CHINO

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Review written by Benoit Georges on Tuesday, June 21st 2011 - 9 508 views This is his first album for VP, but he already released one in Japan in 2007, entitled "Unstoppable" and crowned with success. All the more reason to go again with "Never change", released as a Japanese preview almost a year ago (and including an adaptation of the title track in Japanese). Both records were rather dancehall-oriented and included many singles. Chino, scion of the illustrious McGregor family, has a stated new goal: to offer a version of "Never change" marketed this time for Jamaica and the United States, with a tracklist that is sadly very different. European purists will need a strong stomach to listen to this album to the end. And the bravest will have to wait until the tenth track, the single Seal the link, to hear classically made reggae in which every paternal influence can be recognised. The album, which sets out to be mainstream and crossover, was made entirely within the family at Big Ship studio, and Stephen, the brilliant brother, pulled out all the stops: synth pads, piano, pop dressing and, above all, reinforcement from saturated guitars (Chino, who plays the instrument, clearly indulged himself). The production work is interesting and original, despite somewhat worn-out sound banks, a recurring criticism of Big Ship productions. The selection is naturally carried by two good singles from 2009, Never change and Pon your head, and by Protected, a more recent duet between Chino and his brother Stephen. For the rest, "Captain" Chino's boat sails between soft hip-hop (Mus come back), ethnic influences (Build a vibes, with no chorus, or I am, in a quadrille style), FM dancehall (Yeah yeah, Ruff it up, Before dem gone), pop (Driving me insane with the singer Denyque, influenced by Shabba's Mr Loverman, Work) and rock (Badness or My soul, two rather successful tracks incidentally). Chino, who is not short of talent and versatility, takes advantage of this patchwork of influences to experiment with different vocal registers (singing, deejaying, rap as on God nah sleep with its storytelling side) and lyrics. With this UFO of an album, Chino, already very much in the media in Jamaica thanks to numerous ads and appearances on mainstream radio, shows an ambition that goes beyond the borders of our little scene. As he tells us in My soul: "Me nah go sell out me soul fi the world". And we tell ourselves that all of this is perfectly owned. That is what matters.

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