RELEASE ALERT
By Peter Tinashe Kaviya
Artist: Ignatius Katakwa A.K.A Trajon
Song: Man of the City
Our Views:
Originating from Jamaica in the 1960’s, Reggae music has grown to be one of the most followed music genres in the world, with such popularity it is not surprising to see reggae artistes mushrooming everywhere in the world, but the question is, are they as good as their Jamaican fellows?
The track Man of the City is taken off Trajon’s forthcoming album that is set for release ‘anytime soon’.
One thing of note is the fact that the song carries a very conscious message that speaks of the evils in the cities and that qualifies the track as a good reggae track, LYRICALLY- for what is a reggae song if it does not relate to news, social gossip, and political comment.
The track also has a recognisable counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat.
The classic piano and flute intro is sure to send any first time listener through a roller coaster of anticipation and imagination, but that just where most of the fun ends on the 5.01 min track
Besides the good conscious message, the track has more evil than good and that spoils all the other notable positives on the track.
The song has a flat tempo on both the vocals and instrument, the instrument is worse as it has no transitions of any sort that surely would have put a good finish to the song. It finishes with the same tempo and play and struggles to influence any mood changes on part of the listener.
The whole instrument besides mimicking the “Ska Beat”, is starved of fillers that would have brought the instrument to life, for instance the instrumental has no lead guitar fills, and the rhythm guitar lacks traditional congas and percussions on the track also makes it less of a good finish.
Call me old school or what but I am of the belief that programmed drums take away the authentic sound of the snare, kicker and the drum roll, which to me is a MUST for any good reggae song if not any good song. On this track the programmed drum play is lifeless.
Though the good saxophone and flute play is something worth noting one will quickly be turned off by the less than perfect mixing on the whole track that leaves every element on the track from vocals and instruments seemingly in battle for recognition.
The artiste himself is gifted with a silk reggae voice that easily calls to mind the works of Reggae greats like Peter Tosh. The way he goes through his bars in a seemingly lazy manner mirrors a roots reggae style and the conscious lyrics complete the package however, his vocal control seems to suffer when called to change from high to low tones in one bar, and in some instances he sounds like running out of breath.
It’s my humble view that the good lyrics deserved a good production work and the less than convincing production on this track is the one standing between the track being announced as a Hit or a Miss, and in this case. IT’S A MISS!
But again, these are just our views.
