Sizzla (JAM)
The 1980s witnessed a dancehall explosion, and with the music came the lifestyle: drugs, guns, and "slackness" (vulgarity). Sizzla watched carefully, collecting his lyrical ammunition. Formally adopting the Rastafari faith, with its no-holds-barred advocacy of repatriation, slavery reparations and the use of ganja, he joined the ranks of the Bobo Ashanti in the mid-1990s.
Sizzla began to develop his own style whilst serving his musical apprenticeship with the Caveman Hi-Fi sound system. He has used his music as a vehicle for his message, kickstarting his recording career in 1995 with a release through the Zagalou label, he then teamed up with "Bobby Digital" Dixon for a series of singles. Extensive touring with fellow roots and culture artist Luciano followed, earning Sizzla critical acclaim.
Jermaine Fagan, the same man who gave Buju Banton his first break, introduced Sizzla to top Jamaican saxophonist Dean Fraser, the musical director for Philip "Fatis" Burrell's Xterminator Family. Fatis was delighted with Sizzla's potential and decided to record him. 1996 marked an important turning point for Sizzla when he began working with Fatis. This union led to a run of successful singles and the release of Sizzla's debut album, Burning Up. The alliance again proved fruitful a year later with the follow-up, Praise Ye Jah . Securing his position as a top reggae artist, as well as one with something to say, he set about cultivating his role as a spiritual messenger. Sizzla's combination of Rasta principles and up-to-the-minute dancehall rhythms made his hard line approach more palatable.
Creatively speaking, Sizzla really came into his own with the release of Praise Ye Jah. Praise Yeh Jah was quickly trumped by the release of the Dixon-produced Black Woman & Child that same year. The title track was a smash hit and became something of a cultural reggae anthem. Sizzla scored several more hits during 1997, including "Like Mountain," "Babylon Cowboy," "Kings of the Earth," and the Luciano duet "Build a Better World." This hot streak kicked off an enormously productive recording binge that lasted over the next several years, with much of his output still done for Burrell.
Bearing all the hallmarks of Bobby "Digital" Dixon's dancehall-influenced production, the impact on both the reggae and mainstream markets was phenomenal. The evocative title track, issued as a single, rapidly achieved anthemic status. Along with universal praise came Sizzla's first nomination for Best International Reggae Artist of the Year at the 1998 MOBO Awards and a place in various magazines' top 100 albums of the year. Sizzla has since released several dozen albums, including 1998's Kalonji and Royal Son of Ethiopia from 1999. 1999 also saw him receive his second MOBO nomination. Sizzla remains a constant presence in the reggae charts worldwide.
Sizzla has an ability to fuse passionate lyrical styling with deceptively simple rhythms that take in a range of genres from staccato dancehall and gentle roots reggae to surprisingly commercial R&B and soul arrangements. The opening track of the album Bobo Ashanti, "The World", is a modern take on the pulsing dub beat and a call to conquer the West by rejoicing in Rastafari. Sizzla's plea for truth on "Courage" from the same album is set against a lilting guitar hook. He asks the ghetto youths to follow King Selassie and "Grow U Locks" on a punching dancehall rhythm. The R&B-influenced closing track of the album Must Rise is an earnest appeal to black people to find strength in unity.
Sizzla, along with reggae recording artists such as Capleton, Buju Banton, and Anthony B, are credited with leading a movement toward a re-embracement of Rastafarian values in contemporary reggae music by recording material which is concerned primarily with spirituality and social consciousness, explores common themes, such as Babylon's corrupting influence, the disenfranchisement of ghetto youth, oppression of the black nation and Sizzla's abiding faith in Jah and resistance against perceived agents of oppression. Sizzla has over 30 full completed albums sold in record stores to date.
Sizzla began to develop his own style whilst serving his musical apprenticeship with the Caveman Hi-Fi sound system. He has used his music as a vehicle for his message, kickstarting his recording career in 1995 with a release through the Zagalou label, he then teamed up with "Bobby Digital" Dixon for a series of singles. Extensive touring with fellow roots and culture artist Luciano followed, earning Sizzla critical acclaim.
Jermaine Fagan, the same man who gave Buju Banton his first break, introduced Sizzla to top Jamaican saxophonist Dean Fraser, the musical director for Philip "Fatis" Burrell's Xterminator Family. Fatis was delighted with Sizzla's potential and decided to record him. 1996 marked an important turning point for Sizzla when he began working with Fatis. This union led to a run of successful singles and the release of Sizzla's debut album, Burning Up. The alliance again proved fruitful a year later with the follow-up, Praise Ye Jah . Securing his position as a top reggae artist, as well as one with something to say, he set about cultivating his role as a spiritual messenger. Sizzla's combination of Rasta principles and up-to-the-minute dancehall rhythms made his hard line approach more palatable.
Creatively speaking, Sizzla really came into his own with the release of Praise Ye Jah. Praise Yeh Jah was quickly trumped by the release of the Dixon-produced Black Woman & Child that same year. The title track was a smash hit and became something of a cultural reggae anthem. Sizzla scored several more hits during 1997, including "Like Mountain," "Babylon Cowboy," "Kings of the Earth," and the Luciano duet "Build a Better World." This hot streak kicked off an enormously productive recording binge that lasted over the next several years, with much of his output still done for Burrell.
Bearing all the hallmarks of Bobby "Digital" Dixon's dancehall-influenced production, the impact on both the reggae and mainstream markets was phenomenal. The evocative title track, issued as a single, rapidly achieved anthemic status. Along with universal praise came Sizzla's first nomination for Best International Reggae Artist of the Year at the 1998 MOBO Awards and a place in various magazines' top 100 albums of the year. Sizzla has since released several dozen albums, including 1998's Kalonji and Royal Son of Ethiopia from 1999. 1999 also saw him receive his second MOBO nomination. Sizzla remains a constant presence in the reggae charts worldwide.
Sizzla has an ability to fuse passionate lyrical styling with deceptively simple rhythms that take in a range of genres from staccato dancehall and gentle roots reggae to surprisingly commercial R&B and soul arrangements. The opening track of the album Bobo Ashanti, "The World", is a modern take on the pulsing dub beat and a call to conquer the West by rejoicing in Rastafari. Sizzla's plea for truth on "Courage" from the same album is set against a lilting guitar hook. He asks the ghetto youths to follow King Selassie and "Grow U Locks" on a punching dancehall rhythm. The R&B-influenced closing track of the album Must Rise is an earnest appeal to black people to find strength in unity.
Sizzla, along with reggae recording artists such as Capleton, Buju Banton, and Anthony B, are credited with leading a movement toward a re-embracement of Rastafarian values in contemporary reggae music by recording material which is concerned primarily with spirituality and social consciousness, explores common themes, such as Babylon's corrupting influence, the disenfranchisement of ghetto youth, oppression of the black nation and Sizzla's abiding faith in Jah and resistance against perceived agents of oppression. Sizzla has over 30 full completed albums sold in record stores to date.