Skip Marley ft Rick Ross And Ari Lennox – Make Me Feel – Review

August 2, 2020

Skip Marley ft. Rick Ross and Ari Lennox: Make Me Feel Single Review by Mr Topple for Pauzeradio.com.

Skip Marley has, to say the least, had a massive year – with the global success of the smash-hit Slow Down. Now, he’s back with another fine cut – which includes some help from Rick Ross and Ari Lennox.

Skip Marley Make Me Feel, released via Island Records, sees Marley team up with Ryan Williamson and Nasri Atweh, who also co-wrote Slow Down. Production comes from Grammy-nominated producer Rykeyz. So, you’d expect Make Me Feel to be top-class. And of course, it is.

There’s a distinct feeling of Neo Soul about the track, because it combines elements of different genres to create a brooding yet sumptuous sound. Central to Make Me Feel is its forthright, wandering bass line. Highly syncopated and almost picked as opposed to plucked, it generally works off a two-bar phrase, using a crotchet/dotted crotchet/quaver/semiquaver-led rhythm. This winding feel along with the diatonic, meandering melody has more than a whiff of Samba about it, and creates an immediate bounce.

The percussion line builds on this vibe. It’s stripped back to its bare bones, with just a snare and kick in play. The former focuses its attention on the two and four, but intersperses this with stuttering, offbeat, double and triple-time open skinned hits. Again, this groove is all very South America. But the kick is heavy and distorted – almost feeling a bit Trap – as it goes against the snare, striking the one and three in a way more in keeping with Hip Hop.

Make Me Feel has multiple guitar lines in play. An electric one takes elements of the bass, replicating it but an octave higher with short, marked slap added to the end of each note. Its acoustic cousin performs a similar riff which is melodically harmonised.

But just to add a final Neo Soul touch, the team has merged some Jazz in with the Samba and Trap. Blink and you’d miss it, but there’s a delicate flute line that plays just out of earshot at points. Sometimes it repeats the main melody’s motif, while at others it riffs around chromatic notes – all feeling very jazzy. What sounds like a stark and dampened horn does similar, again fluttering distantly like it’s almost in another room to the rest of the instruments. But it’s there, working off a similar rhythmic motif to the bass but melodically match the main melody. Rykeyz has done a brilliant trick with it, winding the pitch and kHz right up at the end of the phrases to make it run off into the ether, sounding almost like a siren. This encapsulates other elements of the production well, as Rykeyz as added heavy yet tightly elongated reverb across the vocal lines, making the track feel otherworldly at points; all a bit Trap, again – but possibly from Toronto this time.

Vocally, the trio are perfectly suited. Marley is his usual, delicately performed self – not allowing overstatement to get in the way. He sensually glides through the track, running smooth riffs and gently flexing his dynamics where appropriate. He displays a decent vocal range throughout the track, with an effortless move into his higher register. Lennox juxtaposes him beautifully. She is a fascinating vocalist – with a gritty yet rich timbre that soars across a middle-to-high soprano range (but with the tone of an alto at points). Her more urgent performance sees her riff well in response to Marley’s calls. And the now-veteran rapper Ross needs little introduction. He’s made a style all of his own over the years (pointed enunciation that melodically sits with the composition) and it’s across the track in droves. His use of rhythmic pattern is particularly pleasing – note the switching from varied dotted notes to straight semiquavers and then back again.

Make Me Feel is a smart piece of composition and production. Inherently unfussy, it’s been made complex and rich by the sheer level of the attention to detail; the sign of quality artistry. Marley, Lennox and Ross are a dream-team together, each well-placed to counterbalance the other. And the whole package is blissed-out, intricate Neo Soul lushness. Gorgeous.