| As
the old soul ballad goes, "this is a
man's world", and so it sometimes seems
with Reggae Music. When it comes to singers
and players of instruments, the men are in a
majority. I know some people who even think
that the best Reggae must be made by men. A
thing which I disagree with, and one of the
examples I always give is Sister Carol. In
1981, she started to record music under the
eyes of Reggae DJ Brigadier Jerry. This was
the age of Rub a Dub style, as dancehall
music was called in those days. Jah Disciple
was released in 1989, a time in which Reggae
was -again- going through a shift, like in
the time Sister Carol started to record.
Personally, I regard this album as one of
the higher quality products in a time in
which this was absolutely not a common
thing.
The albums contains ten tracks and starts
off with a track in true DJ tradition:
"Who Can Ram The Party Like Me",
with the Sistren chatting about standing
firm in this "man's world", she
shows a perfect style of sing-jay. In the
second track she performs her lyrics in fast
toasting style, a style made popular by
Brigadier Jerry. Third track is the title
track, and it has a very catchy riddim. When
the drum and the bass roll on under the
Sistren's voice, you can't sit still, you
just got to move forward an skank hard.
Track four is my favourite Sister Carol
track: Potential. This track says: play me
loud, louder, and again and again. The drum
and the bass-line are of exceptional
quality. After this, Sister Carol showing to
be able to master the genre of Dub Poetry
(Linton Kwesie Johnson, Mutabaruka) with a
track livicated to knowledge about African
History. The 6th track, "Lost In
Space" has a slow ragga-ish vibe, and a
message to think about: they go to space but
they have no respect for the human race. And
that is why they're "lost in
space". Intelligence is the title of
track after this. A track in clear rub a dub
style but with -then- contemporary sounds,
as you can hear on Culture's "Nuff
Crisis" for example. In this one she
combines Dub poetry with Rub a Dub toasting
and calls upon people to use their God given
brains. Track 8 is called "No Me Mommy
and Daddy" and again uses a slow
ragga-ish style of drumming, while in the
background you hear guitar licks and horn
hits. Not the strongest song on the album. A
lot of Dub mixing and drum and bassline in
the next one, with Sister Carol singing and
toasting. The album closes with a track that
I do not really like, to be honest. It's
almost pure ragga and that can't really move
me.
The album has an interesting mix between
Drum programming and real play, a document
of the later 1980's when digital production
became more common and accepted. A
pioneering time indeed, and I think that
now, in the early 2000's things are getting
somewhere. But in the style as used on this
album, it's quite acceptable for both
digital and analogue fan. The album contains
many different vibe, as every track stand in
it's own style. The more you hear the album,
the more you hear this. To summarize, I
would say that this album is a must in your
collection, especially when you are
interested in Reggae DJ-ing. This is one of
the best Sister Carol albums, without
apology.
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