Mutabaruka
Check It! RAS 3264
Produced by: Chinna Smith and Mutabaruka
Original
Issue Date: 1983
Release Date:
May 22, 2001
"Mutabaruka
is a Jamaican dub poet who combines social commentary with scathing
personal analysis and endearing humor. Just above his forehead,
Mutabaruka has a strip of white hair that bisects his jet-black locks.
That is the only white thing about this revolutionary writer whose
"Every Time A 'Ear De Sound" burst through the mellow reggae
of 1982 like a bullet from an AK-47.
Performing without shoes, Muta's deep-voiced, uncompromising rants make his a unique, almost fearsome figure whose melding of poetry and dub music make him seem akin to an Old Testament prophet saying "Listen, or else!"
- Roger Steffens, All-Music Guide
When Check It! was first released in 1983, it was immediately heralded as one of reggae’s most powerful statements since Bob Marley’s revolutionary themes drew international attention in the 1970’s. The politically charged dub poet Mutabaruka blended his unique vision of life into the musical arrangements and production of Earl "Chinna" Smith for a musical tour de force which still packs the same punch today as it did nearly two decades ago. Originally released on the Alligator label and only available as a CD for a limited time, RAS is honored to now reissue this remastered classic which has not been available for close to seven years.
Now considered to be the Kind Of Blue of dub poetry, Check It! remains the high water mark of rootical reggae poetry. With a piercing gaze that directly examines and questions actual socio-economic realities, this debut set of Muta’s speaks not only to its age but out of it, and finds its audience in all of humanity with the question "Whey Mi Belang?" So sit dung pon de wall and contemplate de system with one of the most focused and fully realized meditations on the subject.
Track
List: Length:
34:30
1. Intro (0:29)
2. Check It (2:50)
3. De System (2:51)
4. Everytime A ‘Ear De Sound (3:05)
5. Witeman Country (3:59)
6. Whey Mi Belong? (3:59)
7. Say (1:18)
8. Angola Invasion (3:42)
9. Hard Time Loving (3:35)
10. Butta Pan Kulcha (3:51)
11. Sit Dung Pon De Wall (1:25)
12. Naw Give Up (3:16)
PERSONNEL:
Drums: Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Carlton
Barrett, "Drummer" Stone, "Specs" Bifirimbi
Bass: Earl "Chinna" Smith , Christopher Meredith,
Leebert "Gibby" Morrison
Guitars: Earl "Chinna" Smith, Andy Bassford
Keyboards: Augustus Pablo, Phillip Ramacon, Stephen Stewart,
Errol "Tarzan" Nelson, Earl "Wire" Lindo
Melodica: Augustus Pablo, Phillip Ramacon
Saxophone: Dean Frazier
Trombone: Nambo
Trumpet: David Madden, Bobby Ellis
Percussion: Sydney Wolfe - repeater, bass, fundi, Harry T.
Powell