Focus
Publication date : Wednesday, January 21st 2009 - 17 782 views 2008 Review
If it will not go down as a musically unforgettable year, 2008 nonetheless delivered its share of successes, discoveries and disappointments. A roundup.
Vybz Kartel: If the first half of 2008 belonged to Mavado, the end of the year was Kartel's. And it is not about to stop: while Ramping Shop, a duet with Spice, is going very strong, an album is expected from Stephen McGregor ("The Teacher's back") and another is due from Chimney Records.
Mavado: Only one real hit this year (So Special) but what a hit: quite simply the tune of the year in Jamaica. Roll on the second album "A better tomorrow", after his scorching first album in early 2007.
Busy Signal: Not only did his 2007 hits keep him afloat in 2008, but above all he delivered the dancehall album of the year with "Loaded". Explosive.
Elephant Man: A flop with Bad Boys Records but Energy God is still here. This year it was with Gully creepa (Creepa Riddim) and Nuh Linga (Look Gal Riddim), which the world discovered watching Usain Bolt dance at the Olympics, or again with the Sweep.
Mr Vegas: He caught everyone off guard by announcing his retirement while he was parading at the top of the charts. You really had to catch him at a festival this summer.
And also:
Konshens: The revelation of the year. His hit Winner, popularised by the Olympic Games, made him unavoidable.
Deva Bratt: Two storming singles (Out there, Call me name) and growing renown for the young deejay, slowed down by his problems with the law.
Assassin: He grew in stature by breaking away from Spragga Benz and moving closer to Buju Banton, above all as a producer at the head of the Boardhouse label: the Look a Gal and the more recent Clean Sweep are his.
Etana: Female artist of the year! Already noticed last year, Etana stepped out of the shadows in 2008 with a successful first album that showcases her lovely voice.
Michael Rose: More than ever back at the forefront. The former lead of Black Uhuru has never been so at ease among the young generation, with heavy use of autotune.
Queen Ifrica: her locks have well and truly grown and Tony Rebel's little protégée, who already had a fine 2007, did not disappoint in 2008. More please.
Bounty Killer: The great absentee of the year. While his protégés Busy Signal and Mavado are smashing it, he has stayed very discreet. And we are still waiting for the Alliance album.
- Busy Signal "Loaded": After "Step Out", another bomb dropped by Busy Signal. The dancehall album of the year.
- Rockamovya: the "solo" project of the three founding members of Groundation, as inspired as ever and even jazzier.
- Luciano: Roots and meditative, "Jah is my navigator" marked Luciano's comeback in force in February. But was it really a surprise?
- Perfect "Born dead with life": Very discreet since his first album, Perfect returns with a very solid and European second album.
- Dennis Brown & Friends: Few reissues are really worth it. This one, which lets us hear unreleased material from the Crown Prince of Reggae, is one of them.
And also:
Mighty Diamonds "Inna de yard" ; Georges Phang "Power House selection", Clive Hunt "The dub dancers", Tiken Jah Fakoly "DVD D'Abidjan à Paris"
It is an understatement to say that the 2008 vintage of concerts in France will not go down in the annals. Apart from the Reggae Live Tour with Jah Cure (Watch the video), there was no major event to report. We had to fall back on safe bets: Capleton, Sizzla and Anthony B, seasoned road warriors of the French stages, lived up to their reputation. The exact opposite of Bounty Killer: the Warlord remains the Warlord but his shaky show was reduced to the bare minimum (Watch the video). Elephant Man, for his part, simply stood the crowd up (a murky passport affair).
Once again, the summer in France was very thin: with a Garance as unattractive as its line-up was mainstream, yet another no-show for Ja'Sound despite successive efforts to relaunch it, and a festival barely announced before being cancelled in Toulouse (Golden Reggae Voices)… In short, once again we had to rely on Reggae Sun Ska, which has been steering its ship for 11 years. The luckiest and best-off will therefore have headed to our European neighbours, in Germany (Summerjam), Holland (Sundance Festival) or Italy (Rototom Festival). Over there, they know how to make a festival last.
It was the year of dancehall and of Stephen McGregor (Big Ship), who benefited from the relative slowdown of Don Corleon and Daseca. The three labels are developing their own strategies: McGregor explores sounds, Corleon raises the bpm, and Daseca works its artists (Bugle, Serani) the old-fashioned way. More generally, the trend is towards recuts of 1990s standards such as Dave Kelly's Showtime, Stink, Corduroy and Joyride, or Scatta replaying his own Martial Arts with the Self Defense.
At just 19, Stephen McGregor has established himself as the most adventurous producer. Chiney K, Day Break, Work Out, Day Rave, Advocate: nothing but good. But the riddim of the year will remain the Unfinished Business (TJ Records): a recut of the Showtime, carried to the top by Mavado's So special and Serani's No games, both of which entered the Billboard chart. Otherwise, still in dancehall, we will remember, in no particular order, two riddims by Demarco, the Mission (Baby G) and the Warning (Juke Boxx), and finally the Look a gal (Boardhouse).
Reggae, for its part, is far from being as active, and above all as creative. 2008 did not really open up new horizons, replaying the same score for us, as with Don Corleon pulling the same trick on us as the Drop Leaf of 2005. This year it is called Secret, and it still lacks just as much skank, drowned in pads. The riddim of the year is the Rub a dub (No Doubt Records), which stacks up hits (Morgan Heritage, Richie Spice, Etana) and which sounds the most reggae in 2008. In between, we will remember the Nylon (Juke Boxx), Drop it (No Doubt Records) and the Golden Gate.
France really had nothing to be ashamed of this year. Several fine successes are worth noting, notably the Strasbourg crew Tune In Crew with the solid World Go Round riddim, the original rub-a-dub of the Parisians of Heartical (Ministerio del Dub Riddim), and finally Soul Vybz Records, whose Sunrise Riddim features, among others, the best Capleton in a very long time.
Obama: Rarely has an event outside Jamaica had such an impact on the island's record output. Barack Obama's election generated unprecedented enthusiasm around the world and Jamaica was no exception. A host of artists backed the Democratic candidate, or hastened to congratulate him once elected (Read the focus) .
Olympic Games: Usain Bolt's triumph at the Beijing Olympics also sent artists into the studios. Before the race, some, like Mavado, had put their money on Asafa Powell, another of the island's sprinters. But the rocket Usain Bolt swept all before him in Beijing, and artists rushed into the studio to congratulate him: Sizzla, Elephant Man, Kiprich, Cocoa Tea, Wayne Marshall…
The Alliance / Portmore Empire war: Beyond the Vybz Kartel / Mavado rivalry, two clans are clashing: Bounty Killer's Alliance and Kartel's Portmore Empire. The confrontation, kept going for years by the two artists through killer singles, reached its peak with the long-awaited clash at Sting. Vybz Kartel got the better of Mavado but the clash will not go down in the annals. Above all, the rematch is a long time coming.
2008 saw an impressive number of heavyweights leave us prematurely, and the litany of pioneers passing has not slackened, quite the contrary. First among them, Alton Ellis, the godfather of rocksteady. More than a pioneer, he helped take reggae international, building the bridge with England and later with France by touring regularly with Aspo.
Johnny Dizzy Moore: The brilliant trumpeter leaves a void behind him. The last time we saw him on stage was with the Jamaican All Stars project.
Joe Gibbs: his contribution to Jamaican music is immense. Allied with sound engineer Errol Thompson, the producer had a phenomenal impact in the 1970s, producing the greatest artists.
Mikey Dread: Dead on 15 March 2008 of a brain tumour, the author of the 1978 classic "At the Controls" will remain at the controls for ever.
2008 also sadly saw the passing of Byron Lee, leader of the Dragonaires, Cedella Booker Marley, Bob's mum, Vincent "Tata" Ford, another of Bob's mentors, Roy Shirley, and finally Eloquent, a young deejay who took his own life.
For 2009, we are expecting, in no particular order:
- Kartel's albums with Stephen McGregor (Big Ship) and Chimney Records.
- Mavado's second album, "A better Tomorrow".
- Konshens and I-Octane.
- Alborosie's "Soul Pirate", still unreleased here.
- Jah Cure's first album recorded outside prison ("Jah the universal cure").
- Pressure's next album, made up of classic riddim covers revisited by Don Corleon.
- Terry Linen, exiled for a time in Japan and back on his island.
- On the new-generation side, in 2009 we will be watching even more closely the new artist Penthouse Teflon; Torch; Laden, the figurehead of the Big Ship camp; and finally Tifa, Natalie Storm and Timberlee, united under the name TNT.
Report written by La rédaction
Tags : Alton Ellis (11), Terry Linen (12), Konshens (121), I-Octane (82), Awards (84)
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