A Weh Dem A Go Do Wid It

Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus – A Weh Dem a Go Do Wid It
Reviewed by Sadie O., 2/8/07
Nyahbinghi roots rock Reggae by the leader of the genre. Ras Michael is considered a Rastafarian prophet – I wouldn’t go that far (I worked with him for several months), but he does have a fantastic voice and sure can preach up a storm. He’s got Sly and Robbie and Chinna Smith working with him, as well as an occasionally lovely and occasionally rather odd female backing vocalist. The first three cuts are slow nyahbinghi psalms based on other tunes, but the rest of the CD rocks. Many tracks are dubs of other tracks.
No FCCs (fie!), I love 6 and 10, everything from 4 on is jim dandy.
1. 10:30 *extremely slow hand drum nyahbinghi beat, solo male vocals, sweet female chorus. Lots of silence (apparently breaks for “sipping the chalice”) Interesting, but not great radio.
2. 5:32 *very slow nyahbinghi, but with lots more instruments (synth strings, horns, chimes) – Rasta psalm to the tune of “Crying in the Chapel”
3. 5:16 slow nyahbinghi psalm, very churchical (but in a Rasta way)
4. 4:04 ***midtempo roots rock reggae, paeon to Jamaica. What is that horn line? I’m gonna feel stupid when someone tells me…
5. 4:02 ***same as track 4 with spoken history lesson by Ras Michael.
6. 4:02 *****same as track 4 with spoken history of Reggae music by Ras Michael – useful and cool!
7. 4:06 ****dub of the track 4 with spoken praise of Jamaica and Reggae
8. 4:15 ***slightly downtempo roots rock with nyahbinghi hand drums, old tune, chanting with extremely stoned female chorus.
9. 4:20 ****dub of track 8, without the female chorus. Great sound, mostly instrumental.
10. 4:07 *****a bit uptempo, bouncy roots rock. Jolly sound, but fire bun dem lyrics.
11. 4:05 **** dub version of track 10
12. 4:03 *** a bit uptempo bouncy roots rock with lots of nyahbinghi hand drums and inscrutable lyrics
13. 4:04 ****instrumental of track 12, pleasant and much more scrutable overall.