Solid Gold U Roy

The death of U Roy in February at the age of 78 had an ‘end of an era’ feeling, since ‘The Originator’ had transformed the role of Jamaica’s sound system deejays into full-on stars at the microphone whose chanted rhymes were as important as the lyrics of any singer, his innovation spawning the dancehall style and heavily influenced rap in the US. The posthumous Solid Gold U Roy, produced by The Who drummer Zak Starkey, was recorded before he succumbed to long-standing health issues. Here, his dynamic delivery and lyrical flow is still on maximal form.

The set allows U Roy to revisit gems from his back catalogue with a range of contemporary guests, versioning ‘Trenchtown Rock’ with Ziggy Marley and ‘Rule the Nation’ with Shaggy, and even Santigold sounds in place of a remake of ‘Man Next Door’, the original a Paragons chart-topper in the late 60s. A version of ‘Small Axe’ with upcoming Jamaican vocalist Jesse Royal and a take of ‘Tom Drunk’ with Tarrus Riley sound spot-on, and if allowing Robbie Shakespeare to sing lead on ‘Queen Majesty’ was a blunder, the extended closer, ‘Every Knee Shall Bow’, pairing U Roy with fellow toaster Big Youth, is a definite high point.