Dancehall artistes are now getting in high gear as they prepare to release albums in time for the summer amid high expectations from their fans. However, not all are convinced that all the summer albums will be blazing.
By Teino EvansAmong some of those artistes who will have their albums released in time for the summer craze are Shaggy with Clothes Drop, Wayne Wonder (Untitled), Sean Paul (Untitled), T.O.K, with Unknown Language, Buju Banton's Rasta Got Soul, Assassin (Untitled), Junior Gong with Welcome to Jam Rock and Steven Marley's Got Music.
"TOK a di big man dem, an a from long time wi a look fi one album fi drop from dem, suh a really da one deh mi a look out for. This album has been long overdue," Smitty T, a fan said.
Clyde McCalla, a final year student at the University of the West Indies (UWI) (Mona), is bit more restrained.
"I would be interested to see what Sean Paul's follow-up album is going to be like, Junior Gong came with an excellent Reggae album last time, and TOK has a whole lot of potential, so I want to see if they will make good on it," he said.
Mark does not believe that Sean Paul can top his previous effort (Dutty Rock).
"Mi nuh really feel him can better di last one, but truss mi, mi still a look out, cause mi would a really like fi si weh him a come wid dis time round," he said.
High esteem
One female fan, however, holds Buju's upcoming album in high esteem after hearing only the first single. "If his lead single, Magic City is anything to go by, then I will definitely be purchasing a copy," she said.
Nicky, another final year student at the UWI, says she hopes Shaggy's latest release will be like his Hot Shots album, one which she really enjoyed.
"It was one of the few albums where I enjoyed all the tracks and, hopefully, this one will be the same and I will not have to be skipping tracks," she said.
According to Shaggy, however, his Clothes Drop album, which is to be released in a month, is probably his best work yet.
"I'm expecting it (the album) to do well, mi feel a di best work dis so far. The whole album is like a roller-coaster ride, it carries you through different moods, yuh have yuh girl tune, comedy tune and then you have some real brilliant, smooth love tunes, Shaggy told THE STAR in an earlier interview.
Jerome Hamilton, one of the directors at Headline Entertainment, locally responsible for a number of the artistes who will be releasing albums this summer, says the albums will be released just the right time.
"It's a summer of music, and from what I've heard from the albums, it will be a good time. The timing is excellent and the people should rally around supporting the music.
Great summer
"We need to buy our own music, support our own music and make it happen. Sean's new single Weed Be Burning is out already on the Renaissance rhythm, Junior Gong's single is also doing well and TOK's album is due in another month, so it should really be a great summer for music," Hamilton said.
According to Flexx of TOK, the group has high expectations for their latest release for the summer.
"Wi a anticipate a good summer for the album, because right now TOK has a lot of hits still running the place, like Hey Lady and Footprints. It's just a little bit of everything for everybody," Flexx said.
The album, Unknown Language, has, however, been a long time coming. It was scheduled to be released in 2004. Flexx said this was all outside of their jurisdiction.
"Everybody anticipating this album and the reason it took so long to be released was because of some political reasons, as in VP Records was going through some changes and we just happened to get caught in the middle," Flexx said.
Only this summer will reveal if the expectations and anticipations in the streets are true, but whichever way the pendulum may sway, one thing is for sure, local entertainment will be bursting with music this summer.
