BeneluXXL Reggae Contest: few Beljam bands in semi finals

Expanding the contest to Germany and France has not missed its effect. Three German bands and two French MC's will be competing for a ticket to the finals. But it is mainly the Dutch that are scoring this year. Though this too is relative. The artists have roots in several continents. For instance, the Amsterdam Faya Allstars, founded in 2010 and happily expecting their first album 'All minorities are the majority', consisting of musicians from Holland, Suriname, the Antilles, Uruguay and Armenia. Faya in dub starts off as a rock song but then a latin flavour's added. A beautiful instrumental but with rude sing-along lines. This is even more true for the ska tune Mandela.

Bagjuice is from Amsterdam as well, but they make a very different kind of reggae. Fomo is dubby rockers switched up with rocky one drop. Kung Fu has a long meditative intro, and evolves into a heavy dub with ethereal percussion, a bit like The Arab's style (Prince Far-I).

Empress Black Omolo (The Hague) has a Kenyan passport and surprises with a powerful, self-conscious voice somewhere between Jah9 and Queen Ifrica, with an African undertone. Pressure is one of the nicest tracks from the preselection. In Hot like fyah Empress raps as well as her Jamaican colleagues, accompanied by a subtle dancehall riddim with Spanish guitar.

Jamaican Jazz Orchestra (foto), the only Beljam band going to the semi-finals, sounds less jazzy than its name leads on. Nice jazzy arrangements, yes, with an excellent trumpet solo in Face reality and vocals of Saimn-I. Watch out for overexposure. After a while it loses its special feel. The Orchestra also submitted a nice dub as hidden track and On the rocks is of no less quality than Ernest Ranglin's better works. A little bit of lounge reggae, but live Ranglin is worth it in any case.

Junior Kenny's dad is Ken Dread, one of the few Dutch (from Holland) reggae talents in the 80s and 90s. Roots in Suriname/Indonesia, a name that justly reminds you of Junior Kelly, and a decent band at that. The announced female backing vocals can't be heard yet, but they will be present later on.

Niasony is a daughter of Kempen. Kempen in Germany, and born in Congo. She has a wonderful voice perfectly used in the 'UFO Walter Mix' of the very catchy ska tune Nasina. In my opinion, the best tune I've heard so far. Koluka, too, is a very strong song, in a style of its own backed by Jin Jin, a band that previously accompanied Sebastian Sturm, Kiddus I and Pablo Moses. I am already eyeing the debut album of Niasony, 'Afroplastique'. My favourite for the win.

Also from Cologne's environment is Number ONE (Original Natural Enemy), but born in Ivory Coast. Jah is my driver could have been made by hand of Burning Spear (incidentally, he does have a song with the same title), in a production of Alpha Blondy. Vibration sounds a bit more funky, a bit African too, Spear remains the most important reference.

American influences are found in Rapha Pico & The Roots Rockers, a group of Dutchmen with roots in Martinique and Suriname. Rapha Pico recorded his debut album in Tuff Gong and was on stage with a.o. Vivian Jones, Julian Marley and Proteje. But his sound is too polished, reggae too close to  pop.

Riddimculcha (Cologne) is another jumpy euro reggae band with an African singer. I have lost interest in those. Roots Creation from Enschede on the other hand, produces reggae to my heart, timid roots that remind you of One Root (winners of 2012), with exquisite wind instruments and a three-member female choir. 'Time of excuses ' is a great song, together with Empress Black Omolo's 'Pressure', the nicest in this preselection.
Not a lot of words are needed for the 10 MCs. It's remarkable that their submissions are hardly any different from the music brought to us by the bands. Amsterdam local Leo Tan, French rapper Ousmane and our very own Puppasonic are the only true MCs on the battlefield, with

Daddy Clean a.k.a. Polyvalent MC as runner-up. Especially Ousmane manages to wow, with two tracks combining the best of Uman and Panache Culture. Brussels' Puppasonic & Radikal Sound (Paris) impress with a special version of 'Smoking my ganja' ('Sonnez l'alarme') in a faster than fast style. Best MC track of all! 'Cours Bombloclath' is recorded badly and leans closer to hiphop.
The only artist in tune with the sound of now in Jamaica is called Verse iTal, a singer (and barely MC) from Trinidad currently living in the Hague. 'Never hurt' is a ganja tune that could as well be heard on IrieFm, somewhere in between Damian & Proteje. He identifies 'Spring water' as a 'classic love song' and we can only agree with that. Sweet & nice, with pleasant backing vocals and subtle steel drums.

We recently saw Bredda Marcus (43!) in Dordrecht, supporting act of Earl 16. Sings equally well as Gentleman but does not have the same power or charisma. And why is the submission auto tuned? Fullany tries for the nth time and Leah Rosier has apparently managed to mobilise her fan club. We are left to be convinced.

Same goes for our own Mickey B. Such a dear, loving & conscious, but her lyrics are too ambitious and abundant. Too many words and sentences, no lines that stick. Too big of a message, too little groove. Find it is built around a plastic riddim, as if the Casio never left. This lady deserves better songs and musicians. 
And now onto the finals of the BeneluXXL Reggae Contest, 29 March in Petrol.