Vybz Kartel – Kingston Story (2011) [Mixpak] // Grade: A-

I’ve never been a huge fan of Vybz Kartel, his aesthetic, his singing, his collaborations or his feuds. It all seemed so contrived, so. much. drama. Needless to say I was Gully Squad 4 Life. Really, I never understood how there have been SO many people jocking his stuff in the last decade even though he was absolutely everywhere for a while, most of the time his stuff was average. Even worse, he seemed to borrow a lot of gimmicks from other deejays and I felt like I was getting auditory sloppy seconds. Nevertheless, he did have some real jams even I could agree on. I still listen to “Slow motion” on repeat like it’s a brand new tune. First off, the Street Bullies riddim is so perfect you would think that people would have had a field day with it. But I have a feeling was was deceptively simple, approachable, and at the end of the day, it was underused – except by Gaza King, who paced his song perfectly for a summer song that can be heard in any season. And a couple of months later “Yuh Love” dropped and I was immediately sold. My jury was still out on Dre Skull at the time, I think because I’m not a fan Juiceboxx or instrumental stuff. Anyway, the synergy between those two was undeniable (even better than the Sizzla collab) and the advent of other half-singers/half-singjays like Gyptian and I-Octane (as opposed to full-on singjays like Mavado) was perhaps a good wagon for Vybz Kartel to hop on.

So when I heard that they were working on a full length, I was somewhat excited. Mostly because Gully God hasn’t released much that was worthwhile since then but also because Dre Skull went on to produce for Lil Scrappy and Sissy Nobby and I felt that the album was primed for dance party madness. Perhaps the most surprising part of this album is the diversity of genres that are infused through it. I truly did not expect Kartel to jump so readily on any beat I assume he was given. There’s some dancehall, some reggae, some dancey pop, some RnB, it’s great. My favorites are unsurprisingly those songs on the boggle side of the spectrum, such as “Push It In or Half on a Baby” which hypes me up each time.

Baby, me love when yuh ride pon me bicycle, you tellin’ me yo love fuh de icicle, me gonna give yuh a nice likkle time, we go half and half

“Wine Pon Mi” is also a highlight with the trancy production which transforms the average love song into some sort of club theme.
It’s not all perfect, as we still get to experience some stale dancehall rehash out of Gaza (“My Crew, Fresh…” The title alone… Really?) though at the end of the day, the album is not boring. And it is very, very difficult to make a reggae/dancehall full length that can be listened to from end to end. Pretty much impossible, I’d say; but the diversity here makes the duller moments at least listenable. There is also a pretty good album construction, with a clear intro and outro that are not skits.

Kingston Story contains all the writing abilities of Vybz Kartel and all the composing talent of Dre Skull to create excellent crossover material. I definitely have newfound respect for Vybz Kartel’s music after listening to this, and I’m really looking forward to more Dre Skull full length work like this one.

Get Vybz Kartel’s Kingston Story on Itunes Now

- Gnou