Yaga Yaga (EastWest, 1994)

If you were to create a standard by which dancehall DJs are to be judged, you could make a good case for picking Terror Fabulous.  This isn't necessarily a compliment, though; I mean that he is just so darn generic.  He is a fine DJ, but his look, his style -- a bit too similar to a pre-dreadlocked Buju Banton, though he is better than carbon copy Mega Banton -- and his material are just not distinctive enough.  Still, to his credit, he gained enough of a following (Some might say riding Buju's coattails, but Terror Fabulous has had enough good songs to stand on his own.) to warrant this major-label album.  Yaga Yaga shows, however, why he will never be as big as Buju Banton.  The tracks, though solid, are not overwhelming, largely because they have such a typical dancehall sound.  Many of the tunes revolve around recycled rhythms -- courtesy of Dave Kelly -- beats often put to better use on more well-known songs.  "Talk 'Bout," for instance -- which features the admirable stylings of Wayne Wonder -- is nice, but it utilizes the rhythm made popular by Buju Banton and Heavy D's superior "Hotness."  Terror Fabulous, though, did strike gold when his "Action" crossed over into the mainstream, a feat for a song with a "true" dancehall rhythm.  Other strong cuts are the hits "Gangster's Anthem" and "Number 2," and the title cut, which is Born Jamerican-esque in its use of a dancehall bass line with a hip-hop beat.  Still, I can't help but see Yaga Yaga as a poor man's Voice of Jamaica.