With his album African Revolution, Tiken Jah Fakoly created a fresh new African reggae style by recording in Jamaica and then adding West African instruments. The Mali-based political exile from Ivory Coast uses the same technique on this new set of reggae covers, on which he is joined by a remarkable cast. It starts with Is It Because I’m Black?, a hit in Jamaica for Ken Boothe in 1973, which now begins with gentle African kora, n’goni and balafon as Fakoly duets with an on-form Boothe, before Jamaica’s legendary rhythm section Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare kick in. There are also appearances by U Roy and Max Romeo on an inventive set that includes such re-worked 70s classics as One Step Forward, along with a Buju Banton song and a French-language tribute to Fakoly’s compatriot Alpha Blondy.
