U Brown - Rougher Than The Rest (2003)

Tracklist

01. Rougher Than The Rest
02. Rasta Business Is No Joke
03. Girl Mind What You Do
04. Jah Is My Strength
05. Ah Rastaman Time Now
06. It's Dancing Time Again
07. A Song Unto Jah
08. Jammin Straight From Yard
09. Youths! Take It Easy
10. Ska Roots Rock
11. Put Away Racial & Tribal War
12. Praise Rastafari Now
13. Shine Your Light

DJ and singer U Brown can be fairly criticized for being a bit too derivative of his idol, U Roy. But on Rougher Than the Rest he takes what could have been a liability and turns it to his advantage; opening the album with a gracious tribute to his predecessors and colleagues and then proceeding to tear up a generous program of modern roots reggae, chatting and singing in fine old-school style over some top-quality Jah Warrior rhythms. Released simultaneously with the Prince Alla album More Love, Rougher Than the Rest features some of the same rhythms (notably the unusual "Ska Roots Rock," which is the basis for Prince Alla's "Good Morning Africa"), but they seem a bit less claustrophobically dense here. Many of the tracks on this album are delivered in combination style, with such A-list singers as Horace Andy (on the excellent "Girl Mind What You Do"), Alton Ellis (on "Youths! Take It Easy"), and Prince Alla himself ("Rasta Business Is No Joke," "Song Unto Jah"). All of these tracks are highlights, but U Brown is more than capable of riding these rhythms solo, as he does to fine effect on "Shine Your Light" and the album's title track. Highly recommended.

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