Tiwony - Difé Lyrical

Tiwony was born in Paris but grew up in Guadeloupe. Being the son of Vicky Edimo, a renowned bass player from Cameroon who played together with Bob Marley during his first performance in Africa, it´s no surprise he was already attracted to reggae music and the Rasta philosophy from a very young age. 'The untameable lion', as he is called, describes himself as a Rasta on a mission to produce dancehall with a positive message in order to change the negative and violent stigma the genre was given by the media. A noble mission we can only support, but unfortunately a large part of the message is lost to us because the lyrics are in Creole (French Patois).

Tiwony´s style is raw and uncut and can sometimes seem a bit aggressive. It can best be described as a crossover between Lord Kossity´s typical fragga toasting style and inspiring bobo-chants by artists like Jah Mason or Turbulence. The latter also makes an appearance on this album on the track 'Stronga Team', a well-crafted song with a positive message. Tiwony is clearly a productive artist as this album contains no less than 22 tracks and it's only been a year since his previous release 'Cité Soleil' ('Never Give Up' featuring Konshens will certainly sound familiar to some of you). On 'Difé Lyrical', most dancehall fans will undoubtedly recognize some of the riddims, like the Overproof used for 'Kon Dé Reine' for example. On this album, Tiwony struggles a bit to keep our full attention, as at times the overall experience becomes a bit monotonous. Fortunately there are exceptions like the cheerful and compelling 'Gimme Di Faya'.