Ashanti Waugh – Crime Act

1986, Black Solidarity

Crime Act on the Far East riddim is the star of this record, and a masterclass in dancehall songwriting. Dancehall is not a terribly complicated style of music and there is not a lot you have to do to sound great, yet plenty of artists struggle – it is a tragedy that they did not learn from the likes of Ashanti Waugh sooner. Nice long notes, melody that agrees with the riddim, and most importantly very repetitive lines. Someone once said “repetition legitimizes” and few know this better than Triston Palmer, who produced this record, and perhaps had a hand in the songwriting, because the echoes of his style ring true throughout this album. But credit cannot be taken away from Ashanti Waugh, who is his own singer, conventional as his style may be. In Crime Act the listener craves the hook, just for the way the cadence* hits, and relishes in the scatting that follows it each time.

Themes in this set are mostly love and resistance – making it a good choice for roots fans who are curious about the dance hall style – and there are some very excellent lyrics hidden throughout. Hard lines include Police police you better call sojie in Police Police, My enemies they laughed at me and I don’t feel no way when you say that you hate me in Don’t Feel No Way, No bother with that, no lick her dung flat, you better than that and The road to righteousness is a narrow way in Natty Dread Locks, and If me never get it, it a go cause a bangarang in Gimme De Love. The latter interestingly comes from the mouth of the female character in the story which is a nice spin on the male-dominated space of sexual coercion dancehall lyrics. Police Police and Gimme De Love in particular are just ‘hard’ tunes all around, and in both Ashanti Waugh channels some of the Little John style upon some of Triston’s tighter cuts. The riddim is only sometimes given room to breathe, but we at Bim Kill Him appreciate it when it does, because there is not much better in the ’86 style. We especially love the rimshot and horn work in Fret & Worry. 

As we come to the closing end of this very lovely set we encounter Worries & Problem, and my honest reaction to this tune involved thoughts such as ‘What the fuck is going on?’, ‘Who is signing?’ and ‘Where are they?’. Both Ashanti Waugh and Triston Palmer appear to have had one too many ideas for this tune and the result can be conservatively described as ‘left-field’. If nothing else it is a memorable finisher. After that, all that is left to do is digest the cover art from the great Limonious.

*Cadence in the classical sense (resolution) rather than the hip-hop sense (flow).

My picks: Crime Act, Over You, Police Police, Gimme De Love
Bim count: 0