Niyorah - Rising Sun (Denkenesh Records)

An error of judgment on our part it seems, because apart from a handful of lesser tunes (the lyrically rather naïve 'Rain Forest', a duet with Puerto Rican Hector 'El Negro' Tinels), 'Rising Sun' is nothing less than an excellent release. Even though these days he runs his own Denkenesh Records label ("dinkenesh" is Amharic for "you're beautiful" and is also the Ethiopian name for Lucy, a woman who lived about 3.2 million years ago and whose skeleton was recovered in Ethiopia), Niyorah's first albums appeared on the I Grade Records label, and for 'Rising Sun' he once again joined forces with producer Laurent 'Tippie' Alfred: both title track 'Rising Sun', for which Niyorah invited the New Zealander band House Of Shem, 'War Is Not The Answer' (over the Song Bird riddim) and 'Media Portray' were produced by Alfred. But Jamaican producers like George 'Dusty' Miller (Firehouse Crew) and DJ Frass also lent a hand on 'Rising Sun'; the first signed for the solid 'Rastafari Is My Guide' over the classic Answer riddim, and with the lovers tune 'Love You The Same Way' DJ Frass sees to it the queens aren't overlooked. For opener 'Calculate', 'Workday' (Rub-A-Dub Market riddim) and the great ganja tune 'Medicinal Ganja' featuring Icarus, Niyorah crossed the ocean Niyorah to work with Danish Ice Drop Records, Austrian Irievibrations Records and French duo Bost & Bim. Finally, Niyorah ended up in the Moroccan city of Casablanca where he collaborated with producer Saj Moor for the dancehall-influenced 'Dirty Streets'. Niyorah is definitely the U.S. Virgin Islands' "rising son"!