Naptali - Long journey

From Clarendon via Kingston and released by the German based "Oneness Production" comes the first album from an artist i'm sure we will hear a lot from in the years to come. Whit so much crappy Ragga coming from Jamaica nowadays it's nice to see a Roots artist willing to drop an album that is not a part of the way to crowded "riddim" ghetto. Having a quick peek at the cover it's easy to think this is just one of many "Bobo Shanti" singjay's.

I guess one could label him singjay but that is an term i kinda opose, he certainly leans toward the later but I think he's far too much of an singer to be comfortable whit putting that label on him. One could call guys like "Capleton" or "Jah Mason" str8 singjays as they rap just as much as they sing but not "Naptali". It's always convenient to compare new artists whit more established ones but i'm not all that comfortable whit doing that this time, if someone put a gun to my head and forced me I guess i would say he got "a pinch" of "Lutan Fyah" in him (and that's a huge compliment given that he's one of my alltime favourites) and in places even oldschool faves like "Half Pint" (dunno if anyone will agree whit me on this one though).

Anyways, let's begin whit taking a look at the first song, "Show them love" dedicated to all "ghetto youths", a popular subject in Reggae where "Naptali" tells us to support the "ghetto youth", not bad lyrics but we have heard it a few times before. What is impeccable though is the way he rides this track, realy emotional and heartfelt over a great beat that lands somewhere in between happy and melancholic, an amazing start to a great album. Next up is "What goes around", an apreshiation of everything Rasta and how his culture/religion/way-of-life makes the world go round. Im going to keep it short and just say that it's another good song but not my favorite on here (however, all songs are good enough to play from start to finish, the worst songs on here are better than many albums best tracks).

Im going to skip to song 5, "Grandma" one of my favourites on here, we hear tons of dedications to moms but few to grandmas. This is a highly biographical, deep song that surpasses the usual shallow "mamma i love you" songs (i equal mama/grandma as they are used in the same kind of context here) by providing plenty of details on why he feels how he feels. I was very touched by this song (on an unrelated note, if you want another outstanding Mama song, try "Wayne Lyrics - Momma don't go", a 99c album on Ebreggae.com).

Since i don't get paid by the word (actualy, i don't get paid), im going to resist the temptation of writing up every song and therefore i jump to song 9, "More love" ft. Lutan Fyah, this is a match made in heaven for sure, they complement each other very, very well. I'd love to see them release a duo album full of socially aware, religious and emotional love songs. There's also this guy on here i have not heard about before, "Arofat", i guess he does well also. The song is another "Ghetto youth" anthem and covers the same ground as many other songs of this nature, another standout track on here.

Skip one song and we come to track 11, "Redeemer" where Naptali asks what's wrong whit mankind only to state that god is always whit us. If I have to choose 1 out of the 14 tracks on here as my favorite it would be this one, it's soooo smooth and uplifting i can't even explain. Iv'e already said Naptali is a singjay who leans more to singing than toasting and i would say this is a str8 singing track, AMAZING!

Over all this is an incredible album, i just can't grasp how "Naptali" came up from nowhere sounding like such an accomplished artist. Being an singjay he belongs to the smoother side of the camp, this really ain't no rowdy, hype stuff. According to his website most of the songs where recorded whit a live band and you can tell, it does not sound like someone just spitting over riddims (nothing wrong whit that though).

While a few guest artists is an great adition to any album there's a very fine balance between diluting the sound too much and ad diversity and variation to the album. I would say "Long journey" does a great jobb in not having too many features and whit artists like "Lutan Fyah" and "Luciano", how can u go wrong? The future sure looks bright whit guys like this, let's hope this album will be huge success and is followed by a bunch of equally amazing releases. I have a new favorite artist!



http://naptali.com/

http://www.myspace.com/thegreatnaptali

Long Journey