Courtney Melody: Roots Extraordinaire???. . .
Achis | Kingston, JA/Philipsburg, SxM | 11/22/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Although the reggae/dancehall business is without a doubt one of the most fickle and ever-changing which you'll find in all of music, it can also be a VERY forgiving and non-forgetting one. Perhaps even more so than its musical `cousins' hip-hop and soca, both of which similarly hold a special place for artists from all era's of the music, dancehall takes it to an even further degree in that an artist can virtually vanish, for one reason or another, and seemingly comeback and not only make an appearance or two, but virtually retake the role which they once occupied. By far the best example of this over the past decade or two has been by Brother Desmond Ballantine, better known as lethal dancehall DJ, Ninja Man. The Ninja has had more lives in the dancehall that probably the entire genre, which is quite `up and down' itself (as he says, only a ninja can kill a ninja and besides himself, there just isn't another Ninja who doesn't at least on some level owe their successes to the original Ninja Man, in the dancehall). Who could have possibly predicted that during the few years when Shabba Ranking was ruling the dance with an iron fist, that some day, the oft-troubled and inactive Ninja would in the not too very distant future grow to be a name which on Jamaica, at this point might even outshine that of his longtime superstar rival. Besides the Ninja, there are many stories of artists reaching a point in there lives, for one reason or another where being active in the studio became impossible for an extended period of time (I.e. because of an injury, incarceration, just flat out lack of motivation or some other reason, besides the fact that a particular artist has just naturally reached the end of his/her career, and chooses not to record anymore). Names such as Tiger, Shabba Ranks himself and of course most recently Jah Cure to come to mind when thinking of artists who, for one reason or another, have found themselves away from the reggae spotlight for an extended period of time, only (at least attempt) to make a successful comeback. On a far smaller scale than any of those artist, is Courtney Melody. Having virtually spent the entire decade of the 1990's absolutely nowhere to be found on the music scene recovering from a nearly lethal motorbike crash, Courtney Melody adds his name to the ever growing lists of artists who just cannot leave the dancehall. In his case, unlike many of his peers, however, it is completely a good thing, both for himself, and for dancehall.
Courtney Melody has always held a fairly unusual space in dancehall for me. First and foremost, rare is it that a dancehall singer has such a long career as he has had and not be more well known as he is. Melody, unlike his peers in Sanchez, Wayne Wonder, and even Admiral Tibett has yet to, at any stage of his career, make himself a powerful voice outside of Jamaica. However, of the singers I just mentioned, none can claim (with the possible exception of Sanchez whose fan base in the Caribbean outside of Jamaica has been historically known to be quite vociferous in trumpeting the brilliance of their artist) to have as hardcore of a dancehall fan base as Melody, it is not uncommon at all for fans of Courtney Melody to flat out claim him to be THE greatest dancehall artist who has EVER walked the planet! While my overall enjoyment in the singer has not gone that far as of yet, I will say that despite what you may ever hear about Courtney Melody (the singer has had in the past a reputation for having a very quick temper and for being a bit of a showman/amateur stuntman), that he is amongst a very select group of people who were absolutely BORN for the dancehall. Inasmuch as dancehall is synonymous with Jamaica, and particularly the ghettos of Jamaica and the life, rare is the artist who has a greater vibe or purpose in the dance than Courtney Melody (even his NAME oozes DANCEHALL, the name `Courtney Melody` could belong to no other entertainer besides a dancehall singer). Melody is also quite interesting (and this leads us up to today) because he has a quietly unique voice for dancehall music. He never had the big sound of a Sanchez nor the ultra-smooth vibes of Wayne Wonder or Admiral Tibet. Instead, Courtney Melody's vibes come from a voice which can range from high to low and is probably at its greatest sound when he approaches a near yell, but somehow, someway, he always makes it work. I personally have always felt that he might take a shot at the rootical side of things and have a great bit of success as the variety in which he voices is often more appreciated on the slower, rootical vibes style. Low and behold, it is 2007 and presenting to the world what can be called his complete roots debut (although there is a bit of dancehall thrown in), is Courtney Melody, with Serious Business. It is perhaps most interesting in Serious Business that in his re-arrival on the scene Melody taps Jahmikes with which he had the undeniable number one hit of his career, Modern Girl. Modern Girl is not only regarded as oen of the greatest tunes in the history of dancehall music, but if you were to list the greatest dancehall albums of all time, the album which was spawned by the track (of the same title) would have to rank quite highly on the list of any fair minded individual. The track was MASSIVE! And, again, while it never gave the singer the big international attention of some his peers, it established the name Courtney Melody as one of the most respected and most talented singers in the rather brief history of the dance. Modern Girl was not the only track for which Melody is remembered, there were also big tunes such as Try Jah Love, and of course Protection with the aforementioned Ninja Man (and you can yank just about any track from the Modern Girl album, it was such a strong piece, with my personal favourite being Down in the Dancehall). Now, Melody, reunites with the producer who manned the boards for that album, to once again bring a VERY strong vibes with Serious Business, on a rootical side.
I couldn't very well tell you what number album this is from Melody as whenever I think of exactly how many he has had and come to a conclusion as to such, my subsequent research reveals that there is another (or another two) that I either forgot, or just flat out didn't know about. And while I am inclined to call Serious Business his sixth release, the truth may actually be far closer (and may actually exceed) to ten. Nevertheless what is (fairly) certain is that Serious Business is Melody's first album since 1999's Mr. Melody for JetStar (which was re-released in January). Serious Business was produced by Jahmkes for his very own NJ based Reggae Vibes label and is distributed by Fractal Entertainment out of New York. While both singer and producer have roots in the dance, the album figured to be quite solid in a roots vibes as since the duo first hooked up, Jahmikes has gone on to produce the majority of the brilliant Many More Roads by Ky-mani Marley which was nominated for an American Grammy, also, his label has released Unlimited, another strong roots piece from chanter Jah Mason (more on Mason in a minute). Serious Business begins with the very solid Gideon Soldier which gets the album started on such a nice piece and makes fans aware exactly the direction which the album is going in immediately. The very nice and LUSH instrumentation on Gideon Soldier compliment Melody's vocals lovely, and really I hope that the song gets rinsed very nicely through the mixtape/compilation circuit as it fits in very nicely with the current vibes now and could be quite popular for the singer. Easily one of the biggest tunes on the album (I'm actually calling it the second or third best tune here overall) and definitely a track which Melody fans will enjoy. Gideon Soldier is followed by Just Like the Rain which shows that Melody hasn't exactly forgotten where it all began for himself. On the album, you won't find nary a hardcore dancehall track, instead, you'll find wonderfully done lover's tracks which could ram a dance floor just as easily (or probably even easier, when you consider exactly what type of dancing is done on a lover's track). Just Like the Rain is the first of these tracks and one of the most impressive . Gifted with one of the best one-drops on the entire album, the song has not only a lover's rock feel, but a slight roots tinge as well and it makes the tune PERFECT, not only for the album, but for Courtney Melody himself at this point of his career. The high quality title track completes the very solid opening for Serious Business, and of the first three tracks here, although I favoured Gideon Solider rather easily amongst them, the title track definitely has the most sing along appeal to it while remaining a strong roots track at the same time (and definitely having a lover's (although in this case, warring lovers) vibe to it as well).
The Modern Girl album, more than ten years ago, featured a very nice tune by the name of African Girl, thus, it is only fitting that the new Courtney Melody album would feature a much more mature but similar vibes, African Woman. It is quite solid as well, and more along the lines of old school Melody, but still in the modern style. I also really love the vibe on Two Wrongs, which almost has an American R&B vibe to it, it is the album's changeup, and you kind of see where it was going, Melody definitely has the ability to succeed with such a track and, while far from the album's best, Two Wrongs is a solid addition.
The album actually peaks, however, closer to the end. Check the OUTSTANDING Oh Jah, which was my choice for the album's best offering for quite awhile, and still is one of my favourites here definitely. Following Oh Jah is my choice for the best lover's track here, Key To Your Heart. Key To Your Heart is a track which partially succeeds due to the wonderful old school nature of the track, you could very well pluck it from Serious Business and drop it on Modern Girl and you wouldn't notice a difference in the vibes of the elder album. Nuttn Nah Gwan is a `seriously' strong piece which features probably the strongest lyrical performance here overall. This streak of very nice tunes concludes with the nicest of them all. In Deh is the only official combination on Serious Business (although there are some very strong backing vocalists performances throughout) and it features Jah Mason (who hopefully stopped by to do work on his follow-up to Unlimited). The song is POWERFUL and it has both the big feel which Mason's tunes usually have due to his energetic flow and at the same time, Melody's very smooth and subtle style and it always has a sound that feels as if it is building to a peak. The peak is the entire song, definitely one of for the record, an excellent roots uplifting track and I would love to see it receive a video and some decent promotions. I would have loved to see more combinations as well, if any turned out the way In Deh did, we might be talking about a five star album with Serious Business.
Oh, and I have to mention the truly BIG vibes of Nah Born A Killa. Yet another very strong roots track and something which sounds as if it could have come from the catalogue of Jr. Reid (who vocally Courtney Melody is resembling throughout Serious Business in my opinion, just an octave lower perhaps) or Everton Blender or some of the more venerable rootical reggae singers.
Overall, Serious Business is seriously high quality roots reggae. The more and more I went through the album and saw Melody was very much succeeding in the roots style, I was actually wishing that Jahmikes had done more with Kingston native. Although Reggae Vibes isn't exactly a household name in terms of labels, the label has had quiet a nice working relationship with many artists and has released compilations featuring some of the biggest names in reggae, alongside even delving into the promotional and managerial side of reggae as well. A Courtney Melody/Sizzla Kalonji combination would have put Serious Business through the roof! As it is, I can't complain too much as I fully expect to see a next Melody album on the label and what they have done with this album is very impressive. Serious Business features one of the TRUE veterans of the dancehall showing that he is no one-trick pony and pushing one of the overall strongest pure roots projects of 2007."
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1