AL CAPONE JJ
No Offense!
CD: |
Tracklisting: |
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| 01 | Free Sensimilla | |
| 02 | True Rastaman | |
| 03 | Gal | |
| 04 | She Say Me Do It Well (ft Crystal Axe) | |
| 05 | Get Me Mad | |
| 06 | In Life | |
| 07 | My Mama | |
| 08 | Guns & Drugs | |
| 09 | Love For The Streets | |
| 10 | KYD-Story (ft Zoro) | |
| 11 | It Na Go End | |
| 12 | Could I | |
| 13 | No Worry | |
| 14 | Roll High (ft Soul Train) | |
| 15 | Teach You Special (ft Black Kappa) | |
| 16 | Just Call | |
| 17 | Austin & Carry | |
| 18 | Boom Dance |
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REVIEW IN ENGLISH: SOURCE: ROOTS MUSIC Reggae & Dancehall AUTHOR: Teacha Dan 
Al Capone JJ is a ghetto kid from South-Africa. Born in 1987, he started his musical career at the age of twelve when he became the crowd hyper for local collective Chronic Clan. In 2003 he got a chance to prove himself when he was asked to performed at the May Day Concert in Langa. He blew the audience away and it led to one of his tunes being featured on a 2004 South-African compilation CD. When German band Seeed toured South-Africa in 2005, Al Capone JJ opened their show and a door to several bookings in Germany. He started living in Berlin at the still tender age of seventeen. He got involved with several sound systems one of which was Soundwarriors, the very same who produced this debut album No Offense!. Al Capone JJ's voice is close to Red Rat's. It is high pitched, nasal, full of energy and above all angry. But JJ's reach is greater and on some tunes (e.g. 'Just Call') of his album he even sounds like he is a solo incarnation of Jamaica's Scare Dem Crew, using different voices and styles to proper effect. No Offense! is a very diverse reggae album with plenty hardcore dancehall riddims and some hip hop and roots reggae tunes. All styles are represented by both good and bad tunes. I really enjoyed the reggae tunes 'Free Senismillia' and 'In Life' and the dancehall tunes 'Guns & Drugs', 'KYD-Story' and 'Boom Dance'. But some of the tunes JJ just cannot carry. The pensive reggae gyal tune 'Could I' is really pretty awful, JJ sounds bored and his voice has been overdubbed and overproduced in a bad attempt to still squeeze out some acceptable notes. The overall production is good and all rhythms are original and yet some are simply not entertaining. The mix is nice though and some sounds are really cris. Production tag team Soundwarriors are well known drummer Aldubb and bass player Samy Masoud. They combine loads of skills and could indeed become some of the next big players. Al Capone JJ's voice is at it's best when he goes crazy and lashes out at Babylon, wrongdoers and at his former home of Cape Town. But how long can he hold on to his voice? Just hitting his twenties I hope he can go on recording his high pitched voice without breaking it for years to come. (Teacha Dan, November 2007) |
