Search - Various Artists :: Bookshelf

With its bouncing drumbeats and rhythmic slashes of synthesized organ chords, producer Tony Kelly's "Bookshelf" track ran the dancehall in 1998, and this compilation features 10 of reggae dancehall's smoothest "riddim" riders taking a turn on the bucking bronco of an instrumental. Singer Devonte--out of the Wayne Wonder vocal school--and deejay Tanto Metro lead with combination tune "Say Wooee," followed by Sean Paul, another dancehall favorite, offering his opinion on "gal [who] not up to date"--"Deport Them." The irrepressible Lady Saw has her own "hit-and-run" credo when it comes to shoddy love-makers, wittily lined out in "No Matta Me." Beenie Man, who couldn't voice a weak track if he tried, offers his take on the matter of shoddy bed work in the title tune. All scoring with their own "Bookshelf"-anchored tunes are singer Richie Stephens, a steady hit-maker; vocalists Sasha and Evette; and dancehall diva Tanya Stephens, whose throaty style adds kick to her own favorite lyrical theme--puncturing overblown male egos. Special mention has to go to Pancho Kryztal, a Jamaican raised in Chicago whose singing is as lustrous as his deejaying is concussive. --Elena Oumano