Buju Banton
Voice of Jamaica
Mercury/Universal
This is Buju’s Off the Wall, and Universal Chronicles has decided to re-release Voice of Jamaica for all you dancehall archivists. This is the album that first brought Banton to the attention of dancehall dilettantes and the more mainstream audience. However, ‘Til Shiloh this ain’t. That album was inspired from on high with each song being (almost) eternally relevant and the entire package transcendent. Voice of Jamaica is good, but not that good. “Red Rose,” “Him Take Off,” “Willy (Don’t Be Silly)” and “Gone Ahead” are all good songs; the hip-hoppish “Wicked Act” is more than brilliant; for the punanny fiends, there’s “If Loving Was a Crime”; and classics like “A Little More Time” appear. Tony Rebel, Beres Hammond and Busta Rhymes all put in cameos. But, it’s just not the desert island disc that ‘Til Shiloh is. For the curious, ‘Til Shiloh is the much better album. For the aficionados, you already have this one. For today’s hip-hop/dancehall, Sean Paul fans, this is a nice history lesson.
Universal Chronicles: http://www.universalchronicles.com/
