Buju Banton: Friends For Life

Buju Banton: Friends For Life

2003

VP/Atlantic Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Paid Not Played  2. Tra La La  3. Teaser  4. Excerpt of a Speech by Marcus Mosiah Garvey  5. Up Ye Mighty Race  6. All Will Be Fine (feat. Sons And Daughters Choir)  7. Maybe We Are  8. Mama Africa  9. Hooked On The Love  10. Get It On  11. Friends For Life  12. Good Time  13. Damn  14. La Da De Da  15. Pensive Mood  16. Feeling Groovy  17. Spectacular  18. What Am I Gonna Do  19. Mr. Nine


My smattering of Buju Banton albums are really all over the place...I just have a few here and there, so I'm by no means an expert on the man and his work, but whenever I run across one of his records , I'll always check it out...

I just so happened to start with his classic "Til' Shiloh" after hearing his collaboration "No More Misty Days" with Rancid...(Which we'll cover tomorrow...I just realized that Buju Banton is the second Rancid-related dancehall/reggae artist that starts with the letter "B" that I've covered in the span of a week...Maybe Rancid and Beenie Man will put out a record in these next coupla days and I can make it a three-peat!)

I like "Friends For Life"...Look at that big smile on Buju's face on the album cover...It's that kind of record...A real good-time record...There's even a song on it called "Good Time" and I had a damn good time listening to it!

The album starts out with a run of three straight up dancehall tracks...On first listen it seemed like this album was going to be a return to his his older, slack style... Which I don't mind at all as long as we get songs like "Paid Not Played," (which is a first-class summer single)...but suddenly after the Bounty Hunter collaboration, "Teaser"  we jump right from lusting after J-Lo and Tyra Banks...

...to a speech by Marcus Garvey...

...and next thing you know, we're balls-deep in a suite of socially conscious songs...Which I think is the style that suits his thunderous voice best...As a vocalist, he's really come a long way...By this point, he's just as likely to sing as he is to toast (often mixing the two styles) and issn't afraid to take on ballads either. (check out "Maybe We Are" and "All Will Be Fine"). This section of the album culminates in an exceptional cover of  Peter Tosh's "Mama Africa."



He hews to the original version very closely, but he does manage to put his own stamp on the song, thanks to his distinct delivery...It feels a little weird naming a cover as the album's highpoint, but man...It's so great...

It does have some stiff competition though...I for one, also love the bouncy ska style on "Feeling Groovy" and he definitely saves the best for last on the anti-gun album closer "Mr. Nine"...Even "Pensive Mood" wins me over big time after initially scaring me with some instrumentation that reminds me of early 80's Stevie Wonder and an opening proclamation of "LADIES!!" that can't help but bring Jerry Lewis to mind...But once it gets going all is forgiven...Like I said this is a feel good album...

There's a couple of duds (the back to back bummers " La Da De Da " (which couldn't be more inconsequential) and "Damn" (which sums up everything awful about turn-of-the-millenium hip hop) but for the most part this is yet another solid release from Buju...Here's looking forward to some new music from Gargamel in  2019 (when he's scheduled to be released from prison)...

Until then, let's check out "Feeling Groovy" by Buju Banton...Enjoy...