After serving since 2002 as one of Gentleman's female background vocalists alongside Tamika with whom she shared "Good Days" on the brilliant live set "Gentleman And The Far East Band: Live" , and being a member of Sister Keepers - whose single "Liebe Und Verstand (Love And Consciousness)" got a German Black Music Award nomination in 2001 - before that, Mamadee now finally enters the spotlight all by herself, with this Maxi CD "Lass Los" Let Go. It is a beautiful tune, very reminiscent of the kind of lovers tune you'd expect from Gentleman, and being the first signing to his Bushhouse Records, with musical backing from his Far East Band, and his manager Stephan 'White Scorpio' Schulmeister at the production helm alongside Far East Band's drummer Marco Baresi, responsible for Germaican Records' lovely 'Valentine'-riddim, that's no surprise. With the brokenhearted lyrics:
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Ist das der Preis den du zahlst wenn, du alles gibst tief vom Herzen?
Ich schenkte deinen Worten glauben, jetzt sehe ich wie viel sie taugen.
Was ich suchte war die Wahrheit, über dich einer Persönlichkeit,
Personen kannst du gut verkaufen!

Jede Sekunde tut so weh, vielleicht ist es besser wenn ich einfach geh

Ich lass dich los
lass dich einfach los,
bitte geh soweit weg wie´s geht

later followed by:

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Und sollte ich weinen, wenn du mich morgen hier zurücklässt,
du wirst schon sehen, wer am Ende überrascht wird .
Und sollte ich sterben, wenn du mir sagst das es vorbei ist,
Ich wollt so viel mit dir erleben, doch du willst es mir nicht geben.

Jede Sekunde tut so weh, vielleicht ist es besser wenn ich einfach geh

Jede Sekunde tut so weh, vielleicht ist es besser wenn ich einfach geh!

Ich lass dich los
lass dich einfach los,
bitte geh soweit weg wie´s geht

this is a truly heartfelt plea to her (former) lover to accept being let off, and to leave her alone, if that is the price she has to pay for giving all her heart. The version "feat. Gentleman" is only adds more spice to a tune that is strong already, and it was this version that also entered the televised mainstream-event Bundesvision Songcontest in Germany to represent Nordrhein-Westfalen. The "Summer 79 Mix" is a nice slowsoul reworking of "Lass Los" with a heavy bass in the mainly softer backing, with all instruments played by md (I assume that it is an alias of Mamadee) as well as all mixing and production. "Give Something" is an excellent piece of UK Lovers Rock backed again by Gentleman's Far East Band, and again produced by White Scorpio and Marco Baresi. Kingstone's Lazy Youth is responsible for the successor of their successful 'Señorita'-riddim (that was also used for one of the versions of Gentleman's combination with Mustafa Sandal "Isyankar" now storming the German Reggae Charts), 'The Truth', a one-drop riddim, that Mamadee rides for her wonderful "Hör Nicht Auf" Don't Stop and that will be released at the end of this month with versions by Gentleman, T.O.K., Voicemail, Lutan Fyah, Mr.Easy, Jack Radics, Chico, Geoffry Star & Pampi Judah, Bruce Barron & Shocking Murray, Danny English & Terry-Lynn, Tolga and Phenomden. "Trust In You" is a Gentleman and 'White Scorpio' produced tune that again has lots of UK Lovers Rock influences, with a riddim layed by the Far East Band, mixed in Jamaica by Steven Stanley. Kingstone associate mixing engineer B Bazzazian contributes the almost jazzy mix and instruments for the downtempo mix carrying his name "Bazzazian Mix" before the man behind the mixing desk for most tunes on this Maxi CD the German dub pioneer Helmut 'H.P. Setter' Philipps (also known for his dub poetry production, dubs with Dr.Ring-Ding, and several other productions, as well as contributor to German reggae magazine riddim) mixes an excellent "Dub" version. The Maxi CD closes with a real ballad version of "Lass Los" backed by just grand piano and strings the "Nightwater Mix" that is just as strong as every other tune on this album, that makes you curious whether a full length Mamadee album is in the can. Till then, this disc will satisfy your roots and lovers needs.