Terry Lynn - Kingstonlogic 2.0

Artist: Terry Lynn
Album: Kingstonlogic 2.0
Genre: Reggae: Dancehall
Release Date: Sep 23, 2008
Qualities: Ragga/Electronic/Grime, Club music
Mood: Tough & Raw
RIYL: MIA, Sister Carol

Rating: ****

Terry Lynn's debut is an incredibly raw start, anyone expecting your standard contemporary club banging dancehall album will not find what they are looking for. Instead, Terry Lynn gets her "riddims" by having a number of different UK electronic artists provide heavy, relentless beats, giving her a grime aesthetic. Comparisons to MIA may exist, but the difference between MIA and Lynn is that Terry does not come off at all cute. This is not someone poking fun at the tradition of violence and aggressiveness in hardcore rap (such as in MIA's "Paper Planes")--this is someone trying to chant down Babylon.
She has three or four great different toasting styles--from an above average singjay voice (as on "Consumers") to hard-hitting speed toast. Lyrics are about the grittiness of Jamaican ghettos and the irresponsibility of politicians. And on songs like "System", Terry Lynn releases such intense anger it causes chills under one's skin. The album is magnificent for the first eight tracks, and would be an instant contemporary dancehall classic if it weren't for the two songs that follow. "Destiny" has a great electronic beat, but lyrically drops the ball with a refrain that tells us "There's a hero/inside of us all", with the rawness of the prior songs no where to be found. This is forgivable, because inspiring the youth is a noble enough purpose. But the next song goes against all of the political activism Lynn had set on the table beforehand. It is an attempt at a dance number with lyrics about a man who ignored Terry, but now that she is famous and rich she can put him in his place ("You read it in the magazine/I'm living life like a beauty queen"). When you've just listened to an entire album of biting ghetto anthems this song comes off incredibly petty. Luckily Lynn redeems herself with a wonderful throwback to roots reggae/dancehall with the fantastic spiritual closing number "The Most High"--in which she is accompanied by the Melodians vocalist, Brenton Dowe, set to a sparse nyabinghi drum beat and atmospheric electronics. Besides a couple blunders, this material is excellent (some of the best conscious dancehall of the 2000s) and one hopes to see more from Lynn soon. Highly recommended.

1. Child of the Soil ****
2. Kingstonlogic *****
3. Politricks (Interlude)
4. System *****!!
5. Screaming in the Night ***
6. Streetlife *****
7. Imf ***
8. Consumers ***
9. Destiny **
10. Stone *
11. The Most High (Interlude)
12. Rivers of Babylon *****
13. Kingston Rockers (Kingstonlogic remix [hidden track]) ****