Back To Basics

08/06/2004 10:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Dan Leroy

Note the title, listen to uncompromising Kingston thumpers like “King Of The Dancehall,” and the story behind Beenie Man’s latest seems self-evident: after cracking the American market, with large assists from the Neptunes and Janet Jackson, the legendary deejay has decided it’s time to reconnect with his roots instead. The libidinous Back To Basics is certainly a tougher and more traditional album than its two predecessors, with their featherweight hip-pop, and yet viewing it as an artistic retreat misreads the post-Dutty Rock landscape of dancehall in the U.S. Sean Paul and the acts that followed him made the domestic market safe for Jamaican music, as well as patois, and Beenie Man is now taking full advantage. Thus, a deserving track like “Good Woe,” a version on the catchy “Coolie Skank” riddim, now sounds like a hit, instead of exotica. And most of the songs on Back To Basics, produced by island heavyweights such as Dave and Tony Kelly, have a similar appeal; less overtly pop than Tropical Storm or Art and Life, they’re still possessed of insidious hooks that would resonate in any culture. The same can’t be said of the faux-uplifting strummer, “Back Against The Wall,” which closes the album by making the tired old case for its singer as Marley heir. But the rest of the album suggests Beenie Man is ready to take America on his own terms at last.