One of the crappy things about completely relocating, and downsizing your life is that you can't take everything with you.For example: CD's & Tapes. Most of them are stuck in a Toronto garage, whilst a lucky 10 made their way with me to NYC.
Once in a while, you have the desire to hear something, and you can't, because you don't have that CD.
Well it's the digital age, so I download. I don't feel bad about it because I actually do own these recordings somewhere. Anyways, I just got Buju Banton's 'Til Shiloh, which has aged beautifully. It's one of those albums that you remember liking a lot, and then when you hear it again, it's like Why don't I listen to this more often?
Considering the Dancehall/Reggaeton explosion recently, it all can be traced back to this genius album. Before it, Buju was one of the most popular dancehall artists out of Yard. I personally didn't take to him, as I found most of his lyrics to be trite and offensive. I initially dismissed this album, until my sister urged me to give it another chance, and I'm glad I did. It's just a great hybrid of dancehall/roots with words of wisdom all through a gravelly voice.Buju got older and wiser.
There has been better dancehall singles since then, but no one has made a stronger artistic statement as this. Dancehall stresses the hot track, not the hot album, so I doubt 'Til Shiloh will ever be topped in terms of consistency. This is the album Bob Marley would have made if he was still around.
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