King Mas - Rasta Evolution (Nature's Way Entertainment/VPal)

Mas got his musical genes from his father, Glenford T. Prospere, who, in the calypso scene, acquired an almost legendary status as Supreme. Asked about his musical influences, King Mas cites Buju Banton and Beres Hammand as well as Busta Rhymes or even Brian McNight. It's almost as if 'Rasta Evolution' is divided into two parts, with first a series of conscious songs and the second half focusing more on lovers tunes. This time, we were most taken with the first category, as tracks like 'Pretty Words' or 'Ocean Of Emotion', just felt a tad too poppy and commercial. That he can do different, Mas proves with 'Coffee Pot', an excellent lovers tune opening with the sound of a boiling coffee pot, 'Running Back To You', a duet with Jemere Morgan, and 'Crazy Love', a reggae version of Van Morrison's classic already immortalized by Maxi Priest. Opener 'Our Story' is an acoustic song in which King Mas recounts the history of the black diaspora and the subsequent 'See Dem & Blind' is one of the highlights on 'Rasta Evolution'. In the intro of 'Peace & Love' you'll hear an excerpt of president Dwight D. Eisenhower's farewell speech, in which he warned the audience for the influence of the "military-industrial complex"; a term that is attributed to him. Title song 'Evolution', in which King Mas States the future for Rastafarians does not lie in revolution but in evolution, is another of the highlights on the album. 'Walk Like A Champion', of which 'Rasta Evolution' contains two different versions, is sort of a revamp of Buju Banton's 'Champion' and should be considered a tribute to the troubled singer who's still serving a sentence in an American prison. We weren't completely satisfied with 'Rasta Evolution', but none the less King Mas managed to make us curious for more.