ZINC FENCE RECORD OF THE WEEK
Dark Glass
Beenie Man & Goofy
You check the label on the version side and observe that this is another fresh rhythm from producer Richard Browne. He's called it the Chinatown rhythm. So you put on the tune. Some inscrutable Fu Manchu chords hang in the air. Then a few well chosen na-na-nas from Beenie Man. So far, so good. But this is Beenie Man and you never know what he's going to come up with next. And if you don't know what to expect from Beenie Man then you've probably come to expect the worst from Goofy, especially after truly desperate stuff like When Mi Hole You and Somebody Done A Poop.
But then the aptly named Chinatown rhythm kicks in, chiming like an outsize gong and evoking every Bruce Lee film you've ever seen and every takeaway where you've ever bought a spring roll. Over this, Goofy lays down some sterling dee jay work, extolling the advantages of a good pair of dark glasses in observing the girls in the street, moving up a gear as the lyrics unfold.
But all this is just the pre-race commentary or, to continue the Chinatown motif, the menu. For out of the starting gate bursts Beenie Man like a greyhound after a mechanical rabbit and fires off two blistering rounds of high-octane toasting that transform this record into something really special. The awesome pace of Beenie Man's delivery will take more mature reggae listeners back to the Eighties heyday of the "fast style" lyric when giants like Papa Levi walked the earth.
For me, Beenie Man has been streets ahead of the competition for quite a while now. It's not just that every record he makes is never less than good and more often than not is brilliant. It's that every record he makes is different. You just never know what he's going to do next. The other thing about Beenie Man is that he brings out the best in the artists he collaborates with. You'lI definitely look forward to the next Goofy record with more enthusiasm after you've heard this. And credit due to producer Richard Browne, who right now is as inexhaustibly creative with his rhythms as Beenie Man with his lyrics.
Previous Records Of The Week:
Terry Linen-Your Love Is My Love
Danny Browne's All Purpose rhythm
Lauryn Hill- Lost Ones (yard remix)