Gentleman
Journey To Jah

Reggae - Boring, slow, and endlessly repetitive music. It is made by black people, mainly those from Jamaica, usually the Rastaman. Rastaman - It's a prototype of a human being who spends his entire day smoking plants (as long as they're not tobacco), preaching peace, love, brotherhood. In short, all friends-friends-friends. By evening, he no longer understands anything, his brain is so (un)melted that it goes off on a tangent, often risking confusing a dictator for a god, and a mass of mucus mixed with hair, for hair (more mucus anyway).

Okay, some of these things are true. But it's also true that Capleton, perhaps the most famous representative of the genre, can be seen at concerts dressed in the uniform of the Ethiopian dictator Haile Selassie (the same as before, ed.), sitting on his flaming red throne, while four guys (more like slaves than sound technicians) cart him around the stage. And that's funny. It's a bit less funny that in July 2004 a team of twelve armed Rastafarian black men organized a sort of punitive expedition, entering a building with banners in favor of gender equality hanging from the windows. Result: two demonstrators in the hospital, and a sensational lawsuit against a certain Buju Banton, one of the most famous voices on the international reggae scene. It seems, therefore, that the new Rasta current is no longer intending to follow the commandments of the great Roberto Marley. So onward with racism, and especially lots and lots of homophobia. Not so friendly then. Fortunately, there are also positive exceptions.

A young white man, without mucus on his head (but also without hair for that matter), a German to boot (?!?!), decides to make Reggae, and he even succeeds. Brilliantly, I would say. His name is Gentleman, the anomaly. It's surprising that he's white, not only because he goes against the stereotype but also because he has (incredibly) the voice of a black man. I won't talk much about the musical aspect because, in reality, the CD in question consists of everything one can expect from the genre. Scanning a bit through "Journey to Jah", a bit of innovation is found in its being balanced between Reggae Roots (the one by Roberto, so to speak) and the new Reggae Muffin, "harder" if you will, syncopated, occasionally close to Hip Hop. But above all, it's his enormous ease in shaping pleasant melodies, enjoyable, even if (always and in any case) typical of Reggae, that is surprising. In fact, out of fifteen tracks, there are at least ten potential singles, and I'm not exaggerating when I say that if at the time (2001) Reggae had been as trendy as Hip Hop is now, Gentleman would have at least ended up at the Festivalbar. Not that this does justice to an artist, mind you. I bring up the Non-senseivalbar to underscore his incredible ability to create immediate music (after all, we're not talking about Metal), that easily imprints itself on your mind and could therefore allow him to appeal to the large masses with dormant ears. "Man of My Own" is touching, and counts on the participation of the illustrious Reggae family, the Morgan Heritage, equipped, in my opinion, with one of the best voices on the scene. "Runaway" does nothing but make you jump, from the first to the last second, just like "Leave Us Alone", the most Dancehall of the lot.

However, the gold medal goes to "Empressed," a love song, endowed with a chorus that I think I've hummed even in dreams. But the immediacy of Gentleman is a double-edged sword. Based on the premise that you can get tired of everything (even masterpieces, why not?), I have always believed that good music, especially that which requires a certain amount of time to assimilate, to understand, is the kind that, once it gets in, is hard to get out. In the "junkies' jargon" (always to stay on theme), the longer it takes to hit you, the more it stays in your blood. This is what Gentleman lacks: people get tired of him a bit too soon.

Conclusion: if you (first) hate Reggae, (second) are looking for technique, preparation, complexity, stay far away: this album is a slap in the face to Dream Theatre and their conservatory, just to be clear. However, if you think that what matters in music is to convey emotions, even if it means simplicity, make it yours immediately.

This, Gentleman knows how to do.