Art & Life

06/21/2000 7:53 PM, Yahoo! Music
Rob O'Connor

I fearlessly conclude John Rocker would not like this album. You may have read that the Atlanta Braves reliever had some less-than-charitable things to say about folks who don't speak English very well. Well, using both inductive and deductive reasoning, it can be assumed that Mr. Rocker does not warm up in the clubhouse with Beenie Man. In fact, I'd like to go out on a limb and say I don't think Rocker likes reggae music.

Now as frequent readers of LAUNCH probably know, I LIKE music that sounds like an altercation. I thought Ol' Dirty Bastard's album sounded like an angry Chinese waiter with his foot caught in the door and Beenie Boy here is at his best when he's got all kinds of voices swarming around in complete chaos. Which is pretty much all the time. Even a tune like "Love Me Now," which you would imagine to be a mellow contemplative tune meant to seduce young lovelies is nothing of the kind. Instead, there's lots of hostile yelling and rapid-fire rapping that sounds like a day at the racetrack.

SOUNDS LIKE: Ol' Dirty Bastard, Buju Banton