The “Reggae Gold” collection is in its 27th year. Every year, an album that brings together the best tracks is presented to the public and, if at the beginning reggae tracks were the majority, dancehall that has exploded over the last few years has made a name for itself. Although the name is “Reggae Gold”, this compilation now includes reggae and dancehall tracks.
“Reggae Gold 2020” was released by VP Records on August 28 and continues to seduce its fans who look forward to it every year.
This 27th album features no less than 19 tracks: 1. Lodge by Bounty Killer; 2. Blackboard by Beenie Man; 3. Toast by Koffee; 4. Big Big by Christopher Martin; 5. First Class Flight (feat. Prince Swanny) by Jahvillani; 6. Dumpling (Remix) (feat. Sean Paul, Spice) by Stylo G; 7. Spend ‘Nuff Money by Noah Powa; 8. Different Rankin by Squash; 9. Pretty Pon Snap by Daddy1; 10. Inches by Spice; 11. Jump Pan Mi by Potential Kidd; 12. Young by Stalk Ashley; 13. Nah Leave U by Konshens; 14. Mi Love Yuh by Queen Ifrica; 15. Only You (feat. Mya) by Jah Cure; 16. Best Of Me by Romain Virgo 17. All Woman by Ikaya; 18. Note To Self (feat. Chronixx) by Jah9; 19. Valley Of Jehoshaphat (Red Hot) by Richie Spice.
Some of the songs that have been selected to appear on this “Reggae Gold 2020” compilation have already been presented on Kariculture; these next 4 tracks, not yet.
“Different Rankin” the brand new Squash track was the first hit included in “Reggae Gold 2020” to be released by VP Records. Indeed, if the compilation was launched on August 28, “Different Rankin” was issued on August 05 and the video clip, on August 04, to celebrate the birthday of the trap-dancehall king. It was therefore an honour for the artist to be part of this collection, which has been in existence for almost thirty years. Through this composition, the 6iix Boss celebrates life without complex with anything that is expensive (champagne, luxury cars…).
“All Woman” which is ranked 17th on the album is a beautiful song by Ikaya, produced by Jeremy Harding. Being well known for her previous hits such as “Ugly Girl”, “Leave You Alone” featuring Jesse Royal and “Hard Way”, the composer came back with a hymn to women. “All Woman” empowers women from all walks of life. The song celebrates the way we look, how we speak, what we think and where we are from. The song unifies us and reminds us that we have more in common than not, and dare I say, the song encourages men to love us just as we are too! (…)”, said Natasha Von Castle in charge of promotion at VP Records who, without a doubt, loves this song as an Ikaya fan and especially as a woman. At the end of the track, we will appreciate the names of great female figures such as Michelle Obama, Nanny of the Maroons, Angela Davis, Grace Jones, Winny Mandela or Nina Simone, mentioned by the artist who also calls for justice for Breonna Taylor, this 26-year-old African-American woman killed by police last March while she was sleeping…
“Nah Leave U” is a song by Konshens. The singer is adored by women because he knows how to talk to them and he also knows that “the most active consumers of dancehall right now are women”, as Natasha Von Castle told us. They spend more time on sites such as YouTube, Spotify and Instagram watching the activities of the artists they love. They also want to have a secure love relationship. By telling them in this song “Mih nah leff yuh” (I will never leave you), Konshens becomes the hero of these ladies.
On 04 September 2020, VP Records offered us “Mi Love Yuh” by Queen Ifrica. This is the 14th track of the 2020 Reggae Gold compilation, it was produced by Jefferey “Agent Sasco” Campbell for Diamond Studios. The singer, who is known to talk about social issues in her songs (“Daddy”, “Serve and Protect”, “Black Woman” etc.), deals with gender relations in this composition. Even though “Mi Love Yuh” was released on Valentine’s Day 2019, VP Records thought it was “a great song”, so worthy of being part of this prestigious annual album.
