Single Reviews

LEVi ft Iotosh and Indie: Nah Stop Single Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com. UK-based Crate Classics are at the forefront of progressive, intelligent and classy urban music in the country. And their latest cut is no exception to this – taking the team, along with LEVi ft Iotosh and Indie, into cutting-edge Afrobeats territory. LEVi ft Iotosh and Indie Nah Stop, released via Crate Classics, is a glossy mix of Afrobeats coupled with some Dancehall tricks. The team – Jamie Rodigan and Aaron Horn – are exceptionally good at taking a vibe, mixing it up and producing a unique

Willi Williams: Don’t Show Off Single Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com. A-Lone Productions is at the top of its game at present. Having recently dropped the superb, reimagined Creation Riddim (based on Shanti Yalah’s 2017 track of the same name), we now have another on-point 7” featuring Willi Williams. Willi Williams Don’t Show Off, released via Empathy and A-Lone Productions, is a stirring, musically interesting and ultimately strong release, led by the ever-excellent Roberto Sánchez. A-Lone has a solid reputation for inventive and original works, and with Williams on the vocal Don’t Show Off is no exception. It opens

Kingston Express and Sticky Joe featuring Horseman: Mr Bigman Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com. As their recent album The Foot of the Mountain showed, Birmingham-based Roots band Kingston Express are as diverse as they are talented. And this classic track from 2018 shows their deeper, more brooding side as they team up with Horseman. Horseman Mr Bigman, release via Kingston Express Records, once again has Sticky Joe on production duties. He brings an intricacy to proceedings that plays well to the composition – notably raising the levels of certain lines across the track and also applying some deft use

Kingston Express featuring Macka B: Lyrical Chef Single Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com. UK-based Kingston Express have had quite the year. Their latest album, The Foot of the Mountain, was a classy piece of Roots and Dub-driven music featuring a stellar cast of artists. But their back catalogue is equally delicious, as this track with Macka B shows. Lyrical Chef, released in 2017 via Kingston Express Records, is a whimsical, carefree and entertaining piece from the band and Macka B. Production by Sticky Joe is as you’d expect: carefully measured, with the right emphasis on the instrumental lines that

Jah Mason and Queen Omega: Time is Now Single Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com. It’s always a pleasure to hear conscious Dancehall-led music. Strong leaders of the movement in 2020 so far include Govana, Jahmiel and Dotta Coppa. But Jah Mason and Queen Omega have just added another worthy track to the community – although calling it simply “Dancehall” doesn’t do it justice. Jah Mason & Queen Omega Time is Now, released via Akom Records, is a raging, forthright yet elegantly constructed track. The production from Dub Akom is stellar: inventive, smart and utterly engaging. It’s one of those

Kaylan Arnold: At All Single Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com. The influences of other genres across Roots-derived music are not always opaque, but if you listen with an open mind and ear they can often be found. Kaylan Arnold is one such artist who shows this, and her latest track showcases one, often under-used influence – while drawing on a plethora of others. Kaylan Arnold At All, released via Dadason Entertainment, is a furious, heavy, Roots-led cut that pulls no musical or lyrical punches. Complex in its construction, raging in its overall timbre, the track is enthralling and unsettling

Claye: Program Single Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com. Earlier in 2020 Claye released perhaps one of the standout albums of the year so far: Medicine. He’s clearly not someone who sits back and basks in the glory of his accomplishment, though. Because he’s just dropped another new track. And it’s picked up perfectly where Medicine left off. Claye Program, released via Prawley-Mae Music, is a fascinating dive into 2020 hybrid Afrobeats RnB, with a thoroughly conscious and philosophical twist. The production from Claye himself is top-class; of little surprise given the pedigree of this artist’s back catalogue – including

Nattali Rize: Worldwide Rebellion Single Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com. Music is providing many important narratives during the coronavirus pandemic. But one artist has perhaps offered a long-term musing on the current crisis. And she has, as always, done it in her own, initiable and utterly engaging style. That artist is Nattali Rize. Nattali Rize Worldwide Rebellion, released via Ineffable Records, Baco Records, MGM Village Again Association and Rize Nation, is the second single from Rize’s forthcoming album of the same title. And it acts as an ingenious teaser for the potential shape of the whole project. The track

Warrior King: Blak Ah Kill Blak Single Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com. Warrior King is no stranger to creating searing and powerful music that pushes narratives often avoided by other artists and media. And his latest track is no exception to this, giving a deeply raw and moving experience that sees him and the peak of his powers. Warrior King Blak Ah Kill Blak, released via Rootz Warrior Productions and Calibud Music, is a glorious yet unsettling piece of Roots/Dub. The production is slick, emphasising the necessary instrumentation to hammer the track’s message home. And the composition itself is

Lila Iké: I Spy Single Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com. Fresh from the groundbreaking announcement that the Revival king Protoje just signed a deal with major record label RCA, one of his protégés has just dropped her latest single. And given she’s also now under RCA’s wing, we spy a stratospheric career blossoming for Lila Iké. I Spy, released via In.Digg.Nation Collective and RCA Records/Sony Music Entertainment, is the first release from Iké since 2019’s Sweet Inspiration. Production is from one of the hottest names in the business, Izy Beats. And the track shows just why Iké is being