"Let Live" is the fourth joint effort from Midnite and the I Grade Records label. This new meeting takes the form of a meditative, polished and modern reggae that drifts towards hip hop.
Among the elders of the St Croix scene, the band Midnite has been feeding a remarkable discography for 10 years. The latest collaboration with the I Grade Records label, renowned for the quality of its productions, "Let Live" delivers a hybrid reggae that remains deeply roots. At the crossroads of hip hop and reggae, Midnite's music is meditative, insistent, carried by the singing of Vaughn Benjamin. The muffled drums and the polished arrangements build a cottony mysticism, a contemplative reggae chanted over hip hop rhythms.
"Actions come before words," All about what you do, featuring Pressure and Massiah, hammers home to us. The three voices unite seamlessly over an instrumental dominated by acoustic guitar. One of the best tracks on the album. Vaughn Benjamin's voice turns graceful on Done Wrong or authoritative on the hip hop instrumental of Haile Selassie I Rastaman Crown. Fighting For Her and Rastafari Leads The Way, in this languorous vein, are just as irreproachable. A particularly mastered flow that sometimes recalls Sizzla in its capacity for modulation. The staggering delivery of The Gad, with its frenzied singing, draws the best from a bewitching riddim. Midnite is just as much at ease on roots, with Maize (My Ease) and All My Life enhanced by polished organ and guitar arrangements. Undeniably one of the leading lights of St Croix.
