Single Reviews

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

Cali P x TEKA: Rise Up & Shine (feat. Stonebwoy and Seun Kuti) Single Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com. 2019 saw many ingenious releases across the spectrum of Roots-derived music. Not least among these were Cali P x TEKA with their two groundbreaking EPs, Vizion I and Vizion II. Now, in 2020 they’re back with the first cut off instalment three. And that ground is still being broken. Rise Up & Shine, released via LowLow Records, sees the pair team up with global superstar Stonebwoy and member of music royalty Seun Kuti. It marks a forward movement from the

Singing Bee: Who Start The War Single Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com. It’s always a pleasure to see the UK being represented. And the latest release from Singing Bee does a sterling job of this. Who Start The War, released by Essex-based UK Homegrown, is a heavy, heavy piece of Dub. Wholly unsettling, it hits you from the off and doesn’t let up. The production by the team at Truth is excellent, as is the mixture of live instrumentation and synths. But it’s the infinitely complex arrangement and Bee’s vocal which truly impress. The track opens with some striking

Ziggy Ranking: Father God Single Review – Steve Topple for Pauzeradio.com. Trinidad’s finest Ziggy Ranking has just released another fresh cut. In a time of global crisis, he has a message for many of us. And while it’s overly spiritual, it should resonate regardless of your faith. Father God, produced by Canadian music producer and dubologist Jah Servant, is a forthright, brooding and purposeful affair. It pulls no musical or lyrical punches, and dresses up neither – showing Ranking at his most commanding. Overly Roots and Dub-led, the track is cleverly composed and arranged to make sure Ranking’s voice and