The Best Reggae Albums of 2024 by Achis
Achis, a respected voice in music criticism and known for his comprehensive reviews, presents his 10 best albums of 2024. Read why he's so passionate about these albums!10. Ras shiloh - See It Deh 9. Zacheous Jackson - Levite 8. Linval Thompson - Ganja Man 7. Twan Tee - Outrospection 6. Bugle - Apex 5. Nadia McAnuff & The Ligerians - Shelter From The Storm 4. Noris Man - Free Man 3. Romain Virgo - The Gentle Man 2. Eesah - Deep Medz 1. Akae Beka - Living Testament#10 | Ras shiloh - See It Deh Had you told me at the end of 2023, that Ras Shiloh's name would be on a list for biggest albums of 2024, I would probably have been quite surprised. That shock wouldn't have come because I didn't think he could reach those levels in terms of quality but... I wouldn't have thought that there was much of a chance, AT ALL, that the year would bring an album from the decorated singer. Wonderfully, the project would come via JahMikes and the increasingly esteemed Reggae Vibes Productions (which has, QUIETLY, become one of the more dependable outfits in the entire genre in my opinion). Ras Shiloh & RVP should tell you pretty much everything you need to know about the actual quality of See It Deh and, with carrying a tune such as the downright GLORIOUS Hail The King, it did not disappoint. Read album review #9 | Zacheous Jackson - Levite Levite, the twenty-four track monster set from the well gifted Zacheous Jackson, equally bludgeons and finesses its way onto this list through some truly beautiful vibes and the sheer size of the project. Perhaps the single greatest credit that can be paid to Jackson & Levite is to say that it doesn't contain an ounce of 'filler'. It was twenty-four good songs which were of all of a certain quality which made it one of the BIGGEST (literally) albums of 2024. Standouts were all over the place such as I Wish and, NINETY MINUTES LATER, Look Within and Unda Mi Medz. I didn't end up hearing much about this one which is too bad but hopefully its shelf life is greater than its launch because, clearly, there is so much good to be heard on Levite and it'd be too bad if not too many people got to experience it. #8 | Linval Thompson - Ganja Man Legendary vocalist meets CLASS outfit on Ganja Man as the esteemed Linval Thompson links with the brilliant Irie Ites. Together -- TO THE SURPRISE OF ABSOLUTELY NO ONE AT ALL -- the duo mined gold. Ganja Man was complete musical treat of an experience, uniting some of the most captivating vocals the genre has ever heard along with Irie Ites' typically extremely high level, classic sound. The best of it was the title track, What Time Is It and the outstanding pair of Ligerians (more on them later) scored tracks, Trod Along & Get Ready but the entirety of Ganja Man, dubs and all, was an outstanding contribution to 2024. Read album review #7 | Twan Tee - Outrospection While 2024 didn't completely introduce me to French artist, Twan Tee, it did do so formally via his LOVELY album, Outrospection. Produced by the one Oddy (who, apparently, produces all of Tee's work), Outrospection was a really good time, featuring work which ranged from straight forward Roots Reggae, to Dancehall music of varying eras, though it is clear that a large chunk of Tee's inspiration can be tracked to a more classic sound of the music which he has captured excellently here. Highlights included Bridges, which featured Warrior King, the outstanding opener, Put It Pon Replay, the HUGE Stamina, Undercontrol, General with Niggle, Babylon Walls alongside Omar Perry, Underwater and others. Didn't see much about this one and were we more active, I would have definitely slapped a giant review on it and.... hell, I still might after I clear out a bit of space. Outrospection was sublime. #6 | Bugle - Apex Despite the fact that he's already held in fairly high esteem, the case could be made that Bugle actually stepped it up a notch or two through his incredibly well done and well received 2024 release, the CHILLY titled Apex (you KNOW that title is cool as all hell). Bugle is a case of someone who has enjoyed an overall raise of profile over the course of the past few years or so and the work that comprised Apex is a giant example of the reason why and also why more casual heads of the genre are beginning to pay more attention to the Kingston native who is fond of exercising everyday and not still being fit. Apex thrilled with Bugle on his own with tracks like Promise, the HEAVY Bad Dream, Heads Up and the downright scalding social commentary Upside Down and then... oh, Capleton, Buju Banton & Jr. Gong, Maxi Priest, Barrington Levy, Tifa and personal LONGTIME favourite of mine, Military Man were also on board.... just hanging out! AND HAVE I MENTIONED JUST HOW DAMN COOL THAT TITLE IS??! Read album review #5 | Nadia McAnuff & The Ligerians - Shelter From The Storm Had I done one of these lists last year, my #1 would have been Freedom Legacy by Queen Omega and THE Queen of 2023 passed the mic to the queen of 2024, Nadia McAnuff who, along with the aforementioned Ligerians, delivered what may just have been the single greatest sonic experience in all of Reggae for the year, Shelter From The Storm. This album was IMMACULATE from beginning to and end and contain some downright halting material. At its pick, Waiting Room laid claim to being amongst my absolute favourite tunes from the entire year and what it headed, fully, was nearly as strong. Shelter (year's best album best-song-chaser), So Jah Seh, Yes We, Holy and the FUNKY Freedom of Peace also stunned but the album only had ten songs altogether (its only flaw)... so pretty much all of them. Read album review #4 | Noris Man - Free Man These days, Norris Man HAS ME. He just does. He cannot do much wrong and that was the case before 2024 began and the chanter would do nothing in the way of diminishing my support of his work throughout the year. In July, he would drop the looooong awaited Free Man (the album was literally announced in late 2023, if I recall correctly) and that album, for me, has grown and GROwn and GROWN. Free Man is gorgeous and EASILY one of the best albums that Norris Man has released to date. Despite only carrying eleven tunes it was stocked with big ones: Fighting For My Rights, Jah Is The Almighty, To Jah I Pray, the freeflowing Ahead A Dem, Going Out On You, the popular Burn Babylon .... and MORE! Free Man has still found a regular place on my players and, were we to revisit this list in a few years or so, I wouldn't be surprised if it ranked even higher AT ALL. Read album review #3 | Romain Virgo - The Gentle Man It never even occurred to me to actually review The Gentle Man by Romain Virgo because it got to the point where I believed that everything that was to be said had already been (or was being) said. I may be overlooking something but, off the top of my head, I can't think of another album from 2024 that was as widely critically acclaimed (not saying it was the run away regarded BEST but, given how popular it was, the sheer amount of praise that it has been given may be #1). All of that stuff (ALL OF IT) was warranted. Romain Virgo broke stuff and ripped it to shreds on Gentle Man in did so in several different ways. Sometimes it was more aggressive , while others required a more careful hand and, brought altogether, what we ended up with was not only one of the best albums of the year but, in all likelihood, the single best album of Virgo's entire career... but I think he can do even better someday. Masicka, Jesse Royal and even Capleton featured. Read album review #2 | Eesah - Deep medz In terms of debut albums (ALLLLBUMMMMS, not big EPs), no one did finer in 2024 than Eesah who impressed in a major way (and BROKE STUFF) with Deep Medz. Eesah's talent is an EASY one. It is effortless. The man could probably give you studio quality renditions of some of these tunes fresh out of his bed because what he does appears to come SO naturally to him. You could hear it saturating tunes like the all-conquering opener, Behold The Conquering Lion, Jah Give Me Strength, Uprise, Red Alert, the overlooked Push On, Irie and Empress Menen. That was one story behind Deep Medz, the other was the ridiculous supporting cast of artists who joined Eesah like Capleton & Lutan Fyah , Perfect Giddimani & Pressure Busspipe , Kabaka Pyramid, Million Stylez and even Sizzla Kalonji leant their names, collectively, to HOPEFULLY attract attention to a project that deserved some of the brightest shine that the genre had to offer in all of 2024. #1 | Akae Beka - Living Testament Noted as the final album recorded by the legendary Vaughn Benjamin, Living Testament would, in my opinion, send the legendary chanter on his way taking the biggest prize of the year. I did not hear its equal in 2024. I've come to a place as a listener of Akae Beka's music where I'm able to decipher, relatively quickly, how I feel about what I'm listening to. The work that comes afterward (the "journey to comprehension" as I've come to call it) notwithstanding (that adds to the overall experience but I can't assess how fun that is at the time with new material), I'm USUALLY able to catch on when Benjamin is a particularly effective form - such as was the case ALL OVER Living Testament. Credit goes to the grounded Trinity Farm Music -- who would later release a dub version of the album -- for providing a captivating background for Benjamin, which has not been/is not always the case, making for one of the more digestible albums in his catalogue in my opinion. You could probably have a fairly good time digging into Living Testament as a casual listener. It doesn't require ALL of your attention in order to be pleasing. HOWEVER, should you have chosen to give it your 100% (and you should, you have no reason not to), what awaited fans in 2024 was 'intoxication of a certain kind' (biggup Gentleman). Tunes like the giant opener, Stone Of The Corner, All Around Man Yard and Cream Of Joy hit on a VERY HIGH level but they were topped by Rebellion Running, 'Who Is The Rejector Who Is The Reductor, (I'm listening to Rebellion Running right now. With these horns... tune song is PROBLEMS! ) , infectious single Who Wil Go For Us and the all-conquering Holding The Amen Key, RIDICULOUSLY, skyscraped (YES! I just turned SKYSCRAPER INTO A VERB! WHUT!) the quality of Living Testament and it soared not only to being one of the best Akae Beka albums but also THE BEST REGGAE ALBUM OF 2024.... among the ministers of The King's High Court. Read album review Ads Check Lutan Fyah Music
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