Search - Buju Banton :: Too Bad

Now Where Did This Come From?. . .

Achis | Kingston, JA/Philipsburg, SxM | 09/12/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It was my full belief that the next time we would hear from Buju Banton on an album would be on the now 2 years anticipated `Rasta Got Soul' album. The album which has still yet to arrive (and may never) was said to be along Buju's best and might actually rival his seminal classic `Til Shiloh. He even tipped his hand 2 years ago by releasing the album's first single, the `magical' Magic City. So the world was waiting to see just how much Soul the album had.



However. Between then and now Buju has been going through so many events that this album, Too Bad, almost seems like a smack in the face to his critics. Forever, it seems that he is still living in the `Boom Bye Bye Curse', and having some legal matters which prevented him traveling, he apparently has been angered by all the unwanted attention and the result is Too Bad. The album has a severe kick to it, it can actually sit not too far away from his `stablemate' Assassin's Infiltrate from `05, in terms of style.



The attraction here is actually the subject of `confusion'. While we were waiting for a massive roots album to come down the pipe, Buju hasn't made a pure dancehall album in a very very long time. Thus, the DJ who was once the dancehall's main attraction stepping back into the fray isn't at all a bad thing. So fans who sit longing for the days of Stamina Daddy and Batty Rider are the one's who'll be happy and I can fit into that camp as well! But at the same time, Buju's concentration for the last decade or so has been the roots, so now it is there where he will ultimately excel. However, with the current trend in dancehall to revive older riddims, you may find yourself feeling like 1991 all over again.



The best tune here is probably the hard hard `Til It Bend. Til it Bend is serious serious rudey dancehall. The song might sound like the rest to the untrained ear, but I guarantee that is the song most Jamaican will pull up, Til it Bend is nice! Also check the wicked wicked Nothing, Who Have It?, the ultra clever Better Day and the nice Hey Boy over the Petty Thief riddim.



However, my second favorite song here I would have to say would be the combination Don & Dupes with underrated dancehall singer Pinchers who has been making a very very nice return to the scene recently, largely due to his connection with Madhouse head, Dave Kelly. Buju makes an attempt (for some reason) at the useless Wipeout riddim on Me & Unu and actually makes it work a little. Also check when things slow down on nice tunes such as Driver, which is easily one of the best tunes on the album.



Overall, the thought alone, Buju doing another dancehall album may have some salivating and some wondering where the roots is, this one may appeal to both group of hardcore fans. While there is nothing here that I would call definitive roots reggae, this album has such an old school vibes to it that anyone who has ever been a fan of Buju's will find something they like. I would have like to have seen Buju have at least one Lenky riddim on the album, a Wayne Wonder combination (although Pinchers subs just fine) and definitely the massive song Beauty Queen from the Twice Again riddim would have fit just fine here, but nevertheless, what you do have: High quality dancehall from one of the greatest architects of that skill is just fine and Too Bad, over both what Beenie and Baby Cham have done, is the best pure dancehall album of 2006 to date, and a boomshot in the arm for the genre."

Buju at his very best inna de Dancehall!!!

Matthew J. Rosenfeld | Brookline, MA United States | 09/27/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I first saw Buju Banton rise up the Reggae ranks in 1993, in Jamaica. He exploded on the Jamaican music scene with "Deportee." Over the next 13 years Buju scored dozens of hits for record labels such as VP Records, Greensleeves, and many others. After becoming a Rasta, Buju released such anthems as "Destiny," and "Magic City." It seemed as if he had left the Dancehall to pursue Rastafarianism. Until now.



Buju takes a break from Roots Rasta Reggae to drop the most crucial Reggae Dancehall album ever made, and he does it on his own terms; he is now on his own label - Gargamel Music - and he is the Executive Producer of "TOO BAD," a collection of booming and blazing dance anthems sure to dwarf any music played before or after these songs.



First off, buyers should know this is an album for the Dancehall. If you want Buju's "culture reggae," you won't find it here. "TOO BAD" is all about appreciating the ladies of the world, and those people who enjoy gathering at the Reggae Dancehalls of the world to move to the music. Make no mistake: these beats will test your speakers. As if Buju saved his best stuff for the day he would take total control, "TOO BAD" is 16 songs of Dancehall bliss. Song 17 is a self-portrait about how Buju got out of the "FAST LANE" to take control of his life. An amazing way to end the disc.



By the time the title track rolls around, the listener has been inundated with Jamaica's premier lyricist, over top Reggae's premier producers, with the highest production values the Dancehall will ever get. This is pure Patois, worshipping the ladies of the Dancehall. Songs such as "Your Night Tonight," and "Waistline" prepare the listener to enter the real Dancehall. If you ever get a chance to visit Jamaica, you will hear this music coming out of the biggest woofers of the biggest Soundsystems. The bass alone will shake you to the core and force your hips to move.



Buju blesses us with a consistently intelligent and agressive lyrical delivery, and I do believe Buju is peaking, right here and right now. If you are looking to dance, have fun, and smile, get "TOO BAD" ASAP!!!! Big up to Buju!!!!"

Absolutely 5 Stars!!

Mike Stand | NY, USA | 11/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It has all been said. The album is great. No dispute.

What makes this album even more special though is the appreciation of the dancehall history lesson that is bound up in this package.

Buju Banton exploded on the scene in Jamaica as the most gruff-voiced teenager you ever did hear in 1991-1992 with a song called 'Browning'. His meteoric rise saw him to the international scene within 2 years, and the rest we know...But he turned to Rastafarianism and his music soon began to reflect that, and the rough, mean, fast-paced style known as hardcore became less. Lately, some began to count him out of mainstream dancehall.

Amazingly Buju returns to hardcore, almost right where he left off, just to demonstrate the force that has never left him. And he calculatedly brings a world of deja-vu with him, almost as if willfully trying to demonstrate his convictions about where dancehall should stay rooted. Look at a few things...

At least 14 of the 17 riddim tracks use an old-school approach of about 100bpm or less which takes us back to the days when Buju first entered the dancehall.

In fact 'Hey Bwoy', is voiced on a riddim which Buju himself was the first to record in 1991 with the tune 'Man Fi Dead'. He gives a different treatment on the riddim track updated by a different producer, now called Petty Thief. (Back then this riddim actually was derived from another called The Soap and later reinvented as Sudd)

The title track takes us back to 1992 on a subliminal level. The riddim for 'Too Bad' has its origins in the 1992 Penthouse studios in Jamaica when it was created by Dave Kelly. Kelly recorded Buju Banton`s 'Batty Rider' on the track and it was an instant and lasting hit. The track itself carries the name Gi-Gi, and was recently resurrected by another producer. Buju places his mark on the new rendering of Gi-Gi. As with 'Hey Bwoy', the tune remains very distinct from its predecessor but still manages to cast a shadow over the past, helping to make this album a different type of collectors` item.

Buju then digs out one of the oldest renditions of a musical score called the Taxi riddim, AS IS, to display his skills. The instrumental or version used is OVER 20 YEARS OLD, from a time when Buju was but a schoolboy fan of the music. That decision has produced the now massively famous 'Driver'.

As if that wasn`t enough he invites veteran singer Pinchers onto the set to reinvent a tune sung by Pinchers in his prime. The song is 'Don', also TWO DECADES old, long before Buju could dream of the success that is his today. The updated version 'Don and Dupes' replaces all of Pinchers with Buju except for the chorus.

There is really little need to discuss the flow, lyrics, delivery, etc. Buju is unquestionably at his hardcore best here. Few would disagree. It`s such a well put together set! Pulled from his work over the last 2 years, with some added strokes of previously unreleased genius. But there is another reason to get this album in your collection. I think this is a clever collectors` item because of the way it embraces the history of dancehall as a separate genre. It also makes the point that dancehall could do well without being diluted."