Ras Fraser Jr. - Journey To Greatness (Rebel Sound Records)

It goes without saying that Fraser Jr. was spoon-fed reggae from an early age - Jhemel already joined his father on stage at the tender age of eighth - but on 'Journey To Greatness' you'll just well find influences from hip-hop ('World Peace') and r&b (opener 'Source Of Life', an ode to music and some of Ras Fraser Jr.'s musical heroes, 'The World Needs Love', reminding yours truly somewhat of Lauryn Hill's 'To Zion'). Vocally, Fraser Jr. is reminiscent of Norris Man, and stylistically perfectly fits in with the line of Boboshanti-artists that reigned supreme in early 2000s with one after the other release on Josef Bogdanovich's Downsound label.

Just the once the young artist opts for a classic riddim, 'Hungry Days' being a version over the Answer riddim as heard in Scientist's 'King Tubby's Answer', but really retro Fraser Jr. goes with love tune 'Let Her Go', which was given an early sixties vibe. Top tracks: sound anthem 'Big Sound', 'Let No One Stop You', immediately taking the listener back to the heydays of the singjay-style (think Anthony B at the time of 'Real Revolutionary'), 'Remember Burn Babylon', that is in the same vein, and then of course there's still the aforementioned 'Hungry Days'. Successful debut, every now and again causing a slight déjà-vu, but featuring the kind of tunes you wish would be around again. Ras Fraser Jr. is definitely one to keep an eye on!