1989, Digital-B / VP Records
Johnny P - Run Down Woman
Tuffest - Girls Them Nice
Bunny General - Don't Grumble
Johnny P - Post Them Out
Tuffest - Whoolawoo Wine
Bunny General - Them A Bother Me
Johnny P - Stop Lick The Crack
Tuffest - Dance And Skip
Bunny General - Gimmie Little Love
On this record we get to hear three third-rate deejays battling it out over some late-80s Bobby Digital riddims - what more could you want!!
Johnny P is the biggest name on here (bordering on second-rate) and the only artist I'm familiar with. On Johnny P's other records he is often as ‘low-brow’ as ragga dancehall gets, totally bottomed-out brows, and this is saying a lot, but it's interesting to see him on this record bringing the most insightful and least vapid lyrics out of the three artists. This is not to say that these lyrics are anything to write home about, but they're at least worth paying attention to, as opposed to (for example) ‘hold up you hand cah you know say you ni-nice!!’. Men going after women who don't want them, anti cocaine lyrics, et cetera. Run Down Woman is the highlight of this record, done over a very heavy digi-steppers cut of the Cuss Cuss riddim.
Not only does Tuffest fill the role that Johnny P usually does (his tunes on this record being titled Girls Them Nice, Whoolawoo Wine and Dance And Skip), but he even does Johnny P's signature laugh at the start of Whoolawoo Wine which to me seems like an egregious cramping of style. Truly he is a third-rate deejay among third-rate deejays, who pirates styles from third-rate deejays, but the beauty of this genre is that he's still a talented performer and it's still fun to listen to. Nursery rhymes must be brought to the table in a record like this to really complete the vibe, and Tuffest delivers by appropriating ‘London Bridge’ on Girls Them Nice.
Bunny General comes in more versatile than the other two, dropping a unique singjay style on Don't Grumble and Gimmie Little Love, as well as some Admiral Bailey copycatting on Them A Bother Me. On Don't Grumble syllables are tightly packed into laser-precise triplets over the tune of ‘Santa Clause Is Coming To Town’, an even more puzzling choice than ‘London Bridge’. But such is Jamaican culture.
Bim count: 0
My picks: Run Down Woman
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