Me Name Tiger Review

07/13/2005 4:43 AM, AMG


Me Name Tiger is an early example of the never-take-a-breath "vocal drumming" style of singing that influenced countless DJs and won the charismatic Tiger Best New Artist awards from Radio Jamaica and the Jamaican Broadcasting Corporation. It's an exhilarating listen in bits and pieces, but Tiger's rapid boasting has since been refined by many toasters who offer a broader and more rewarding listen. Tiger covered up his less creative writing with grunts and growls, and the thin digital production of Me Name Tiger only occasionally sounds like it's more than a strictly economic choice. Still, the scrappy album does include some truly great singles. "No Wanga Gut" was such a popular single the Governor General of Jamaica quoted it in a speech, and "Me Name Tiger" is so good RAS often includes it on compilations as the representative Tiger track. The limited "Mi Lover Mi Lover" and the more captivating "Puppy Love" are the other big hits, and the prophetic "Follow Mi Model" ends up being the only nonsingle on the set worth repeated listens. Unless listeners want "Follow," the Ras Portraits collection drops "Mi Lover Mi Lover" but includes the rest of the singles, making it a more of a desirable purchase.~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide