'Til ShilohArtist: Buju Banton
Community Score: 7.25
1993's Voice of Jamaica was a stellar set, an aural collage of the island, with its swirl of diverse styles, sounds and themes. Bringing dancehall to the wider world, that album was a revelation, and to attempt to better it would have been futile. And so, Buju Banton didn't try, instead he moved in a new direction. After the completion of Voice...
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Artist: Maxi Priest
Put a Little Love in Your Heart: The Best of Marcia Griffiths 1969-1974Artist: Marcia Griffiths
Community Score: 10.00
Put a Little Love in Your Heart: The Best of Marcia Griffiths 1969-1974 is a fairly straightforward best-of album focusing on the legendary reggae vocalist's early years. It features a total of 20 well-known performances including "Toil (My Ambition)," "Don't Let Me Down," "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," "Young Gifted and Black," and "We've...
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MaestroArtist: Beenie Man
Community Score: 8.33
"Well this is the Maestro, I have the doctorate for all things," Beenie Man boasts on the opening to Maestro's title track, and then proceeds to show off his skill across this superb album. A lack of coherent sequencing is the set's only real flaw, for as the DJ is determined to prove himself a master of all things, so the Shocking Vibes Crew,...
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Beenie Man Meets Mad CobraArtist: Beenie Man
Community Score: 10.00
Hail up the TaxiArtist: Taxi Gang
Scent of Attraction - #1Artist: Patra
On her follow-up to her smash debut Queen of the Pack, Patra doesn't change her formula, but the results are just as exciting. Featuring contributions from Aaron Hall and Salt 'N' Pepa, Scent of Attraction is filled with R&B-inflected dancehall. Although Patra borrows from both hip-hop and R&B, she doesn't dilute her dancehall roots -- she just...
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BoombasticArtist: Shaggy
Community Score: 5.38
Boombastic confirmed Shaggy's status as one of the most popular dancehall acts of the '90s, and for good reason -- the record is an infectiously entertaining collection of deep, funky grooves that celebrates good times. Featuring the major hit title track, the album also sports a great guest appearance by Grand Puba on "Why You Treat Me So Bad,"...
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A Mi ShabbaArtist: Shabba Ranks
A nice mid-'90s release from Shabba Ranks, the defending champion of dancehall at the time. The fare is relatively standard, with some level of gun talk and slackness involved as a common motif. The more notable thing associated with Ranks is the re-elevation of the reggae DJ in the production of sound. Relatively surprisingly, given the heavy...
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