Street Hits (Street Scholars, 2005)

Binghi Ghost is a young sing-jay from reggae hotspot St. Croix, but unlike most of the music I've heard from the Virgin Islands thus far, his sound is more focused on dancehall and hip-hop than the roots sound of Midnite and others.  About half of the album features dancehall riddims, but there's still a good dose of roots (about 6 or 7 tracks).  While only 3 or so tracks have hip-hop beats, there are another 5 or so on which Binghi Ghost has guest MCs rapping, so chances are your enjoyment of Street Hits may depend partly on how much you enjoy your reggae peppered with hip-hop beats and, more importantly, rapping.  I tend to prefer hip-hop beats rather than rapping, and this album in no exception.  The rapping here isn't as strong as Binghi Ghost's chatting -- not that the rapping is bad per se, but his DJ skills are quite sharp and thus make the so-so rapping stand out all the more.  His vocals are energetic and engaging, and when combined with strong production values -- including several familiar riddims that you usually hear on the major (reggae) labels -- they concoct an impressive final product. Even if I didn't enjoy the rapping, though, that impacts only about 5 tracks, and it certainly doesn't take away from the strength of the other songs.  "Nah Support," "Sgt. Brown," "Dem Waan Know," and "Greedy Nation" are funky roots jams, while "No Peace" and "Skin Dem Burn" provide energetic dancehall diversions, and "Warning" and "Mother Nature" meld dancehall with hip-hop as seamlessly as one can hope for.  Street Hits is a solid debut with an appropriate title; these songs feature the edgy "street sounds" of today -- hip-hop and dancehall -- coming not only from the streets, but from the heart.  See binghighost.com.