Following on from Serocee (Birmingham) and YT (Ipswich), this time Germany outta the home of riddem, Cologne. Germany’s fourth biggest city is home to Gentleman (great name) who found a big hit with the album Journey To Jah a few years ago. Not that the roots message ever left us, ‘Caan Hold Us Down’ is one of those tracks that also happens to be very catchy. It’s going to drive you crazy in a good way.

Gentleman has earned the respect of his contemporary Jamaican artists and has worked with the likes of Bounty Killer, Capleton, Luciano and Mikey General. So when it came to ‘Caan Hold Us Down’ he’s gone to one of the giants of reggae, Barrington Levy and his mate Daddy Rings. Levy’s trademark ‘whoah-oh-oh’ sounds as good today as when he was setting the dancehalls alight with the classic ‘Bounty Hunter’ and the pre-Wayne Smith, ‘Under Mi Sensi’.

Levy is certainly a Don of the Dancehall in Jamaica, where he hosts his own ‘Dancehall Rock’ Festival once a year and at which Gentleman has appeared in the past. Gentleman has also appeared at the biggest one-night reggae festival, Sting. When we say big, we’re talking crowds of 30,000! So when he comes to appear at the Notting Hill Carnival at the end of this month, he should have every confidence that he’s going to be a big success.

I’ll post details of where he’s going to be on route as soon as I find out.

Reviewed: Gentleman feat. Barrington Levy & Daddy Rings - ‘Caan Hold Us Down’ (Four Music)

Links:
Gentleman www.journeytojah.com
Notting Hill Carnival www.londoncarnival.co.uk
www.barringtonlevy.com
www.fourmusic.com
Riddim Issue No. 4 Summer, 2006 [Worldwide edition] feat. Elephant Man, Barrington Levy, Tanya Stephens and YT www.riddimmag.com Riddim, Rolandstr. 69, 50677 Cologne, Germany
YT at Sting 2004