Lucky Dube is one of those rare Reggae artists who has managed to become an international star without making much of an impact in Jamaica, the birthplace of his art. Dube’s relative anonymity in Jam-1 is due in no small part to the fact that he’s not Jamaican. The South African rootsman has learned about Yard’s peculiar musical xenophobia: We’re all too happy to export our Reggae to the world – and to import all kinds of Hip-Hop, Pop and R&B – but our borders are all but closed to non-Jamaican practitioners of our native art form.
It will be our loss if Dube’s latest solo effort, The Other Side, is similarly ignored.
Where critics of Dube’s early work could legitimately brand him as a Peter Tosh clone, The Other Side is immune to this criticism. Dube still occasionally channels Tosh’s rich baritone, but it’s no longer a distraction. Dube is his own artist, and a special one at that. No other Reggae artist – dead or alive – could have made The Other Side. This is a Lucky Dube album, through and through.
The Other Side is worth buying for the title track alone – a gentle and intelligent tale of two youths who’re worlds apart. The Jamaican bredda is yearning to return to Africa, while the African youth is dreaming of a life in the west. Dube doesn’t chose sides in his tale, and his observations are brutally detached: “I’ve lived in his world/ I’ve seen the other world / I’ve got nothing to say . . . the grass is greener on the other side / ‘till you get there, and see for yourself.”
“Number In The Book” is a commentary on South Africa’s debilitating AIDS crisis, and the global impact of the disease in general. When Dube asks “don’t you think it is time to be a little bit more responsible?” he may be talking to a promiscuous person or a negligent government, and the double-edged ambiguity makes the song all the more potent.
Lucky also successfully fuses a straight-ahead Reggae rhythm with some African flourishes on “Ding Ding Licky Licky Licky Bong,” and his tale of infidelity on “Cool Down” is as potent as any of the ‘gal pon di side’-type tunes that always get a forward in the Dancehall.
Unfortunately, Dube loses a little steam on the second half of the album, with “Divorce Party,” “Julie! Julie!” and “Soldier” bringing nothing special to the collection. After the stellar start, The Other Side ends with a disappointing wimper.
THE VERDICT: The tracks on The Other Side won’t get a single, solitary spin in any Dancehall from Kingston to Kinshasa, but it should find a home in your CD collection. If you like intelligent, contemplative Reggae music that rewards repeated listenings, then you’ll love The Other Side. And, like Nasio (See Review) maybe it’s full time we recognize the talents of non-Jamaican Reggae singers and unreservedly welcome Lucky Dube to our insular little family.
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