Search - Ras Shiloh :: Coming Home

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Achis | Kingston, JA/Philipsburg, SxM | 05/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It was nearly thirteen years ago when one of the greatest sons in the deep history of reggae music lost his life tragically in a fire at his home. Garnett Silk was just 28 years old and seemed poised to potentially return roots reggae music to the once dominant status it had once maintained both in Jamaica and abroad. Many had even saw fit to deem the Manchester native the next Bob Marley and many international labels had shown a grand interest in the singer whose music had made him quite simply one of the most popular and one of the most powerful people on the island. Although Silk's time at the top was very very brief, he made a contribution to which reggae music is still rather indirectly pay homage, as was the case with Marley before him, Silk's death almost immediately led to the `search' for the next Garnett Silk. While his place as the dominant roots reggae singer has fallen into the well capable hands of fellow Manchester native Luciano, who I'm sure Silk would be happy with as he has taken the role and not only become a great artist, great performer and great overall ambassador for reggae music but has become somewhat of the roots conscience of all of reggae; establishing a reputation for class and decency all throughout the music. There have been others still, Everton Blender, one of Silk's best friends has remained an active and very popular roots singer throughout his career and then names such as Jr. Reid, Mykal Rose, Prince Malachi and Jahmali have come and achieved a great deal of respect both locally and internationally. The currently emerging generation of young singers however, have shown the greatest results of Silk's efforts as many of them not only carry some of the same traits of the fallen singer, but list him as one of the most inspiring figures in their careers. Obviously true, should a singer of an age 20-30 emerge now, he spent at least the first half of his childhood listening to Garnett Silk's music. Thus, names like Warrior King, I-Wayne and Gyptian now coming to prominence is indirectly a large up to Silk, and all hold such a righteous stature that the late singer would definitely be proud (and the beautiful beautiful combinations we could have were Mr Silk still around physically!). With the current lovely swing towards the more rootical side of reggae becoming just as popular as its dancehall side both locally and in foreign, expect to see many more championing the vibes of Garnett Silk.



My choice to fill that role is definitely I-Wayne. Silk's style was definitely far ahead of his time and even still he made such a great impact. The same could perhaps be said for the slight Portmore native who words and actions since breaking through have seemed downright strange at times, and although he is far more hot tempered than Silk was, he sings a style of militant roots which not only demands respect, but expects it, yet at the same time is able to fall back and sing a killing lovers tune or simple track at any time. For Warrior King's case, his style right now actually is quite akin to Silk (and that track! With King and Silk with a chanter, say Fantan Mojah, would have been a blessing!) and young Gyptian still has so far to go before what he truly is has been revealed to the masses but he'll certainly, later in his career, have the opportunity to be reggae's leading singer. However, all of that being said, without a doubt the man who has taken the actual vibes of Garnett Silk and built his career around them as his foundation is the NYC born and based Ras Shiloh. The singer, who'll chant it from the highest mountain given the opportunity that he is inspired by Silk, has a rather unusual place within the reggae community. Throughout his career, Ras Shiloh has taken long periods of inactivity (at least in terms of being on the radio and play lists in Jamaica), even still, his popularity has yet to wane even in the slightest degrees and he is routinely present on some of the larger cultural shows on the island and his big big tunes (of course most notably Are You Satisfied) are appreciated as strongly as ever.



Shiloh's style is simply Garnett Silk's style and its most interesting because all the combinations and songs Silk might have made or could have made, we have Shiloh toiling along his way, making a big name and creating the same vibes we may have heard from Silk himself. I can't count how many times I've played a Shiloh song for a friend or an acquaintance only to get the response, "You have new Silk?", not only the styles but the way they both carry themselves are very similar. While Shiloh hasn't garnered on the many of the praise which was shown to Silk, he hasn't exactly been the odd man out. Along with Chuck Fender over the past half decade probably no foreign born artist has received more laude than has Shiloh, being definitely respected amongst fans and people in the industry as well. To date, he has been a favorite of Penthouse head Donovan Germain (who also favored Jahmali and has worked with Warrior King as well), one of the legendary producers, particularly in the dancehall arena, but the two have come together to push some of the highest quality material anyone has ever heard from Shiloh. His previous album, that downright MASSIVE From Rasta to You came from Penthouse Studios to fine fine acclaim, however, it was 2002 when that album dropped, and despite being one of his most popular to date (and his third overall) it would be five years before Shiloh would give us another.



Enter Coming Home. With, surprisingly, the production here being done by the equally legendary (perhaps even more so) Bobby Digital. The pair, on paper at least, seems a winning one as Digital brings nothing less than two epic Sizzla albums (Da Real Thing and of course the perfect Black Woman & Child) highlighting his roots catalog (even though Calibud did most of the work) and armed with a vault full of roots riddims, the two should do quite well. Coming Home is a wonderfully executed album which easily shoots to the head of the class as one of the, if not THE best reggae album of 2007 so far. Its almost frustrating, considering the level of album that was From Rasta to You a half decade ago and now picking up here, there should have been two more nice Shiloh albums on the shelves for the masses, and yet Coming Home was well well worth the wait. The completely roots set is a wonderful gem of modern roots and from beginning to end never misses a beat and never fails on one of its sixteen selections. Shiloh himself has not changed much in the time apparently, his voice is still as strong and yet just as far from overbearing as ever, channeling, nearly directly the spirit of Garnett Silk through his vibes, and I'd go as far as to say that he has even outdone himself from the From Rasta to You album as Coming Home is just as consistent, but offers even more in terms of spectacular material at the top. As a point maker, just plop the cd in and press play, the first song you'll hear, We Need More Love is easily amongst the album's finest and gets Coming Home set off on a wonderful foot and the rest of the album even still holds true to those vibes.



Somewhere in the middle of Coming Home you might lose your point, however, as most great roots pieces, it has somewhat of a lover's feel to it and while it certainly is nowhere near dancehall, the most seasoned of soundmen could definitely find a place for it in any dance, it truly covers the lover's area finely, without even trying. Perhaps that is due to Shiloh noticeable improvement in certain areas. While not much has changed in the half decade since we last hear from him, Ras Shiloh has definitely become a more complete writer and that's not to say that he was poor at the skill from before, but Coming Home shows that he was completely focused on putting forth his best effort and there are some nice nice meditations on the album. I'd go as far as to say that he joins the upper echelons as far as writers as singers go, joining the likes of Luciano, I-Wayne and even Jah Cure now with this effort. As usual, he reaches no tough spots with his vocals, despite having Silk's very unusual vocalizing style (which even comes off as vocoder effect at times but definitely is not) his voice has an underlying strength and substance to it which not many other singers can claim.



Among biggest things about Coming Home are the several very well done combinations Ras Shiloh has. The first, Let the People Voice Be Heard with Morgan Heritage is one of the best as it works on absolutely every level, and Shiloh more than holds his own with the group. Aside from the combination aspect, it is amongst the album's best overall as well. The second combination is a bit more unusual as it features Shiloh with Portmore chanter Bascom X on the excellent New Rising Day. The song took a minute to grow on me, despite being backed with one of the strongest and most lovely one drops Coming Home has to offer and being one of the songs here that just hit a spot in you and make you feel good, its very lovely vibe the unlikely pair creates on the tune (now if VP just kept Bascom in studio and pulled an album from him, wouldn't that be nice for later this year). The final combination on Coming Home and the one which I'm calling the best is It Will Be Over with man of the moment, Guyanese chanter Natural Black. The song actually reminds me slightly of the MASSIVE tune Nuh Build Great Men from Fantan Mojah and Jah Cure and it works completely! Definitely one of the album's best offerings and actually nice since Black is flooding the place with nice albums and this is a combination that is best appreciated on this album.



When Shiloh takes off on his own for the balance of the album he definitely does himself proud with all tunes having fight for second when compared to the absolutely MAMMOTH Volume of the Book. Volume of the Book sounds directly like something Silk himself may have sung in his time, and wherever he is, be sure he has the tune playing on his racks (and I'm sure he has playing the divine Rastaman in the Hills, a HUGE track from Shiloh which wasn't included here shockingly). Volume of the Book is huge and for all roots fans definitely something you need to hear, and does nicely as one of the more uptempo and vibrant tunes here, Shiloh shows his absolute best on the tune. Also, as it directly proceeds It Will Be Over, it makes for one of the best stretches of tracks on the album. Following those two tracks still is the excellent Rebel With a Cause which channels an older Shiloh vibe with using `Babylon Yuh Doom' as a punch line at times. Again, the track is one of the songs that just make you feel good through it, definitely one of the biggest vibes overall.



Check Shiloh's take on the lovely Come Down Jah Jah. The song, I love in just about any form (most famously to my knowledge it was done by Luciano) and it is just a wonderful song, definitely one suiting to Shiloh's style of making music. Check the closer All of Me, in a pure lover's style of a classic riddim, makes you want to grab your woman by the waist and hit the hit the dance floor but very nice and easy, and Shiloh, again very lyrically strong, paints a very nice picture on the tune. Check the downright excellent What Have You Done, catch a very nice vibes from that one over the very Marley-esque riddim, but even still, is a very nice song on its own merits. And lastly you definitely need to check Ah What a Gwan, probably the best pure conscious track on Coming Home altogether.



Overall, Coming Home is one of the two best reggae albums I've heard all year (with the other being Tony Rebel's I-Rebel), yes its that strong, had it come last year, it might have even given the epochal Phantom War by Lutan Fyah a run for its money, Coming Home is HUGE! Recommended to all established roots fans and of course fans of Shiloh who probably woke up this morning and headed out to pick this one up. Newer fans, don't even approach it, picking up From Rasta to You or one of Shiloh's earlier albums will make this one even more open to your ears. But when you reach the level of becoming a fan, by all means pick this one up. MASSIVE! GO GET IT!"