BUCKET BOTTOM

By KAT

Man, Prince Alla (or Keith Blake, if you wanna get all formal about it) has been at this reggae thing since forever—like, late '60s, which is wild to think about. He first jumped in with Joe Gibbs and The Leaders, right at the tail end of that decade when everything in Jamaica was just exploding with sound.

This latest thing he’s put out for Cleopatra Records? It’s kind of a throwback party. He takes a bunch of his classics—using those original Freedom Sounds tapes as the backbone—and then either tweaks the vocals or sprinkles in some new stuff. But here's the thing: it never feels like he’s messing around just for the sake of it. The dude’s got respect for his own work, and it shows. Hearing joints like “Bucket Bottom,” “Lot’s Wife,” and “Youthman In The Ghetto” all freshened up but still familiar…yeah, that’s a vibe.

Oh, and he’s not shy about covering legends either. You get Marley’s “Natural Mystic” (no pressure, right?), plus Gregory Isaacs’ “Cool Down The Pace”—and okay, he’s not quite The Cool Ruler, but who is? It’s still good stuff. Then there’s “The Tide Is High,” which, let’s be real, probably made the cut ‘cause Blondie turned it into a crossover monster. But Alla keeps it true to the roots, no pop nonsense, and you can tell he’s having a blast with it.

Now, about his voice. It’s got this unique edge—sometimes you might catch a whiff of Dennis Brown in there (which, honestly, is never a bad thing), but Alla’s got his own flavor. He’s maybe a bit of an acquired taste for some, but hey, that’s what makes music interesting, right? Plus, if you skip the slightly odd “Silent Night” cover (hey, everyone gets weird at Christmas), the rest is just straight-up roots rasta goodness. “Ethiopian Vibes” pretty much nails what you’re getting here.

Bottom line? This album slaps. Prince Alla’s still proving why he’s one of reggae’s true kings. If you dig roots, you need this in your rotation.