Almost all music releases in Trinidad revolve around the February carnival season, but
Heroes of Wha? seems to indicate the rapso world also revolves around EPs recorded with different producers. That's not unusual but it is that five of the 15 songs, and many of the best ones, on
3 Canal's second CD are repeats from the group's 1999 debut without a remix, alternate take, or dub version among them.
Heroes of Wha? boasts a more measured overall sound, with less of the dancehall generation let's go flavor or Rasta consciousness calls of
The Fire Next Time. "Let the Session Begin" and "Welcome" are shout-outs for Trinidad culture, while "Heat in the Place" is another feeling-liberated-by-music song that marks the point where
3 Canal get something going musically. "Watch Dem" has a good punchy melody, "Mud Madness" drops in a deadly house keyboard hook supported by horns, and "One in a Million" is kind of an electronic future embrace of the techno-computer world that awaits Trinidad youth. But the other highlights were also on
The Fire Next Time and it's really kind of objectionable from a consumer recommendation standpoint, especially for people outside Trinidad. Yes, you get some of
3 Canal's choicest cuts on either CD this way, but it's a substantial duplication and both
The Fire Next Time and
Heroes of Wha? have several other appealing tracks to recommend them. That's apart from the issue of allowing a situation where the unwary may pay for the same music twice -- you figure that kind of maneuver from a major label, not a supposedly idealistic group on their second CD.