Disc one starts off with "Tiger Bone," featuring a duet between the versatile Sean Paul and Mr. Vegas. Paul sounds excellent here, surprising me with his singing skills. I was a doubter, but this one is helping me. This is followed an even bigger surprise, the powerful "Mi Sick" by Gabriel. In a similar vein is Frankie Sly's "Papa Proud."
Other well known contributors include Spragga Benz ("Elum"), Beenie Man/Ras Moses ("Damn!!"), and Tanto Metro and Devonte ("Suzie"). Among the newer artists are Chico ("Nah Support Dem") and TOK (on the uneven "Bad Man Anthem").
While neither riddim is groundbreaking, both stand above the majority of middle-of-the-road riddims coming out. Both have deep, driving bass melodies and stutter-step drum tracks with enough extra little touches to make them listenable while providing a somewhat compelling backdrop for the DJs.
The nice bonus here is the above-average mega mix CD with over 30 tracks. The definite highpoint is Gabriels aforementioned "Mi Sick" while the lowpoint is General B's awful "Monster Commandments" -- not as bad as Goofy's "Somebody Just Poop" (perhaps reggae's all-time low point), but still quite painful. Overall, though, this mix works well because there is no talking like on VP's promo mix tapes. The selection provides a nice number of cuts that aren't on the regular disc.
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