Hailing from Westmoreland, Jamaica and recording for the German Pow Pow label,
Elijah Prophet delivers fairly generic songs over a very strong collection of modern roots rhythms on his debut album. Song titles like "King of Kings," "Revolution," "Sensimillia Fe Bun," "Children of the World" and "Got to Be Conscious" all tell you exactly what to expect: populist sloganeering, Rastafarian sermonizing, meta reggae, and derogation of all drugs (except ganja, of course).
Prophet has a strong, chesty tenor voice, but unfortunately doesn't always stay on key: on the terrible "In the Jungle" there's an almost total disconnect between his sung melody and the song's chord progression, and on "Mother Nature" he's consistently off pitch. But on the bright side, there are such gems as the propulsive "Nah Tek No Talk," the come-to-Jah hymn "One and All," and the jaunty and ska-inflected "Music Is Life." Also on the plus side of the ledger is "Put People First," which nicely updates
Desmond Dekker's "007 (Shanty Town)" rhythm. The backing tracks are consistently fine -- most recorded live with real musicians, all of them hard and dense and nicely arranged. This album is seriously inconsistent, but it's far from being a total loss. ~ Rick Anderson