Gappy Ranks - Put the Stereo On (2010)

Artist: Gappy Ranks
Album: Put the Stereo On
Genre: Reggae/Dancehall
Release Date: Aug 24, 2010
Mood: Feel Good, Positive
RIYL: Tenor Saw, Buju Banton, Romain Virgo

Rating: ***

The British deejay, Gappy Ranks' full length debut presents a dilemma. It is an album composed of original toasts by Gappy Ranks over old school pre-ragga riddims (a number of which are Studio One classics). Of course this recycling is an integral part of the reggae culture and it's music industry; the difficulty is not the reuse of old riddims but rather the fact that the music here is nearly indistinguishable in most respects from dancehall created 20+ years ago (Gappy's toasts are generally arranged in a very old school singjay style here to fit the riddims). The problem lies in the fact that the main distinct contemporary element of Gappy's album is his use of autotuning on five of the songs (under half).
Ultimately, I think the throwback element of this album is wonderful, the whole work becomes a very cohesive listen with it's consistent dedication to early riddims. But I wonder about the use of autotuning. Generally, I am less aggravated by the use of autotuning then most purists; I quite enjoy it on a number of other contemporary dancehall albums, such as Busy Signal's Loaded. However, when coupled with old riddim classics it just doesn't seem to go over as well. "Heaven In Your Eyes", despite being an excellently written song, does not sound as good as many of the excellent tracks in which Gappy left his voice unaltered. Yet, I can't seem to fully dismiss the autotuning on this album altogether. The title track, "Put the Stereo On" is one of the best songs here and doesn't seem to suffer from it's use. Overall though, the rest of the songs that do use it (there are three) make up some of the least engaging moments on the album.
Beyond the question of autotune, Gappy Ranks shows that he is an excellent songwriter. His singing is solid enough to be satisfying (without the autotuning) and his toasting is superb. Lyrics are positive throughout, whether serving up culture chunes or lover's numbers. Besides using old riddims, the album contains numerous looks backward at reggae's history. The packaging contains information about Pekings records' history, which is also mentioned in the title track. "Pumpkin Belly" is a cover of a classic cut by Tenor Saw originally over the Sleng Teng riddim. "Rude Boy" is a dedication to Bob Marley consisting of lyrics composed largely of his song titles impressively strung together. "Soul Rebel" is a Marley cover spiced up into a dancehall style that recalls Tony Rebel's version "He's a Rebel" off of "Rebel with a Cause" (1992). Regardless of the slight grating of the autotuning, this album is a solid listen and a refresher in a dancehall market a bit oversaturated with hip-hop and militant trends. Expect good things from Gappy Ranks in the future.

1. Mountain Top ****
2. Heaven in Her Eyes ***
3. Put the Stereo On *****!
4. Pumpkin Belly *****
5. Happiest Day of My Life **
6. Musical Girl *
7. A Little Understanding ****
8. Thy Shall Love ***
9. So Lost **
10. Heavy Load *****!
11. Rude Boy ****
12. Soul Rebel ****