Jamaica All Stars, Rodigan, Manjul... Roll on next year.
Beenie Man: the return to France of the number one entertainer after three years' absence from French stages was the occasion for a catch-up session, to discover or rediscover the immense repertoire of the "Grammy Kid". (watch the video)
On the reggae side, two very reggae-FM riddims in the vein of Drop leaf, Season and Cry baby clearly stood out this year: first the superb Ghetto blues by Christopher Birch, with the hits Coming over by Chuck Fender and Cherine Anderson and Again by Wayne Wonder, but also very good tunes from Fantan Mojah, Voice Mail and Christopher Martin. Then the enormous Guardian angel by Arif Cooper, and its host of successful tunes, including TOK's title track, Jah Cure's To your arms of love, Daville's Give thanks for what you've got, Richie Spice's The world is a cycle, Tami Chin's Over and over again and Christopher Martin's Take my wings.
But it is above all in dancehall that creativity showed itself most, with much more polished productions that gave birth to varied and original riddims, such as Don Corleon's Bluetooth and Artillery, Big Ship's Tremor, Dark again, Shadow and Darker shadow, but also Fire Links' Air waves or Baby G's Gang war. So many instrumentals of a new kind, in the image of those by Daseca, label of the year, and its two chart number ones (The days by Busy Signal and What you gonna do by Bugle).
And also:
Sonar Kollektiv: the German label racks up successes by opening reggae's borders to electro (Black Seeds, Eva Be, Fat Freddy's Drop...). Looking forward to what comes next.
The Reggae Compassionate Act: The controversy over the homophobic lyrics of Jamaican artists saw new twists in 2007. After three years of the Stop Murder Music campaign, gay rights associations achieved their aim: obtaining written agreements from artists accepting to renounce singing homophobic lyrics, after signing the Reggae Compassionate Act. The first signatories were Beenie Man, Sizzla, Capleton and Buju Banton, four of the artists most targeted by the campaign. Except that... A few weeks later, Beenie Man and Buju Banton went back on their commitment. The fight goes on.
Tiken Jah Fakoly speaks out: The years pass and Tiken keeps his outspokenness. Invited to Dakar for the 7th international Hip-Hop Awards festival, from 12 to 15 December, the Ivorian singer repeatedly denounced the regime of President Wade, urging him to "leave power". Which earned him the status of "persona non grata in Senegal".
Rivalries between artists: In terms of competition and rivalries, 2007 was a very hot year. Between artists first of all since, besides the usual friction between Bounty Killer and Beenie Man, the whole new generation went to war. Vybz Kartel and Mavado, Busy Signal and Aidonia, Sizzla and Norrisman, Chino and Munga, Flexx and Deva Bratt... there is no counting the clashes between artists, on stage and off. And the most dramatic thing is that from simple verbal provocations, it very often went on to wretched physical confrontations. This "phenomenon", far from new, has reached such a level that producers ended up getting involved too, building real stables in which the artists seem like so many little soldiers ready to do battle. Fortunately, thanks to those same producers, this trend could take a more artistic direction again and answer to more musical motivations.
The vocoder: A bit like a diesel engine, the Jamaicans' tendency to use the vocoder (or autotune) on productions took hold in a big way in 2007. Today it is hard to escape. Nanko, Gyptian, Collie Buddz yesterday, Demarco and Sean Kingston today. Munga's trademark, pushed by producers Corleon and Daseca, the vocoder was adopted by the biggest names in dancehall: Mavado, Vybz Kartel, Busy Signal, Bounty Killer and even Capleton, almost all of them have succumbed. You like it or you don't, but autotune levels out vocal performances and drowns everyone's differences under a digital layer. Tomorrow, all the same?
Lucky Dube: 2007 will remain marked by this tragedy. Lucky Dube died on 18 October, shot by thieves who were trying to steal his car, in the suburbs of Johannesburg. The whole country paid tribute to the singer, President Thabo Mbeki hailing an artist "exceptional and renowned throughout the world". Brought before the courts, his killers will be tried on 18 January. With his last album, "Respect", in 2006, Lucky Dube leaves behind 21 albums.
Natasja: A car accident in June put an end to her rise. Of Danish origin, Natasja was the first non-Jamaican artist to win the Irie FM talent contest. Which is no small thing!
Tyrone Taylor: He had his moment of fame in 1983 with his lovers rock hit Cottage in Negril. The singer, who was fifty, died on Sunday 2 December in Kingston, of cancer.
Craig Dennis: A member of the Big Ship stable, this young singer barely had time to record a few tracks, including two combinations with Vybz Kartel, before dying in a road accident.
And also:
Blood & Fire: Reggae has lost one of its most prolific labels. Many reggae fans took their first steps guided by the English label's brilliant reissues. Closed since July (including the online shop), its catalogue is now available digitally on the web.
Reggae MC: The magazine that wanted to play the card of a less specialised reggae, open to other audiences, ultimately failed. Unable to find its readership, Reggae MC did not make it past its first year.
Ragga Magazine: And that makes two. For years, we knew that the number one reggae monthly was in fragile health. Year in, year out, Ragga had become the doyen of the reggae monthlies. The poor results finally hastened the magazine's fall. That's it: there are no more reggae monthlies in France.
For 2008 we are expecting, in no particular order:
- Busy Signal's consecration
- New albums from Groundation, Damian Marley, Luciano
- Munga's first album at Corleon
- The return of the Scare Dem Crew: first a featuring with the Alliance then a single... next step, the album?
- Young I-Octane, who is drawing an upward curve
- Stephen McGregor, son of Freddie and boss of the Big Ship studio who has established himself among Kingston's "top producers"
- The awakening of Ja Sound, after a good hangover
- The advent of Rootz Underground, Steve Newland's band
- The return of Warrior King? And why not?
- The confirmation of Idonia
- The end of autotune, a not always very tasteful resurgence of the vocoder.
- Jah Cure in France
Report written by La rédaction
Comments (17)
Voir le fils d'une légende , du plus grand plus artiste de tt les temps c sur :) bob rip
nanard 84 · · rating: 3 out of 5
jamaicangal · · rating: 2 out of 5
bingie · · rating: 5 out of 5
mattydread · · rating: 5 out of 5
Je deplore aucune ligne ou mot sur le reggae en france.
Dommage...peut etre devriez vous vous appelez reggaejamaique.com
lalane · · rating: 1 out of 5
On aurait pu avoir se bilan jamaicain de l'Année 2007 jamaicaine sur Yardflex...
Je reste sur ma faim.
WI observer · · rating: 3 out of 5
I ONLY THINK DAT YOU SHOULD TALK ALBOROSIE BECAUSE HIS TUNES RUNS AROUND THE WORLD AND HIS PRODUCTIONS WERE PERFECT.
ALSO SHOULD HAVE ATTENTION TO ZIGGI. DI MAN HAVE DI RAGGA FLOW ORIGINAL
I ONLY HAVE A DOUBT WHAT YOU MEAN BY VOODOCODER IF YOU EXPLAIN ME I APPRECIATE DAT
BLESSSSS OUTTA PORTUGAL
KEEP LOOKING FRENCH DANCEHALL MASTER KING POOKY FROM NO POLICE SOUND
www.myspace.com/kikoselectorproducer
KIKO · · rating: 5 out of 5
8Soundman · · rating: 5 out of 5
Mais pourquoi on parle pas des groupes français ???...ils faut pas les oublier !!!
Félicitation REGGAE FRANCE pour le boulot que vous faite...continuer ainsi.
Matt · · rating: 5 out of 5
dommage que ragga magazine a rendu l'âme!!! En france va vraiment faloir commencer a se bouger encore plus les fesses!!! Mais heuresement il y a reggae france!!!
Bisous à tous
Madininess · · rating: 5 out of 5
Pour ma part je trouve que l'année 2007 est bien triste par la perte de la chanteuse Natasja , Lucky Dube ( j'ai eu la chance de la voir a Bercy pour le dernier "vrai" garance ) sans oublier Ragga mag meme si j'avais arreter de l'acheter apres leur rachat..
L'année 2007 est aussi triste pour le reggae dancehall francophone avec la sortie de nombreux albums vrement pas a la hauteur de nos attentes ( Krys, Admiral t, Daddy mory, Mad killah et autres .. )
Je trouve aussi que l'année 2007 a ete marqué par trop de conflit entre les artistes et certaines images un peu choquante (sizzla vs norris man par exemple)
mais bon l'année 2007 c'est aussi Collie Buddz, Alborosie, Pressure , ZIGGI (BIG ARTIST Hollandais), Nanko
et aussi des big show sur paris ( sizzla , beenie man , warrior king, tony rebel , The Abyssinians, black uhuru et pleins d'autres..)
J'espere que l'année 2008 sera une big année pour le reggae sans accrochages entre artistes, sans pertes et que le reggae francais soit renouvelé car les anciens fatiguent..
Et aussi des BIG Show pour 2008 surtout JAH CURe !! :)
et aussi que ReggaeFrance nous mettent toujours aussi bien sur les reportages news video et tout et tout....
Tomas · · rating: 5 out of 5
nuff respect Reggae France
Harold · · rating: 5 out of 5
sobusy · · rating: 1 out of 5
Poor's Soljah · · rating: 1 out of 5
rasta · · rating: 5 out of 5
eayzup · · rating: 1 out of 5
Yorgos · · rating: 1 out of 5