Various: Def Jamaica

Reviewed by GRAHAM REID


Inevitable really, given the label name. Just as inevitable is the cover warning however: "STRONG impact coarse language and/or themes".

So it's potty-mouthed, gang bangin' electro hip-hop with a reggae substructure. But it's also pretty sharp as a rollcall of major players like X-Ecutioners, Ghostface Killa, Jay-Z, Buju Banton and others haul dancehall and rap together in a cauldron of riddum, murda and nasty beats.

Some killer cuts here, notably the version of the bFM playlisted Anything Goes with CNN ("say you wanna take my life, say you wanna hurt my wife"), Method Man and Redman on the Stephen Marley-produced Lyrical .44 which discreetly samples I Shot the Sheriff, the ghetto poetry of Together, and the dark Murda featuring Scarface. Dread, beats and blood.

(Def Jam)