Search and Destroy: Sizzla

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Best album? Worst?

― David Steans, Thursday, 11 September 2003 23:51 (twenty-three years ago)

Not an album, but new single "Let The Children Live" is an insane attempt to bridge the gap between conscious and club.

"Let the children grow/Sufferation is all they know" - can any song that mentions "sufferation" be anything other than brilliant?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 12 September 2003 02:13 (twenty-three years ago)

karate is my fave club banger of his.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 12 September 2003 03:11 (twenty-three years ago)

Topperthemost club tunes:

"Heat Is On" - best Bollywood version by far
"These R Da Dayz" - totally freaky Egyptian version, probably even better than Vybz Kartel's "Sweet To Da Belly"

I'm also quite a fan of "Black Woman & Child" though that's straight conscious.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 12 September 2003 03:22 (twenty-three years ago)

Isn't that the place that the dad always takes the kids to for steak in "Slums of Beverly Hills"?

― Helltime Producto (Pavlik), Friday, 12 September 2003 03:50 (twenty-three years ago)

I have "Royal Son of Ethiopia". It's okay, but it's not exactly party ragga.

― dog latin (dog latin), Friday, 12 September 2003 06:04 (twenty-three years ago)

the reggae max compilation
black woman and child
praise ye jah

all released in 97, he lost it after that and went shit, but those three are all time classics.

― l.., Friday, 12 September 2003 08:13 (twenty-three years ago)

i really don't like sizzla - his brand new album which i got sent yesterday is dud, too. the way he's referred to as conscious when he's still as virulently homophobic and reactionary as far more castigated artists is quite a sticking point, too. his flow is pretty good, but give me ward 21, TOK, Bounty Killer and so many others over this guy. his popularity among the liberal white media is very much tied to this perceived "consciousness" and the idea of "sufferation", which seems to be a prerequsite for the majority of white music critics to like reggae, like black people having fun is too scary to contemplate but the concept of the "sufferer" speaks of righteousness and struggle and makes it all ok. that said, royal son of ethiopia isn't a bad record. however, straight no chaser did go an absolute bundle on it, which probably say more about it than my words can!

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Friday, 12 September 2003 08:45 (twenty-three years ago)

virulent homophobia is PART of consciousness coz consciousness is all about RELIGION!!!

anyway the reason ppl. should be all over sizzla is that he's got this incredible fire on his dancehall bangers, and the more conscious stuff comes with a sweet voice. i mean i appreciate his vocal talents more than anything else.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Saturday, 13 September 2003 02:33 (twenty-three years ago)

wot sterling said - i'm not attached to the idea of singing *about* sufferation but he says the word itself in such a fantastic way. I think he's great *in spite of* his angle towards respectability. I wish his albums had more of his club bangers though.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Saturday, 13 September 2003 03:57 (twenty-three years ago)

I haven't listened to it in awhile but I don't think Black Woman and Child had homophobic lyrics on it. I think that was his album that was most hailed by white folks who like conscious reggae. I guess some of those white folks who liked that album have subsequently allowed him to get away with his homophobic lyrics since then, but I think more of them have just ignored him. Eminem has gotten away with homophobia but that's probably a whole 'nuther thread. And there's definately a thread on homophobia in dancehall.

Sizzla's appearing outside of Washington D.C. tonight but I'm not going(gonna see Youssou N'Dour instead).

I wrote up a recent Buju Banton appearance for my Washington DC weekly and noted his prior homophobia and briefly discussed his uneven lyrics on recent cds (although I tend more to focus on flow and melody and instrumentation than lyrics in my reviews).

― Steve Kiviat (Steve K), Saturday, 13 September 2003 20:32 (twenty-three years ago)

how has em "gotten away" with homophobia? he gets called on it more than ANY OTHER RAPPER!

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Sunday, 14 September 2003 01:39 (twenty-three years ago)

(haha probably more than pat robertson or y'know the gay-marriage banning FUCKING STATE OF CALIFORNIA)

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Sunday, 14 September 2003 01:40 (twenty-three years ago)

virulent homophobia is PART of consciousness coz consciousness is all about RELIGION!!!

yup, you know that, i know that but many other people don't and many reviewers latch onto the idea of consciousness and make it sound like the man is some sort of saint among sinners. this is a bit dud and he does get away with a lot more than the likes of TOK etc. and i just don't like his chatting style too much either...

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Monday, 15 September 2003 09:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Dave, Dave, Dave. You disappoint me here.

― cybele (cybele), Tuesday, 16 September 2003 00:12 (twenty-three years ago)

Dave I think you're right to some extent about Sizzla being let off the hook - curiously Capleton doesn't tend to, although maybe that's cos he used to be so slack - but his chatting style is awesome! "These R Da Dayz" rules over all!

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 16 September 2003 04:40 (twenty-three years ago)

sorry cybele - it's solely down to personal taste, nothing more than that, plus the reasons i have trouble getting dancehall into the mainstream press are those cited above. this is pretty daft when i get editors saying "why don't you write about that sizzla bloke coz he's, like, really conscious"! he's no better than a good may people, also the whole romanticisation/fetishization of the "sufferer" by the liberal white media really gets my goat - dancehall can be really fun, too, plus the ward 21 album has quite a few serious social messages tucked away in it, but i won't get to write anywhere near as much about that as i could sizzla. i know his ethical stance/"consciousness" is a little more coagulated than a lot of other artists, thanks to the whole bobo ashanti thing, and easier to make sense of for people and i'm not really hating on him at all. i just don't happen to like him much as an artist, plus ghetto revolution was incredibly patchy and the new album isn't much better.

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Tuesday, 16 September 2003 10:16 (twenty-three years ago)

the point is dave, when he first came out he was the spearhead of the conscious revival, and, more than that, he was unmistakebly the best new reggae artist since buju or capleton. listening to the reggae stations in 97 all you would have heard was sizzla,(plus a smattering of capleton, bushman, everton blender and anthony b) people were walking down the street singin sizzla songs, sizzla was very very exciting in 97, certainly before he got the straight no chaser cover. (only issue of that magazine i ever bought, and good on em for putting sizzla on the cover)
since then he either decided he wanted to be the new caplton and put on this ridiculous gruff voice which keeps breaking and going all fucked and high pitched, or, his voice just got destroyed by the demands he put on it. ever since then he's been rubbish, a poor mans capleton, but don't dismiss the classic albums just becuase some white people have heard of them. like sean paul he was a enormous success in his own scene before he found recognition outside of it.
i think it's good that you have a self-imposed crusade stelfox, i honestly do, it's a good crusade to take up too, but don't let it blind you to good sizzla records, just cos a bunch of bellends like it, doesn't mean you're not allowed to.

― luke../, Tuesday, 16 September 2003 11:05 (twenty-three years ago)

nah, no personal crusade here and i hear you... i actlly like quite a bit of his earlier stuff and realise all the points above very well. i'm just not a fan now and i think his popularity (a lot for all the wrong reasons) obscures other good stuff. he made some good records. he doesn't anymore. i don't have a lot of time for him. remove the "consciousness" issue and this is exactly how i feel about jeff mills, aphex twin, 4Hero and a whole heap of other cross-genre luminaries, too!

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Tuesday, 16 September 2003 12:09 (twenty-three years ago)

NOt got a lot of time...I'm on my way to work...but yeah, Ghetto Revolution wasn't so hot. Teamed up with Mr. Digital for Da Real Thing, however--now that's hot.

― cybele (cybele), Tuesday, 16 September 2003 12:30 (twenty-three years ago)

and luka, as a side issue, thank you for resurrecting the word "bellend" for me!

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Tuesday, 16 September 2003 12:37 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

well dunno where all this leaves me, im white, gay and i love dancehall despite all this homophobia. gettin a bit worried cos seein sean paul 2moz nite.i kno hes not givin out an anti gay message and respect to him 4 that, but i dont wanna get beaten up by homophobic dancehall fans that cud b ther.. yeah and calm down, i dont need a tune 2 b about sufferation 2 love it. 2 be honest i prefer the party tracks. jus cos im white dont mean i only heard of sean paul las week either. i loved his stuff of stage 1 b4 dutty rock was famous and i loved loadsa other ragga stars b4 sean paul hit mainstream uk. sizzla, bounty killer,tok,capleton,buju, beenie man,ward 21, elephant man etc etc. obviously all the predjudice worries me. I feel bad that i shud support the gay community and not buy cds by artists givin out abuse. but its not me wit the problem, thats the homophobes, so i can only hope whoever reads this thinks twice bout some of those lyrics that are disrespectin my people. p.s. hav a wikid time anyone goin sean paul 2moz, love ya -jac xx

― jacqui, Sunday, 26 October 2003 16:09 (twenty-three years ago)

the new album is quite good and has a strange jazzy cabaret character to the best trax.

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Monday, 27 October 2003 04:17 (twenty-three years ago)

good new uns on rx300 and purple skunk riddims. dude's super catchy, the end. JUST ONE OF THOSE DAYAYAYAYZ!

― prima fassy (bob), Tuesday, 28 October 2003 00:17 (twenty-three years ago)

oh and trifector, good one on that too

― prima fassy (bob), Tuesday, 28 October 2003 00:18 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

Being Rastafarian mean that you are a complete naturalist, vegitarian, ans spiritualist. It is not possible for a person to say taht he is a ras and not be against homosexuality. Hared is not the way however that a ras would express those views. We believe in the bible dispite others non belief therof. So when God Almighty said to be friutful and multiply it is taken literally and a homosexual couple no matter how good they are in their own right cannot do the first commandment that god asked of us. So how can i as a Ras embrace this idea of homosexuality and still embrace the god that i Believ in?. I have ten or more homosexual people in my immediate family (aunts, uncles, and first cousins, that i love and admire for their accomplishments just as much as i love and admire my other family members but i dont support their decision to engage in homosexual activities. When they are around i dont show any bad vibes because they'renot out trying to sleep with any thing they see. They are people who have commited sin and as Jesus said the first amoung us with out sin may cast the first stone.

― Empress Heard, Saturday, 13 December 2003 17:11 (twenty-two years ago)

How big is your family?

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Saturday, 13 December 2003 17:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Maybe the actual translation was 'be fruity and multiply,' so all people everywhere should become gay mathematicians.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 13 December 2003 17:55 (twenty-two years ago)

Jet Star Reggae comps RULE!

― @d@ml (nordicskilla), Saturday, 13 December 2003 18:00 (twenty-two years ago)

eight years pass...

jah said "be fruitful and multiply" / if the family doesn't reproduce, we gonna DIE

sizzla i think your concerns are misplaced

― TracerHandVEVO (Tracer Hand), Monday, 26 March 2012 11:09 (fourteen years ago)

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