Joy Ride

The Joy Ride rhythm is the biggest thing to hit the dancehall since, well, the last Dave Kelly beat. Jamaica's best producer never to win Producer of the Year has been enjoying an incredible run as of late, bestowing his Midas Touch on an amazing string of top tunes. And unless you've been in prison for the last three months, you know that Kelly's Joy Ride rhythm has been flat out dominating the dancehall. The bouncy keyboards and looping bass have dominated Jamaica's top 10 in recent months. Almost every major dancehall artist now has a Joy Ride-based hit under their belt by now.

The Joy Ride album is 10 lean tracks long -- no filler. With a common rhythmic foundation, it's interesting to see where different artists travel on their joyride. Hot DJ Frisco Kid kicks things off with "Rubbers," a timely pro-condom song in the same vein as Buju Banton's 1992 hit "Willy." Frisco's ex-sparring partner, Beenie Man, delivers some "Silent Violence," a bad bwoy tune ironically written by The Alias Project, Frisco's new crew. Lady Saw and Tanya Stephens represent the fairer sex with their customary feminist fire; with Saw refusing to 'bow' under the "Sycamore Tree," and Tanya tells wannabe lover men in no uncertain terms "Yu Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet."

Wayne Wonder, the first artist to score on the Joy Ride rhythm, has both "Joy Ride" and the stellar "Bashment Girl" on the album. Wonder teamed with up-and-coming DJ Baby Cham on "Joy Ride," and Cham in turn shows up with Wonder-sound-alike Mr. Easy on the anti-homosexual tirade "Funny Man." A1 Lover Spragga Benz takes us through a night of "Hunting," a hilarious and lyrically engaging song that is ultimately doomed by the albums least-catchy chorus.

Special mention goes to Silver Cat, whose non-partisan broadside against political hypocrites and ballot-box bullies is made all the more relevant as Jamaica braces herself for another election season. "Get Smart" is good advice at anytime, but its great advice to the ghetto youths who often find themselves as unwitting pawns in someone else's game.

With all that is right with Joy Ride, the album suffers the common curse of all one-rhythm album: it gets boring. The Joy Ride beat, to begin with, is hardly a model of complexity. The monotony starts to become unbearable by the album's fourth or fifth listen. It's one thing to hear a Joy Ride medley in a club, mixed and spiced by an experienced selector; but to hear all 10 tracks in their entirety -- almost 40 minutes of music -- can quickly have you thinking of the Joy Ride as a long torturous trip to dancehall's doldrums.

THE VERDICT: Joy Ride is an amazing collection of singles, but it's not a great album. The diverse collection of artists may seem to add variety, but since most of the songs were also written by Mr. Kelly, the differences are mainly skin deep. Joy Ride is yet another testament to Dave Kelly's artistic brilliance, and if you are a fan of either Kelly or rhythm compilations, Joy Ride is a good buy. Otherwise, buy Joy Ride with a couple other rhythm compilations, and make yourself a mix tape.