RAS FLABBA

Music In Me

(p) 2007-jan-27

CD:

Tracklisting:

 
01 Music  
02 Together  
03 The Hotter The Battle  
04 Wicked Man  
05 Judgement  
06 Kingston Town (Gimme The Weed)  
07 The Legalize Medley  
08 Jam In The Street  
09 Sound Bwoy Window  
10 Let You Know  
11 Waiting  
12 Missing You  
13 My Heart Is Gone  
14 Stop  
15 Free The Ganja  
16 Wanted Man  
17 The Last Days  
18 Rastafaris Hand  
SUNVIBE RECORDS, SUNCD 014 CD

REVIEW IN ENGLISH:
SOURCE: ROOTS MUSIC Reggae & Dancehall
AUTHOR: Teacha Dan



Jamaican born Ras Flabba is not a well know international name. He became involved in music from age twenty-four when he settled in Germany after living in Bristol, England. He was part of the band Adisa and of the vocal trio Three Dimensions before he decided on a solo career. He set up his own record label Sunvibes in the early 1990's and this album marks his fourth full solo release on his own label. Ras Flabba has become pretty well known in the German reggae scene and he was nominated for the German Reggae Awards 2006.

As with his previous albums (also true for other albums on the Sunvibe label) it seems that Flabba's philosophy is quantity over quality, and that's a real shame. There are some gems on this album but they are hard to spot. Music In Me features eighteen (!) songs and it seems the album is filled to the brim, literally. The last track goes dubwise after about four minutes and while you enjoy the dubby sounds the album and song are cut short in the middle of a drumbeat after seven minutes and twenty-three seconds. The disc simply couldn't contain a second more after seventy-nine minutes and fourteen seconds of rotation!

The title of the album is indeed a good one. Flabba goes through much trouble to make his music heard. The man must really have music for blood and lyrics for brain. By far, most of the music and lyrics on Music In Me are by his hand. Not all is surprisingly good but it's never dull either.

Music In Me is not half bad and features some really nice and easy tunes. In my opinion Ras Flabba is most confident when singing love tunes, his queen must indeed be very lucky. Ras Flabba has a nice, sincere and very sweet voice. On Music In Me Flabba also does conscious, herb and Rasta tunes, some good and some not so good. Sometimes he stretches his voice just a bit too far and sometimes the production is flawed by fluctuating sound levels of intros and other such problems. I sincerely hope that for his next Sunvibe Records release Ras Flabba will opt quality over quantity and thus release an unflawed album.

(Teacha Dan, April 2007)