CHOOSE AN ALBUM Aswad / Live and Direct Anthony B / That's Life Beenie Man / Many Moods of Moses Beenie Man / Art and Life Buju Banton / The Early Years Buju Banton / Inna Heights Buju Banton / Til Shiloh Capleton / More Fire Capleton / Still Blazin Cocoa Tea / Feel the Power Cocoa Tea / RAS portraits Culture / One Stone Culture / Payday Junior Kelly / Love so Nice John Holt / Police in Helicopter Gregory Isaacs / Private Lesson Diana King / Think like a Girl Barrington Levy / Duets Barrington Levy / Englishman/Robinhood Little John / Give the Youth a try Luciano / Messenger Bob Marley / Songs of Freedom Bob Marley&the Wailers/Complete Wailers I Bob Marley&the Wailers/Complete Wailers II The Marley Family Album Max Romeo & The Upsetters/War Ina Babylon Pablo Moses / In the Future & Dub Nicodemus / Dancehall Giant Ernest Ranglin / In Search of the Lost Riddim Augustus Pablo / This is... Augustus Pablo The Skatalites / Ball of Fire Sizzla / Be I Strong Steel Pulse Sound System/Island Anthology Strictly the Best Volume 27 & 28 Sugar Minot / Collector's Collection, Volume I Ron Taylor / Ethiopian Kings Tenor Saw / Fever Trinity / Shanty Town Determination Peter Tosh / Honorary Citizen Yabby You / Jesus Dread COMPILATIONS Essential Dancehall Reggae Jam Down Vibrations Joy Ride Reggae Songbirds

ARTIST: Various
TITLE: Strictly The Best 27 & 28
PRODUCERS: Mark Pinnok & R. Fuller; Jeremy Harding; C. Green & A. Lilly; Michael Johnson; S. Stewart; C. Butt; Stone Love; T. James; Louis “Flabba” Malcolm; Sly & Robbie; C. York & L. Marshall; C. Parchment & R. Bailey; Hugh Hammond; Phillip “Fattis” Burrell; Winston Riley; D. George Baptiste & C. Morrison; Paul “Computer Paul” Henton; Donovan Germain; C. Levy, Chrisinti & Yogie; Lloyd Campbell; Mafia & Fluxy; Tony Kelly; Martin Lewis & Valton Craigie; Dean “Cannon” Fraser; Morgan Heritage; Norman “Bullpus” Bryan
LABEL: VP
RELEASED: 2001

Over the past decade, VP Records' Strictly The Best has become the premier compilation series in reggae. Every year, VP releases two more discs, using the ingenious concept of putting DJ tracks on one disc and vocal tracks on the other. This allows for a much more diverse and broad approach to dancehall, which actually has a lot more range than many fringe fans give it credit for. Of course, at its heart, Strictly The Best is little more than a means for VP to repackage some of its biggest hits of the year into a tidy two discs; considering that VP is the biggest reggae distributor and label in the Western Hemisphere, however, buyers are generally getting a good portion of the year’s best singles, even if some key hits from other labels are absent.

This year’s editions have their share of excellent cuts, though STB 27, with its DJ focus, is far superior to STB 28’s singer-dominated playlist. This disparity hasn’t always been the case, but it does seem like singers have become sappier in recent years, while DJs tend to get the best riddims to voice over, making their tracks more enjoyable on repeated listens. STB 27 leads off with Bounty Killer’s raucous “Mystery Is The Man,” over the Rice and Peas riddim, and keeps the energy at a high level from there. Elephant Man was one of the biggest successes of the year, which explains why he has three different tracks on the record, including “Log On” and “Jamaica.” While both are disturbingly anti-gay, they are very catchy tunes, nonetheless, as is the higher-minded “Warrior Cause,” a duet with journeyman Spragga Benz. Sizzla (“Mind Over Matter”), Buju Banton (“Mr. Nine”), Jr. Kelly (“You Can Make It”), and newcomer Warrior King (“Virtuous Women”) keep things on a more enlightened but no less grooving tip. Some may wonder why VP chose to include Anthony B’s interesting cover of Peter Tosh’s anthemic “Equal Rights” at the expense of one of the many great dancehall tunes from his wonderful That’s Life album, but that’s minor quibbling. For dancehall fans, there really isn’t a bad selection on STB 27.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of STB 28, which, at times, comes awfully close to sounding like what you might hear in a Montego Bay dentist’s office. Insipid tunes like Yogie’s “I Go Crazy,” Ghost’s “By Your Side,” and Chrisinti’s “No More Rain” may cause fits of boredom in listeners, which is unfortunate, considering this record is supposed to be “the best.” The disc is salvaged somewhat by the greats of the business, with Beres Hammond reminiscing about great music on “Rockaway” and his fellow Grammy nominee Luciano praising Jah on “Oh Father I Love Thee.” Freddie McGregor delivers his by-now-expected exemplary work on “Your Love,” which rides the Mr. Brown riddim. Newcomer VC scored a massive hit with “By His Deeds,” which sounds as refreshing here as it does at a club. Don Campbell also delivers a decent cover of Usher’s R&B hit “You Remind Me,” a song that actually sounds better with a Jamaican rhythm. Elan’s “Red Red Wine” does not, however--sure it’s on a decent dancehall riddim, but aren’t we all a bit sick of this song after hearing UB40’s version endlessly? All in all, STB 28 hits the mark about half the time, which most certainly signifies a down year compared to past editions in the series.

Strictly The Best is always a good starting place to catch up on what the current reggae scene sounds like. By no means, however, should reggae fans stop there; many of the albums these tracks are culled from are superb in their own right--especially records by Beres Hammond, Luciano, Anthony B, Jr. Kelly, and Morgan Heritage--and should be explored beyond the surface hits. Reggae continues to be a thriving, living musical genre, and Strictly The Best does a good job of documenting its evolution each year.

By Lem Oppenheimer