OSAGYEFO
Blaze Fire
CD: |
Tracklisting: |
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| 01 | Introduction | |
| 02 | Hotter Fire Blaze | |
| 03 | Lovely Girl | |
| 04 | Slave Master (ft Tuff Lion) | |
| 05 | The System A Fight We | |
| 06 | The Way She Flex | |
| 07 | I Am Aware (ft Lady K-Wida) | |
| 08 | Babylon Can't Hold We Down | |
| 09 | Warrior | |
| 10 | Topper | |
| 11 | Ghetto Youth | |
| 12 | I Love U Just The Way U Are | |
| 13 | Mama | |
| 14 | Love Jah | |
| 15 | Me Run The Place |
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REVIEW IN ENGLISH: SOURCE: ROOTS MUSIC Reggae & Dancehall AUTHOR: Teacha Dan  
His name means "redeemer" or "the victorious one" in Akan, one of Ghana's many languages. Osagyefo was also the nickname of the first president of independent Ghana, a legendary African leader. In a country dominated by highlife and gospel music the artist Osagyefo choose reggae as his medium, the music he heard all around Ghana's vivid capital of Accra in his formative years. Osagyefo has been making music since he was nineteen. Osagyefo came to Europe for the first time in August of 2006 on an invitation from Black Star Foundation. He performed on the Black Star Sound and he met and performed several shows with Bambú Station and Ras Iba from the Virgin Islands and subsequently recorded six songs (in one day) together with Bambú Station members Tuff Lion and Warren Pedersen II. In a total of seven days he recorded all the tunes for his debut album Blaze Fire. Blaze Fire's producer Asher E is a familiar face in the Dutch reggae scene, he plays keys for Dutch outfits like the Irie Connection, Higher Ground and Out Of Many. Osagyefo's debut album marks his first official steps as a producer and features many of his self-built riddims. Asher's digital roots riddims, steppers and dancehall tracks contrast nicely with the more acoustic tunes featuring Tuff Lion and Pedersen and thus they give the album a very contemporary Jamaican feel. The fact that none of the riddims are (yet?) familiar only adds to the listener's musical pleasure. Most of the time Osagyefo's gravel voice rocks and rips but he can also sound surprisingly tender and heartfelt. The beautiful tunes 'Mama' and 'Love Jah' are great examples of the surprising versatility of his intense, yet somewhat range less voice. Osagyefo mixes his African street idiom with Jamaican patois and though original it can be hard to follow. His sometimes sloppy (or African?) pronunciation does not help but the beautiful booklet renders assistance with a listing of all the lyrics. Themes on the album are in abundance. The tunes takes us through world politics, love, fashion, herbs and of course self-confidence. Blaze Fire is a tight, well produced, all-round contemporary reggae album. It could have done with a bit more variation in the tunes themselves which tend to be a bit full and lack e.g. the occasional drum and bass break. But since Blaze Fire marks the debut for the artist, the producer and the label please strike my last nitpicking remark. Some of the songs have already received airplay on national radio stations like FunX and KinkFM and rightly so. I wonder where Osagyefo is headed since the man sure is a 'Warrior'. (Teacha Dan, September 2007) |
