ROOTS AND CULTURE - FRANCE

Review in French by: Yogi

Du lourd, ce que l'on aime appeller du Heavy roots, Taj Weekes en provenance de St. Lucie, avec une voix hight, des thêmes rastas habituels, nous livre un excellent 2° album Deidem, qui veut dire: "nous tous," une production sur son propre label Jatta Records. Loin du nu-roots et des singjays à la mode, Taj nous plonge dans les racines du reggae, avec des chants de sufferers et d'élévations: "Angry Language." Plus d'un bon titre sur l'album "Propaganda War," "Darks Clouds," "Little Fire." Dans "Since Cain," "Depuis Cain," Taj fait le constat:

"Is there anyone with sense to put an end to this violence/I kill you, you kill me we got an empty country/and so the cycle goes around/it goes up and comes down/and soon your smile becomes a frown/when karma visits your town"

Né sur lîle de Sainte Lucie, Taj s'en est échappé pour Toronto puis New York ou il a formé Taj Weekes and Adowa. 2005 - date de sortie de leur premier album intiltulé Hope and Doubt. Malheureusement s'en suit une épisode tragique, le décès de son père et sa mère, ce qui a pour conséquence de lui faire prendre un virage dans l'écriture des textes:

"I wrote about the world instead of myself." Taj Weekes

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

"Du lourd," this is what I like to call "Heavy" roots. Taj Weekes, from St. Lucia, with a high voice and the usual Rasta themes, delivers an excellent second album Deidem, meaning “all of us,” a production on his own label, Jatta Records. Far from "nu-roots" and the "singjays" of the moment, Taj plunges us into the roots of reggae, with the songs of sufferers and uprising such as Angry Language. There is more than one good track on the album: Propaganda War, Dark Clouds and Little Fire. In Since Cain, Taj sings:

"Is there anyone with sense to put an end to this violence/I kill you, you kill me we got an empty country/and so the cycle goes around/it goes up and comes down/and soon your smile becomes a frown/when karma visits your town"

Born on the island of Saint Lucia, Taj left home for Toronto and then New York where he formed Taj Weekes and Adowa. Their first album, entitled Hope and Doubt, was released in 2005. Following a tragic period during which he lost both his father and mother, he took a sharp turn in the focus of his writing:

"I wrote about the world instead of myself." Taj Weekes