Search - Shabba Ranks :: Rough & Ready 1

Plenty of Variety

Pieter | Johannesburg | 03/26/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The album opens with Mr Loverman, a delightful duet between Shabba and Chevelle Franklin; this is a catchy number with lovely vocal interplay and a lilting beat. Pirates Anthem is a collaboration with Coca T and Home T; it's spacey, with plenty of vocal variation and rhythmic innovation. Wicked is a mid-tempo groove, whilst Woodtop is a more monotonous piece of ragga rapping. Gal Yuh Good is slowish but intriguing with some recognisable words in long reams of unintelligibility. Just Reality has a buoyant beat and innovative vocal techniques while Can Dun is more subdued with a really great drawn out percussive groove and echoing vocals. The light and breezy Ragamuffin with its swaying pop groove is one of my favorites. I prefer it when Shabba sings rather than raps. He does so again on the last song Bad & Wicked in which he ruminates on reggae, ragga and dancehall over an engaging mid-tempo beat. Rough & Ready Volume 1 is a great showcase for the talents of Shabba Ranks with its refreshing variety of styles."