Words by Eddie STATS Houghton
If you read Ghetto Palms in the last two years (or went to a reggae dance or looked up ‘bashment’ in the dictionary) you have probably come across an artist named Busy Signal. I would say that he has been owning dancehall lately (Kartel who?) but ever since I talked about his grimy downtempo flow in FADER 56 it seems like he has been on a mission to own every other genre in the music database. In that time he has dropped multiple soca collabos with the likes of Machel Montano, Bunji Garlin and Faye Ann Lyons, interpolated Phil Collins and the Commodores on his dancehall hooks, released an EPs worth of tributes over Michael Jackson tracks, voiced Baltimore club, samba, weird highlife/afrobeat rhythms and chatted over Kung Fu sound fx and Indian percussion licks so spare that trendy club producers like Douster and SoShifty can’t resist refixing them into rave anthems.
If you haven’t been following this steady stream of hits online, you are actually in luck. This week Busy released his new album D.O.B. on VP Records, collecting an excellent cross-section of these virtual 45s alongside new material. As expected, versatility is highlighted as Busy jumps from the Jamaican afrocentric raver “How Yuh Bad So” to the pop aspirations of “One More Night” and “Night Shift” to the reggaespanol vibes of “Picante” and “Busy Latino”–and even opera. All of which is to say that when we got dude on the phone (kicking up his heels at Manley airport as he waited to board a flight to Guyana) we were less interested in asking the usual Qs and As (FADER already did an able job in that department) and more amped to dip into his broader than broadway musical tastes with a top 10 of his personal favorite non-reggae jams.
As Busy said “I listen to a whole package of music; Latino music, African drums, Pavarotti, old school soca from Sparrow and the Dragonaires…just a portion of music.” But when it came to naming specific artists and titles, Cyndi Lauper “Time After Time” jumped out of his mouth almost before I had done asking the question. The rest may surprise you too.
10. Air Supply, “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All” – Actually Busy didn’t mention this tune by name, he just said “Air Supply.”
9. Lionel Richie, “Hello” – You would think that in the realm of Lionel Richie power ballads, Busy would automatically go Commodore’s “Night Shift”–but no. He knows you’re expecting that so he goes “Hello.” You’re playing power ballad checkers and he is playing power ballad Halo.
8. Enya, “Orinoco Flow” aka (“Sail Away”) – Scratch a badman, find an Enya fan. Seriously. Buccaneer flipped one of her melodies on his 90s throwback anthem “Fade Away” and she also provided the sample for the toughest tune in the Fugee catalog. Plus any gal who sang “Caribbean Blue” haffi get love in JA.
7. Michael Jackson, “Rock with You” – Another expected joint considering the slew of MJ tribute riddims (example below) Busy killed last year–he also gave an honorable mention to “Smooth Criminal.”
Busy Signal, “Da Style Deh” (Bad refix)
[audio:http://largeup.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/BUSY-SIGNAL-DA-STYLE-DEH-EDIT-IM-BAD.mp3|titles=BUSY SIGNAL – DA STYLE DEH – EDIT – (IM BAD)]
6. Rod Stewart, “Forever Young”
5. Phil Collins, “One More Night” – No surprise, since Busy flipped the hook on his own version, only surprising that it comes so late in the countdown. Seems like Phil is making a comeback with the MIA generation considering that The Very Best’s Esau Mwamwaya is also known as the African Phil Collins! It does kinda break your heart, though, when you consider the dub-plate possibilities of “In the Air Tonight” though…bullett! Oh well, next album maybe.
4. Kenny Rogers, “The Gambler” -Badman classic! Kenny must be an honorary Jamaican by now, once you’ve voiced a dub-plate I think your JA passport comes in the mail a week later.
3. Luther Vandross, “Here and Now” – Big people music.
2. Nat King Cole, “Mona Lisa” – Bad tune from a bad dude.
1. Cyndi Lauper, “Time After Time”
Honorebel mentions: UB40, “The Red, Red Wine album” (I think he means this). For the record, I did not make any of this up, these picks came directly from the mind of Reanno “Busy Signal” Gordon. Happy August, hotheads.
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