Magic: “Baby Let Your Hair Down”

[Historian]

These Canadian guys have certainly spent time studying Jamaican music (lol). This is a very pleasant reggae number:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5YP_oLcgpg

[Mosiah]

These Canadian guys have certainly spent time studying Jamaican music (lol). This is a very pleasant reggae number:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5YP_oLcgpg

Maad! (Means bad...I mean good! Very good!)

"Baby let your hair down,
Let me run my fingers through..."

Heh heh! A which black girl gwine mek yuh run yuh fingers through har tracks!? Wooiiee mi Remy!

I'm surprised and disappointed though that Magic! was basically ignored by the Grammy people.

And I'm wondering if Magic! will get back to their senses and exodus away from reggae like how Ace of Base did after their monster chunes back in the day.

[Assasin]

The music is WELL produced. I mean you can hear almost everything clearly and clean. The change in tempo, the keyboard, drums and vocals are clean and well arrange. The breakdowns are superb. Not the greatest vocal but well timed.

Very good work.

[Assasin]

Many of them eventually do. A lot of Bands out west doing reggae/ska and then when the music producers see some dollar sign they change. No Doubt is one such band.

[Don1]

Good & respectful attempt by foreigners at assimilating the vibe... but still pretty ordinary

Forgettable

[Historian]

Exactly!

The music is WELL produced. I mean you can hear almost everything clearly and clean. The change in tempo, the keyboard, drums and vocals are clean and well arrange. The breakdowns are superb. Not the greatest vocal but well timed.

Very good work.

I most certainly agree with everything you said above ‘Sass. The production is first class, and for the exact reasons you mentioned!

[Historian]

Yes, But....

Good & respectful attempt by foreigners at assimilating the vibe... but still pretty ordinary

Forgettable

“Forgettable” maybe, but nevertheless very important for the continued existence and international growth of reggae. Infrequent efforts like this by rock, pop and other mainstream singers and groups are a big plus for the reggae genre. (Amy Winehouse’s death, for example, was not only a very tragic occurrence for us all, but quite possibly for reggae music as well.)

Everyone else, except for some Jamaicans, realizes that reggae is a slowly dying force when compared with the impact it made globally during the 1970s and very early 1980s.

Like rap, mainstream reggae is no longer as influential as it used to be back in the glory days of Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Reggae Sunsplash, etc. Ever consider that, although the very first Grammy Reggae Award was given almost 30 years ago (1985, which Black Uhuru received), to this day reggae has not reached the level of respect among the Grammy Awards Committee where this genre’s award is presented live onstage?

For reggae to continue to remain relevant in this ever-changing world of music, we probably need more of this “attempt by foreigners at assimilating the vibes.”

[Peter R]

http://www.caribbean360.com/sports/b...-non-jamaicans

[Don1]

I agree re the nice optics and its marketing value... but just don't find the work remarkable from an artistic standpoint

[Historian]

Actually, I Fully Agree With You!

I agree re the nice optics and its marketing value... but just don't find the work remarkable from an artistic standpoint

Don, I agree 100 percent with you that there is nothing at all remarkable from an artistic viewpoint. That’s why the only word I used in my thread-starter was “pleasant” .

There are Jamaican musicians and singers every single year who produce work of superior artistic value. In fact, the three musicians in Magic are by no means outstanding by any standards; they are very ordinary.

Aside from it being a “pleasant” product, Magic’s importance, in my opinion, is that it exposes reggae to an even wider audience (a view which you obviously share), in this case ensuring that the music remains in the consciousness of affluent white North Americans and others elsewhere.

Peter R, thanks for the link, boss. I appreciate it. By now everyone here knows my view that, generally speaking, the artistic standard and impact of Jamaican recorded music has fallen significantly since the heady days of the 1970s and 1980s, when we had “serious” singers and groups (Third World, Black Uhuru, Inner Circle, Delroy Wilson, Dennis Brown, Shabba Ranks, and many others)

[Sir X]

This i find troubling....in this case ensuring that the music remains in the consciousness of affluent white North Americans and others elsewhere....that market is a niche market ,like any other market , be it Africa,Latin America , Europe or Asia,reggae does not have to do anything to be relevant in those market but continue being conscious and churn out decent musicians,it will renew itself in those markets with out the help of jamaican musicians!Bob Marley and others fore told this.

I keep telling anyone who will listen ,reggae/dancehall/ska/jamaican music is comfortable with its niche market.The problem is how we protect and nurture it at home -jamaican music .As you said the local standard has fallen or is it the promotion has fallen ,artist like Chronixx just need promotion.

[Mosiah]

[
Peter R, thanks for the link, boss. I appreciate it. By now everyone here knows my view that, generally speaking, the artistic standard and impact of Jamaican recorded music has fallen significantly since the heady days of the 1970s and 1980s, when we had “serious” singers and groups (Third World, Black Uhuru, Inner Circle, Delroy Wilson, Dennis Brown, Shabba Ranks, and many others)

Did historian just utter the name Shabba Ranks and artistic in the same sentence?!

Give him some time he just might appreciate the artistry of Alkaline!

[HL]

Did historian just utter the name Shabba Ranks and artistic in the same sentence?!

Give him some time he just might appreciate the artistry of Alkaline!

Alkaline!!??

I prefer the artistry of Acidic...fa reel.