Gyptian’s “Sex, Love and Reggae” Rises To Higher Heights

Gyppy’s Latest Album Debuted At No. 1 on Billboard’s Reggae Chart

The night before Gyptian released his latest album Sex, Love & Reggae he spent the evening celebrating his 30th birthday with Rob Kenner on Radio Lily. After the webcast Gyppy and an entourage of his  friends, including Bascom XFyakin, Khago and Danielle D.I. rolled over to the legendary SOB‘s to continue  the celebration at the highly anticipated, SOB’s Reggae Music Fest, presented by Tree Reid Promotions. NYC’s renowned selector DJ Stranger,  X-Caliber Sound warmed up the crowd  awaiting their arrival. Next up, the extraordinary  Derrick Barnett (founder and former bassist for the legendary Jamaican band Sagittarius ) and his Statement Band including Raymond Stewart on  keyboards, Andy Bassford on guitar and Damian Martellie on drums, excited the crowd with an electrifying live session. When Gyptian hit the stage around 10:30pm, the  crowd ignited. Album Review and Video After The Jump… 

“You ready?” Gyptian questioned the crowd and the single ladies banded together at the front of the stage with lots of tympanic screaming. Gyptian started the concert off with some conscious tunes from his past albums including  “Mama Don’t Cry,”   “Serious Times”  and from the new album, Sex, Love and Reggae,  “Reggae Morning.”  The temperature in SOBs rose as Gyptian delivered more new tunes from the album,   “One More Time, ” “Wine Slow,” ” Turn Me On,” and “Overtime” while dancing on stage and prompting some erotic dancing amongst the couples in attendance ( See Photo Gallery).  The  show reached its climax when Gyptian’s surprised guests came out one by one on stage  to the unexpected crowds’ amazement.  Fyakin hit the stage first and almost got pulled off this platform  singing  “You are My Lady” and “Make Sweet Love”  then Bascom X  served it up  with crowd pleasers “Lonely Girl” and “Same Way”, next Khago let the crowd know he was a loyal friend with popular hit  “Nah Sell Out” and got sexy with the ladies on “Tun Up Di Ting.”  Last but not least the Rebel, Danielle D.I. hit the stage in feminine fierceness with “My Man” and “Pat It Up” in a multi-colored  cat suit eliciting lion roars from the men in the crowd. In the final segment of the concert Gyptian sang the empathetic love ballad, “I Can Feel Your Pain,” followed by his renditions of Cindy Lauper’s “True Colors” and Gregory Isaacs’ “Number One.” The final song was “Hold Yuh” with Derrick Barnett playing a synthesized bass solo.  The combination of a  great DJ, Band,  line up of artists and  stellar live performances makes this a NYC night to remember. 

ALBUM REVIEW:

        Who can forget the multi-chart topping success of  Gyptian’s last album, Hold Yuh? The album’s smash title track “Hold Yuh, ”  a cleverly simple riddim produced by top New York producer Ricky Blaze, was certified gold earlier this year. Ricky Blaze from Brooklyn also produced, wrote and performed the incendiary hit, “Just You and I.” When “Hold Yuh”  hit the airways in the summer of 2010, you could not walk down any block in Brooklyn without hearing this beat blasting from cars or provoking a frenzy and belly dance swaying of the hips on dance floors. The world wide airplay of the song conditioned audiences like kids hearing the stimulus for the ice cream truck on a scorching hot summer day, leaving salivating fans wanting more Gyptian!

       Well Gyptian’s back and giving us more than we bargained for with “Sex, Love and Reggae”(V.P. Records).  This 18-track album co-executively produced by Grammy Award winning musical composer and producer, Jerry “Wonda” Duplessis, starts off with the G-spot intro…. Know what your thinking…Hold that thought! After hearing the auto-tuned repetition of “Gyptian Coming” in this introduction, a hypnotic induction ensues. One can then hold a mind cleansing meditation with the song “Reggae Morning.” This song emphasizes self-regulation of the mind, body and spirit as the day commences. Then affirm that you will have a great day with “Be Alright” and its reggae, pop-like sound.

     Now that you cleared your mind, its time for a physical work out with the straight club bangers “I’m So” and “Non Stop.” Speaking of work, check your employment eligibility with the song “Overtime.” But Gyptian clearly states no Jezebels allowed with  “Vixen” featuring the fierce vocals of Angela Hunte, who co-wrote the song  “Empire State of Mind” featuring Jay-Z and Alicia Keys, multi-Grammy Award winning artists. Lo and Behold! This song contains yet another Fuzzy Jones intro so you already know it’s a hot dancehall track!  Now that your warmed up, get your cardio on with some reggae-soca aerobics!  The album title track “Sex, Love and Reggae” produced by masterminds Major Lazer and Jerry Wonda also features vocals of Angela Hunte and five time, Trinidad Soca Monarch, Bunji Garlin. Gyptian makes an impression on “Wet Fete” sounding like a straight soca artist along with the vocals of Kees from Kes The Band; who won the International Groovy Soca Monarch for the massive crowd favorite, “Wotless.”   Time to relax and breath as Gyptian cools down the pace with the sultry vocals of “Turn Me On,” the verbal foreplay commands of “Wine Slow,” the opposites attract theme of “Good Girls,” and the tantalizing beats of “One More Time” featuring multi-Grammy award winning artist Melanie Fiona’ s exceptional vocals.

        Gyptian takes it up another notch in terms of lyrical content with the final section of the album. “Majestic Love” featuring Estelle (who brought us the Grammy Award winning song “American Boy”) tells of a present day royal and respectable love that transcends from ancient days. The most creative and relatable song on the album, “Murderer” discusses the ultimate relationship killer, “paranoia” surrounding fidelity. The  song opens up with a persecutory voicemail intro from Gyptian’s love interest giving him a verbal slaughter. Following this, Gyptian shows vulnerability but with a Top Shotta exterior in the song line “real gangsta never cry!” Don’t worry if you need a hug Gyptian comforts you with his vibrant rendition of Cindy Lauper’s cuddly hit, “True Colors.” The next track pays homage to one of the greatest reggae icons to walk the earth on the third anniversary of the Cool Ruler‘s passing. The album release comes at the right timing and Gyptian makes a special tribute to Gregory Isaacs with fan favorite, “Number One.” With the latter renditions, Gyptian simultaneously reminds fans and exposes new audiences to these “Oldies but Goodies.” The album closes with a sophisticated jazz reggae track “SLR.” Gyptian excels on this album taking fans to higher heights with interesting song topics, collaborations with high caliber artists and producers and an outstanding variation in vocal ability. Purchase Sex, Love & Reggae on  iTunes

 Backstage Vibes at SOBs…

More Backstage Vibes at SOBs w Bascom X…

These Are Some Serious Times…

Gyptian’s Tribute to The Cool Ruler, Gregory Isaacs (Rest In Peace 10/25/2010) 

Photography by Jahvtz Blanton

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11 Responses

  1. king Lion says:

    This Article is awesome…very informative…learned quite a few things I wasn’t aware of…Char u r in full stride..Keep up the great work! Jah Speed

  2. Garfield. Hall says:

    Wow
    Well written
    Very informative
    Well done

  3. Daniel says:

    I feel like I owe someone money. That was the most entertaining music article I have read in a long time. The concert was wild and thank you for this album Gyptian me and my girl might make baby number two with this one.

  4. peter says:

    Im new to reggae music but Im gonna purchase this on itunes because I loved the review. Thanks boomshots

  5. Thanks for the kind words! We had a blast on this gig.

  6. D says:

    Great article

  7. anwar says:

    Great article learned a lot about Gyptian sounds lile he has a pretty good album out I’ll check it out great work Char

  8. Jahvtz says:

    Big Up Charlene, well done

  9. Yemi says:

    I love dancehall as a genre because it can range from the political to the sensual to the lighthearted dance the night away. I think that the reviewer captured this in her article and how Gyptian approaches the genre with his album in particular. I look forward to reading more of her work.

  10. Ummi Vee says:

    Respect Charlene! I love the article and love the video choices for the Sexy Gyptian that you uploaded, thank you!

  11. iceborgg says:

    Was I at this concert, if so I don’t remember being there, but from this article, sounds like I was, Thanks Char for getting me off my couch and transformming me to higher heights….peace 1 love

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