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Title Artist Label Format Date |
Unstoppable
Chino Big Ship/24x7 Records - Victor Entertainment CD/LP November 21, 2007 |
Track list
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Rating :
from 5 (excellent) to 1 (poor) |
| Vocals : 4/5 | Backing : 5 | Production : 5 | Sound quality : 5 | Sleeve : 4/5 |
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Freddie McGregor's son - and brother of one of
the hottest producers of last year Stephen 'Di Genius' McGregor, for
whom (and also for joint productions of Stephen with Delly Ranx) he voiced almost
every riddim that was on Big Ship and Pure Music released in the past
one-and-a-half year - Daniel McGregor a.k.a. Chino was born on the 12th of
February 1983 in what can only be called a VERY musical family (his sister Shema is an artist in
her own right as well). At the age of nine, he sang in the Vaz Preparatory
School's Choir. He has toured the world since then, making countless
appearances with his father as well as in his own right as an artiste who
raps, deejays, sings, as well as plays the guitar, drums, piano, and bass.
He is a songwriter who has produced such artistes as Luciano, Daville, TOK,
Danny English, Kiprich and of course his own dad, Freddie McGregor. Due to the
fact that the Big Ship Recording Studio is his home, from the cradle, Chino
had the opportunity to learn all he needs to know about the production of
music. He began his career as rap artiste in collaboration with Bryan San (the
brother of Papa San) on a song called "Joy". He also featured in two
collaborations with Kiprich, "Leggo Di Bwoy" and "Gimmi Di Gyal", with the
former reaching number one in 1999 on the Jamaican charts with heavy video
rotations locally and internationally, under his former artist name
Cappuc(c)ino. Since then, he worked with the USA-based Slip 'N' Slide Records,
home to artists such as Trina and Trick Daddy. His career evolved further when
he collaborated with his father on "There's A Reward For Me" on the
Grammy-nominated album "Anything For You", before he really made his mark on
the dancehallscene when he recorded (the here included) "Girls Dem Str8" for
Kurt & Andre Riley in 2005. Several of the tunes he recorded since have now
been collected on this Japan-only release of his very impressive debut album
"Unstoppable" (that is supposed to be released worldwide in a couple of
months). 'Breaking News' is the first riddim by Stephen 'Di Genius' McGregor that Chino rides on this album, a brilliant riddim, hectic like all of Stephen's productions but a bit slower yet with enormous pressure an a superb 'Love Punaany Bad'-sample, pushing Chino's "Do So Fah" boast to great heights, before his 2005 tune over Kurt & Andre Riley's 'I Am The Ruler' (indeed the wonderful Alton Ellis 1968 Studio One riddim) for their Worthington Project label "Girls Dem Str8" shows what a fine dancehall singjay Chino is with an almost Sean Paul like approach to his delivery and "High Grade Alone" over Kings Of Kings' Cordel 'Scatta' Burrell's almost euro-disco 'Inevitable'-riddim praises the weed. On "Naturally" Chino's delivery is once more very reminiscent of Sean Paul's style over a Dillon Reid riddim for Dillon's Manatee Records. One of THE tunes on this album "Red Bull & Guinness" lends this album it's title (from the chorus these youths are unstoppable) and also gave the first Stephen McGregor & Delly Ranx production, the booming 'Red Bull & Guinness'-riddim its name and is followed by the very soulful R&B/dancehall crossover "Keep It Real" produced by Stephen and Chino together and the Dennis Brown tribute (with DEB's magnificent voice sampled in for an 'impossible combination') "Handwritings" over a great acoustic backing revamping Dennis' 1982 tune "Handwritings On The Wall" (from the "Love Has Found Its Way" album). The great anti-cocaine statement "Weed Smoke" over Sly & Robbie's relick of the Soul Vendor's 1968 Studio One 'Darker Shade Of Black'-riddim is up next, with Chino incorporating snatches of Black Uhuru/Michael Rose's famous stalk of sinsemilla-lyrics to full effect. After those three more laidback tunes, it's back to hardcore dancehall business again with "Chronic To My Brain" over Philip 'Junior Arrows' Linton's synth-dominated truly hardcore dancehall 'Bullet Proof Vest'-riddim, the by beautiful ZIP 103 FM DJ Nicole 'Nikky Z' Duhaney for her own Goldie Lox label recorded marching (and together with Jammy's son Jam 2 produced) 'Z-March'-riddim for the tough "Mouth Badman", the for Michael 'Liquid' Brissett's H2O-label (originally a Donovan 'Vendetta' Bennett spin-off) by Stephen built '12 Gauge'-riddim that was clearly inspired by and in the same vein as 'Red Bull & Guinness', built in Freddie's Big Ship Studio backing the more than solid "Inna Di Club" and "Hardcore (Top Rankin)" over Stephen's dense 'Tremor'-riddim, with lots of percussion, a Spanish acoustic guitar somewhere deep in the mix and its synth-accents still lending it the usual 'cold'-vibe of his riddims. "All Night" is a smooth bubbling lovers tune over Open Ear Music's 'Natural Breeze'=riddim that shows the promise its producers Matthew 'Preki' Lawrence & 'Davy' Dunbar as well as Chino as (auto-tuned) lovers rock singer keep, followed by the penultimate tune of the album, another hardcore dancehall tune "Girl Dem Want", although credited to Chalwa Records' Michael 'Factor' Jarrett a typical Stephen McGregor production of his brother Chino which means another strong tune, before the album is closed with "Success" over a riddim, clearly audible written by Stephen McGregor and Chino yet built by Christopher 'Longman' Birch & RDX for George Howard's Ground God Music, to finish an extremely satisfying debut album, that despite its 15 tunes is still lacking some real scorchers, that will hopefully be included on the upcoming worldwide release of this Chino McGregor debut. As long as it's only available in Japan, a good and safe route to obtain this record would be to buy it where I bought it, at one of the last surviving specialist Jamaican music recordshops in Europe - that also provides mailorder - Münster based Irie Records. |
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