Search - Michael Rose :: Bonanza

Michael Rose was lead singer for reggae icons Black Uhuru prior to launching his solo career in the mid-'80s. He subsequently, as here, divided his output into the sort of political and spiritual "reality" songs he sang with Uhuru and more pop-oriented material influenced by American R&B, soul, and hip-hop. Yet he remains one of reggae's great vocal wailers, a technique that lends decided authority to message songs that almost nostalgically tout the benefits of ganja over cocaine ("Ganja Bonanza") and stand up for the "Youths of the Ghetto." Rose displays both his macho ("Chatto") and sensitive ("Whoo-La") sides on Bonanza, breaking new ground only with the quietly countrified "It's Alright," which resembles a Rastafarian version of a Raymond Carver short story. --Richard Gehr