Chezidek - Marijuana Prayer (Tad's Record)

One glance at the album title and artwork is enough to tell you that the green herb runs as a central thread through this new release. The first four tracks are, unsurprisingly, all ganja tunes.

For reasons not entirely clear to us, Tad's Record also decided to include Chezidek's big hit 'Leave The Trees' on the album.

From this opening batch of ganja cuts, 'Caah Believe' stands out in particular, with Chezidek taking aim at the so-called decriminalization of marijuana in Jamaica, which continues to penalize small farmers:



…
Mi caah believe, caah believe 
Dem still ah lock up farmers fi ganja 
Mi caah believe, caah believe 
Dem still ah lock up people fi weed 

Traditional ganja farmers inna jam 
It look like dem no waan wi have nothin fi nyam 
Dem buy foreign weed from up a Uncle Sam 
And what we fi ah plant pure cabbage and yam 
Seh dem decriminalize but you see it was a sham 
Dem never legalize and dem never did ah plan 
But food deh haffi eat for each and everyone 
Di foreign investors and di natives of di land 
Sacramental ganja fi di Rastaman 
Medicinal marijuana fi di hospital 
Recreation ganja, recreational 
Free Jamaican ganja, international
...

Further down the track list, we get a lone love tune with 'Give Me Your Love', while Chezidek revisits familiar territory in the previously released 2021 cut 'Fool And His Money', warning against the temptations of wealth. Somewhat paradoxically, he follows that up with 'Money Move', a very recognizable reworking of the Barrington Levy classic of the same name over the Real Rock riddim.

On 'Inna Dem Eye', a track that originally lent its name to a Tad's Record riddim back in 2021, Chezidek reflects on key moments in the history of the Rastafari movement. Elsewhere, on songs like 'One Life' and 'Memba Good', he emphasizes the fleeting nature of life and the importance of making the most of it, an idea that also carries through to closing track 'Stand Up' ("Won't you stand up for something in life?").

From the very first track - set over the Heavenless riddim - it's immediately clear that this album is a treat for lovers of classic riddims, something Tad's Record has made its trademark as one of the last Jamaican labels still committed to that approach. Among the riddims we recognized are Hello Carol ('Got To Go Home'), Party Time ('One Life'), Vanity ('Fool And His Money'), Full Up ('Memba Good') and Pressure And Slide ('Stand Up'). A slightly less obvious choice is the riddim used for title track 'Marijuana Prayer', which is actually drawn from the Dennis Brown classic 'Love Light'.

Excellent release of a kind that, unfortunately, is becoming increasingly rare within the reggae genre.