Sly and Robbie make the Reggae Connection
VENERABLE rhythm duo Sly and Robbie and the Jam Masters released their second album last Tuesday.
Reggae Connection is the name of the set which is out on their Taxi Records.
Co-produced by Kaz Asonuma, it is the follow-up to the group’s 2012 Grammy-nominated album, New Legend — Jamaica 50th Edition.
Gangsta Luv is the lead single from Reggae Connection. The song is a ‘combination’ between girl group KGN21 and dancehall star Mr Vegas.
Sly and Robbie team with singer Nioma on a cover of Maroon 5’s One More Night. KGN21 also puts their spin on the Wonder Girl’s hit, Nobody.
The ‘Riddim Twins’ went outside Jamaica for Reggae Connection. Hawaiian roots-reggae singer Irie Love does So In Love. Japanese artistes Lecca (Minutes Later), Chitose Hajime (Hold Me), Coma-Chi (I Was) and Alba Natsuki (Yume) are also featured on the album.
Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare have been recording together since the 1970s. They revived the Taxi label late that decade while they were members of Peter Tosh’s Word, Sound and Power band.
With the drum-and-bass duo at the helm, the label produced a flurry of hit songs in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Those include Baltimore by The Tamlins, Love and Devotion (Jimmy Riley) as well as a number of classic sides by Black Uhuru such as Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner and Shine Eye Gal.
Sly and Robbie produced Anthem, the album that won the first Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 1985. They won that category in 1999 for their Friends album.
