Spiritual - Awakening (VP Records)

Unfortunately we can't really tell you all that much about the singer from Allman Town. Spiritual lost both his parents at a young age and, like so many other Jamaicans, got his first singing experience in the local church choir. Instead of immediately starting to focus on establishing a music career for himself, instead Spiritual decided to devote himself to his Rasta principles. It was only when in 2013, together with Alborosie, he recorded 'Marathon' (included on Alborosie's 'Specialist presents Alborosie & Friends' album), that his life began to take a different turn. It was also Alborosie who introduced suggested Spiritual to producer Clifton 'Specialist' Dillon, the producer behind 'Awakening'. Vocally you could consider Spiritual to be the illegitimate son of Culture lead vocalist Joseph Hill and Winston 'Burning Spear' Rodney. The songs on 'Awakening' sound deliciously old school, something that's become somewhat of a rare commodity. Even though 'Awakening' is the kind of album is you should really appreciate in its entirety, we'll indulge in giving you our favorites from the track list: the more than catchy anthem 'Stand Up To Rasta', 'Liberation', the previously mentioned duet with Iba Mahr, and 'Tell Me Who', in which Spiritual asks who today's role models are and what has happened with "old heroes" like Jesus, Moses, Mandela or Martin Luther King. Nothing short of excellent debut from a true natural!