MAVADO has easily been one of the most dominant forces within the dancehall/reggae genres over the past decade. He has lessened his one-time stranglehold on the market locally to try his hand at cross-over success in the USA. Mavado is currently signed to DJ Khaled’s We The Best imprint, which is currently distributed by Birdman’s Cash Money Records. The latest offering from this deal is Rise Up.

Rise Up, as the title suggests, is an anthemic record, speaking of personal triumphs trumpeting the negative actions of agitators.

The song features Akon and Rick Ross. Akon was also featured on I’m A Survivor, Mavado’s first single for DJ Khaled. Both songs are produced by Wyclef production partner Jerry Wonder.

Rise Up is not a bad song, but it’s not a good single.

As a dancehall/reggae artiste, it is hard for Mavado to break through with a mid-tempo single that is not dancefloor-oriented. For American Top 40 radio stations to add a Mavado song to their playlists, it has to be a fast-paced production with hypnotic instrumentation that will catch the attention of non-dancehall fans.

Akon, handling chorus duties, does not hold the clout as it did five years ago, so unfortunately this will not be much of a radio puller. Rick Ross’ name will allow the track to gain posts on websites throughout the hip-hop blogosphere, but that doesn’t guarantee listens further than the day it’s posted.

Mavado is a talented singjay who needs to look no further than home for true cross-over success. Homegrown Jamaican instrumentations may be the formula that Mavado’s camp is looking for, such as So Special on the Unfinished Business riddim.