| |
VARIOUS ARTISTS
Dancehall Draft Picks
Release date :
03-19-2007
Label :
VP Records
|
|
REVIEW
Review written by François-Xavier Rougeot
on Friday, March 30th 2007 - 11 702 views
In the North American basketball championship (NBA), they are called "first picks": those in whom the recruiters place all their hopes at the draft, a giant lottery that lets clubs select young talents before they dive into the deep end of competition. You do not have to look very long to find the lucky ones of the DVD "Dancehall Draft Picks 2007", an hour-long documentary (and not subtitled) by Johnny Wonder that features eight artists (or groups, with Ward 21) from the current dancehall scene through reports (in the studio, on stage, in the streets of Kingston) and video clips.
The "first picks" in question are the Alliance's Movado, Busy Signal and Idonia, who have been dominating the Jamaican charts for a few months. The three companions are interviewed, and filmed at their concerts or studio recordings. All this under the benevolent eye of the veteran Bounty Killer, a luxury godfather who does not hesitate to praise the talent of his protégés on stage at the price of high-speed duets. "Being supported by Bounty Killer gives them more credibility," sums up ZJ Liquid, DJ for the local radio station Zip FM, perfectly. Movado stands out from Busy Signal and Idonia, both pure-juice dancehall. The young deejay impresses with his ability to vary styles (singing and toasting). This can be seen in the video for the excellent Dreaming (on the riddim of the same name). One of the highlights of "Dancehall Draft Picks 2007" remains the tribute he pays to his late father Stanford Brooks, by launching into a touching posthumous song at the Daseca studio premises.
"Dancehall Draft Picks" also puts the spotlight on Mr. Peppa, whose name, he tells us, was suggested to him by the producer Steely (of Steely & Cleevy) to showcase his "tasty" deejay skills, which can be heard in the excellent Talk. "Dancehall Draft Picks 2007" also presents established dancehall artists: we revel in Alozade's old-school flow on the simplistic but effective riddim of Bad Out Deh, as well as in Tony Matterhorn's already legendary Dutty Wine, who in his video dons the costume of a judge at a women's (ring-based) daredevil dance battle. Hollow Point and the Ward 21 quartet (Kunley, Suku, Rumblood and Mean Dog) round out this DVD which, through its short portraits, depicts Jamaican youth rather well, torn between social reality and American influence (bling-bling, cars and girls…). The DVD comes with a 16-track CD, featuring the hits (two per artist) of the eight acts on the DVD: no Dutty Wine, but Tony Matterhorn's Goodas fi dem, Movado's Dreaming, Alozade's Bad out deh or Ward 21's terrific Gully Gun on the Sidewalk University riddim. The choice to mix up-and-comers and safe bets raises eyebrows, but "Dancehall Draft Picks 2007" remains a good way to discover the underground dancehall scene in Jamaica. |
D'ACCORD AVEC ARRAWAK, LE DVD EST BIEN FOUTU ET AVEC DE BONS CLIPS, MENTION SPECIALE POUR LA COMBINAISON ALOZADE/CHICO: BAD BAD TUNE!!baddis riddim...
Un très bon DVD qui comme le dit la chronique montre bien la réalité de la Jamaique d'aujourd'hui, très loin des clichés que l'on a malheureusement trop tendance à voir ici dans les reportages: fume,rastas....En plus,il y a des clips récents ce qui apporte un intéret supplémentaire vu que l'on a pas l'occasion d'en voir trop souvent même su le câble ou le satellite.Le seul point faible est le CD car les sons séléctionnés ne sont vraiment pas terrible à part 3-4.C'est dommage mais le DVD vaut quand même largement l'aquisition.J'éspère que cela va donner à certains l'idée de sortir des DVD de cette qualité plus souvent car le Dancehall en manquait gravement!
|
|
|
|
© 1999-2026
RSS