Manudigital – Digital Kingston Session

Release Info

Manudigital – Digital Kingston Session

Label:  X-Ray Production | Format: LP-DR | Street date: April 25. 2018 | Website Label | Bandcamp

Manudigital

French riddim maker, bass player and producer specialized in digital Reggae, Emmanuel Heron aka Manudigital has been involved in Reggae music for more than 15 years now and has worked with many artists such as Alborosie, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Biga Ranx, Babylon Circus to name only five. Manudigital’s various web series (Digital Sessions, Back Inna Days…) are being shared worldwide across social media inspiring new fans every day. In 2016, he released his first solo album “Digital Pixel”. For his next release, the beatmaker teamed up with Jamaican veteran DJ legend and close friend Joseph Cotton to make a record in the pure tradition of the golden era of Digital Reggae. That album called “Manudigital meets Joseph Cotton & Friends” was released in April 2017.

Unique project

Almost exactly a year after the release of the 8-track vinyl LP “Manudigital meets Joseph Cotton & Friends”, there’s finally the eagerly awaited release of “Digital Kingston Session”, which has been recorded with a nice array of artists. It’s an unique project as recordings were done in the streets of Kingston, Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago with Manudigital playing the riddims on the Casio MT-40. It actually was a Casio music box that played a pivotal role in kick-starting the digital phase of reggae in 1985 as it was used in the creation of the riddim for Wayne Smith’s crucial record “Under Me Sleng Teng”. It completely turned Jamaican music around!

Artists

Artists like King Kong, King Everald, and Pad Anthony fully experienced that shift in reggae music and voiced Casio riddims for King Jammy at the time. Now these veterans have done that again for this unique Manudigital project. Together with the other artists featured here, they recall the excitement caused by mostly ‘freestyle’ tunes across fully computerized riddims.

Side A

King Kong expertly rides the riddim with his instantly recognizable powerful, gospel-ting wail, delivering an excellent cut. Next comes General Degree, who started gaining attention in the early 1990s, is known for seemingly effortless handling any kind of riddim and his consistency. Here he pulls out all the stops to treat the listener to a fully entertaining cut. King Everald – also known as King Everall – shared a clash LP in 1985 with Pad Anthony, who’s also featured here. After initially having started as a deejay, he later became a singer and had a string of hits in the dancehall such as “After All”, “Deathtrap”, “Bad Girls”, “Automatic” and “Fraid of Dem”. Here he revisits his King Jammy produced song “Dance Hall Business” aka “Send For The King” that came on the much versioned “Far East” riddim. Wicked dancehall singer Derrick Parker’s “Cool It Down” is a heavy soundclash tune with a pumping bassline, delivered in the original soundkilla’s unique style. This song full of vibes and energy was originally done for Flash Hits Record out of France.

Side B

Also on the flipside a soundclash tune, this time from Pad Anthony. The latter recorded numerous hits with King Jammy, but is also well-known for his ‘soundboy’ tunes and his recording of dubplates for all top tier sound systems. So not really surprising that he contributes such a tune here. Two exponents of a younger generation round off the “Digital Kingston Session” LP. First there’s the indomitable Cali P, the Lyrical Faya, with a blazing ganja song. Probably the most surprising offering comes from Queen Omega. Never thought this fine Trini roots empress could really excel on a computerized riddim, but her passionately performed piece is a real killer that goes on repeat. BOOM!!