Search - Fanton Mojah :: Hail the King

Big Debut!

Achis | Kingston, JA/Philipsburg, SxM | 11/18/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In a rather odd occurence, in 2005 roots reggae upstart Fantan Mojah, easily one of the most sought after conscious dj's in Jamaica, has signed a deal with UK reggae giant label Greensleeves to release his debut album, Hail the King, named after his most successful single to date. We didnt have to wait very long for the album to come out, as Mojah had just really bust on the scene in 2004 and had been flooding the market with strong material with a few very large hits mixed in.



Even more unusual is the fact that the usually timid to release an artist's album (not named Sizzla) Greensleeves released his record exactly when they said they would. And somewhere in JA Kurrup and Predator (GS's seemingly forgotten dancehall signees) continue to be overlooked (and last time it was by Anthony B who doesn't even work for GS). Nevertheless the world of music is a better place with a Fantan Mojah album on the racks.



The most non-surprising facet of this deal is that, expectedly, Mojah's debut album is a rich, inspiring and healthy tour de force of roots music. The young chanter proves that his somewhat unusual style can indeed support an entire album with no real weak spots throughout its 18 tracks. Hail the King is a wonderful debut for a soon-to-be King of roots.



The best tune here (again, no so surprisingly) is the MASSIVE title track on the maroon riddim which might make Count Ossie himself proud of the beautiful Nya drumming on the track which goes completely in one direction of showing the still developing Mojah's talents as it comes off as more of a chant than a dj's tune. Also standing out on Hail the King is the high profile combination with the incarcerated, but still ultra busy ridiculous voiced Jah Cure, Nah Build Great Man. Everything Cure has been touching these days has been turning into gold (literally) and Nah Build Great Man is no exception, the tune works completely.



Fantan Mojah becomes the second artist (after Sean Paul) to be lucky enough to have his album blessed with terrifyingly beautiful Seasons riddim from superproducer Vendetta, and he handles it just about as good as anyone (not named Jah Cure). He also makes use of a timeless Bobby Digital riddim, best known as the backdrop to Sizzla's brilliant Words of Divine on King of Kings, which I initially thought to be just wrong but the youth makes it work completely in proving himself worthy.



Of course you have to check Mojah's second biggest tune, Hungry, over the Invasion riddim, very fine tune; Feel the Pain, a rather clever testament to the strength of the Black Woman; Corruption (which I'm certain Mojah's base label and album producers, Downsound, are touting as his next big tune, because they also remixed it); speaking of remixes, Hail the King's remix is even more luscious and vibrant and nearly as good as the original; and 2 of the other combinations here, Uplift Yourself with First Born and especially Rastafari is the Ruler are both relatively big tunes. And I can't forget about Search, probably my 3rd favorite tune here overall (after the title track and Nuh Build Great Man).



Overall, Fantan Mojah's style may take a little while to get used to, even for the most experienced of modern roots fan, he kind of shifts in between pure djaying, pure chanting, and pure singing as several of his contemporaries (i.e. Sizzla, Turbulence etc.) but where you're completely used to hearing such from them, Mojah's heavy raspy voice is another 'weapon' which he makes work doing whatever he chooses. Get past that and Hail the King is a wonderfully vibrant debut from an artist, whose time appears to be in the future, but listening to him right now certainly is fun. Biggup to the artist and GS for another wonderfully packaged product, which is very important for promoting the music to the non-reggae fan.



On a side note, you have to love 2005 if you're a fan of modern roots reggae music. Multiple releases (as usual) from Sizzla, Turbulence, Luciano and Anthony B, albums from established artists such as Junior Kelly, Everton Blender, Freddie McGregor, Warrior King and Damian Marley, debuts from Mojah, Natty King, I Wayne and conscious tinged dancehall artist Assassin AND a Queen Omega album! Wonderful year for the music."

Big Feeling

Upful | Chicago, IL United States | 03/09/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I decided to wait several months after purchasing this cd to write a review, in order to avoid quick judgements. WELL, I still think this album is great. I would have given it 4 stars but this is his first album so I gave him an extra star for making his lack of experience almost unapparent.



The album only has a few songs that don't suck you in. The rest are amazing!!!



Fantan Mojah has reached new heights and I look forward to even higher heights for this artist to reach."