Richie Dan – Wicked Pon Street

Release Info

Richie Dan – Wicked Pon Street

Label:  Ruff Cutt Music | Format: DR | Street date: November 2, 2020 | Bandcamp

In the past six months or so, Ruff Cutt Records have been active with (re-)releasing productions in digital-only format. After being pleasantly surprised with the release of Keithy Douglas’ album “Brave Heart”, there’s another surprise coming from the Ruff Cutt camp. After again having opened their vaults, they now come up with a 10-track album from UK-based artist Richie Dan.

Richie Dan

Now an accomplished artist and performer, Richie Dan started to gain some recognition when he teamed up with Bubbler Ranks and Super Flex in the late ’90s to form the Status Crew. The trio based in North West London grew in popularity in their local reggae fraternity, had several record releases, and were featured on the compilation cd “Street Dealers Vol. 1, which was produced Mykey Samuels of Big Man Productions and recorded at the Ruff Cutt studio in Willesden, London. However, it was in the UK Garage scene that he established his name with hits like “Are You Ready For The Dan-Man” and “Call It Fate”. Furthermore, he also did well on the UK Reggae scene with the Ruff Cutt produced “Hold On To What You Got”.

Musicians

The gifted artist, who writes, sings and deejays, once called Ruff Cutt studio his second home where he worked with producers Tony Phillips, Kenton Brown, Anthony Anderson and Carlton ‘Bubbler’ Ogilvie. All tracks of this album were mixed by Carlton ‘Bubbler’ Ogilvie and besides the latter feature musicians such as Tony Phillips, Jazzwad, Matics Horn, Everton Samuels, and Valerie Skeete from internationally renowned women bands Akabu and Sista.

Lovers And Roots

On this album, Richie Dan not only shows that he’s a good singer, but also that he can deliver Lovers and Roots tunes in an equally convincing way. The first three tracks deal with affairs of the heart. It’s the familiar to the ears sounding opener “Real Man” that instantly makes a good impression and then proves to be one of the album’s highlights. Not far behind in quality are “Keep Our Love Steady” and “Sweet Little Pumpkin” with the latter benefitting from its awesome backdrop. Next comes the message tune “Gunplay” across Ruff Cutt’s relick of the “Billie Jean” riddim, which made a serious impact in the dance halls when the eclectic singer, deejay, rapper and whistler, Shinehead conquered the international reggae world in 1985 with his truly remarkable version of the Michael Jackson song. Equally strong is the title track, the compelling “Wicked Pon Street”, which is followed by “I Hear The Sound” on the superbly relicked “Drum Song” riddim. Richie Dan reaches high levels with “Be Responsible”, a great conscious tune everyone can relate to. Simply beautiful is “I Cry”, an acoustic track that allows Richie Dan to display his vocal to the fullest. The appealing “Chill Out” across the “Sorry” riddim is a fine example of well-executed UK Lovers Rock. The album then comes to an end with “Love To Love You”, a decent although one of the lesser efforts here.