Monday, March 17, 2008

On the rock

mavado

No tune has loomed over 2008 for me more than Mavado’s “On the Rock” on Baby G’s “Mission” Rhythm. Now, three months in I’m hardly breaking news on how big this tune is: the tune’s just so incredible I feel the need to publicly declare my total infatuation.

Darkness was once dubstep’s defining characteristic: UK garage but dark, hence “new dark swing” or “dark garage.” Yet as an aesthetic, it’s getting close to becoming stifling and dull. Add in an unnecessary reliance on instrumentalism too and things are getting oppressive. Right now in dubs I’m looking for light, colour, intensity. Not that sweet, sacharrine or (sonically) lite would ever cut it either, but there’s a twilight between day and night, dark and light, vocal and instrumental, happy and sad, sweet and sour that is the magical balance I crave.

“On the Rock” has many of those qualities and more, and I guess it’s symbolic of a craving I have for more vocal, emotive, colourful music right now.

The backstory to “On the Rock” is that Mavado’s birthday party last year got raided by the Jamaican police and soldiers in helicopters. Angry, he turned to gospel to express his frustration. The result is something even the addition of Jay-Z bars can’t improve.

Call it twilight, magical balance or dynamic tension, I’ve been drawn to Mavado since I first heard ”Amazing Grace” last year. What’s so remarkable about him is the sweetness of his voice and the bitterness of his message. No one else could sing about “[bone] marrow flying” and make it sound so intense.

While I haven’t felt this strong about a dancehall voice since Sizzla’s, in part Mavado reminds me of arguably my favourite house album, Romanthony’s “Romanworld”. Roman too sings with the anguish of someone who the whole world has forsaken, especially on “The Wanderer,” which like “On the Rock” is most spine-tingling when it’s a naked accappella.

Mavado too sounds scorned and forsaken, ripping his heart out and showing it to the world:

“Jehovah guide me
Be my guidance
Greater salvation for me
Jehovah guide me
Be my guidance
No they could never stop me

I'm on the rock (I’m on the rock)
Higher than I and I (higher than I and I)
Jehovah guide me
I am on the rock (I am on the rock)”


· Download “On the Rock" from the mighty Heatwave’s blog.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't get this track. As my wife said "it sounds like a power ballad" and I have to agree 100% with that assessment.

Also it's auto-tuned up the wazoo. This is not an attack on Mavado's ability but the past five/ten years has seen the over-auto-tune-as-vocal-effect take off in such a big way that I just can't take anything that uses it seriously anymore - in fact my ears tire of the effect very quickly it grates like hell and I just can't take this tune at all.

DJEmissary said...

dude seriously, u a batty bway if u dont feel the power coming from dis one song! BIG UP MAVADO! it's how we survive our tribulations dat make us who we are! dis song manifests dis! I'M ON THE ROCK, CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF IT

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