Search - Mutabaruka :: Melanin Man

Mutabaruka is described as a "celebrated reggae dub/poet" in his publicity, but this album, Melanin Man, is underwhelming on all three counts. The reggae is relegated to a minor role in the arrangements, more a signifier of the monologuist's Jamaican roots than a music with a satisfying syncopation or melody. The dance-hall rhythms and dub echoes are used in such an unimaginative, mechanical manner that they pander to all the worst stereotypes about programmed tracks. And Mutabaruka's verse is all strident polemics full of abstract nouns with none of the sensual imagery and fresh metaphor of the Caribbean's best musical poets such as Bob Marley and Shinehead, much less literary poets like Derek Walcott. --Geoffrey Himes