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Zoned Out (Negril West, 2005) Zoned Out, the debut from dancehall singer Keely B, has energy to spare. This is straight-up, feel-good party music, the type that rhymes "ladies" with "Mercedes" (certainly preferable to "scabies"). While this album may have been released by a small independent label, it has a major-label sound, something akin to smooth, stylized dancehall crooners Wayne Wonder and Kevin Lyttle, who invaded the US in 2003 and 2004, respectively. While distribution limitations might not make this the "year of Keely B," that's no indication of the quality of Zoned Out. It brims with the type of frenzied beats and catchy hooks that drive the dancehall sound. Just throw it on, and you'll be rocking all night -- with a brief respite on the slow jam "I Know a Place." Aside from the R&B overtones on that tune, the album stays refreshingly true to the dancehall stylee, with little of the hip-hop that invariably permeates more mainstream releases. A remake of the Mamas & the Papas' "California Dreamin'" was released as the first single, and while the song works better than you'd think, in my book, the real highlights include the dreamy "Get Away," the pounding "Hype Up," the Latin-edged "Party Time," and the thoughtful "Every Little Morning." You can hear samples at myspace.com/keelybmusic. |
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