Greatest Hits (CD)

Shabba Ranks was ragga's figurehead in the early '90s, delivering rude & lewd "slackness" lyrics (sample title: "Hard & Stiff") with a rough gravelly voice over equally aggressive, electronic beats. His international recording deal with Sony did not dilute his music, and allowed him to reach a far wider audience than any Jamaican DJ before. His work thrived in a world that had been musically hardened by the success and dominance of hip-hop.

• Category:  Music  »  Reggae  »  Dancehall/Ragga
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: August 7, 2001
• Label: Epic (USA)
• UPC: 074646142325
• WAPI (Tower ID): 106691772
• Average Customer Review: There are no customer reviews yet. Be the first to write a review!
• Tower.com Sales Rank: #18130 in Music (See Top 100 Music Bestsellers)
• #77 in Reggae (See Top 100 Reggae Bestsellers)
• #6 in Dancehall/Ragga (See Top 100 Dancehall/Ragga Bestsellers)

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Personnel includes: Shabba Ranks, Chevelle Franklin, Maxi Priest, Cocoa Tea, Home T, Mykal Rose, Johnny Gill, KRS-One, Krystal.

Producers include: Wycliffe "Steely" Johnson, Cleveland "Clevie" Browne, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, KRS-One.

Compilation producer: Jerry Rappaport.

Recorded between 1991 & 1995. Includes liner notes by Eliana Oumana.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

With one foot planted firmly in Jamaica's tradition of classic toasting (his precursors include U-Roy and Yellowman), and the other in the burgeoning world of American hip hop, Shabba Ranks purveyed a hard-hitting ragga-rap style that came to typify the form known as dancehall. Delivered over deep, bass-thick production, Ranks' provocative, rhythmically infectious delivery struck an international chord. The artist's particularly successful tenure at Epic Records in the early-to-mid-1990s is represented on GREATEST HITS, an impressive and well selected--if not comprehensive--sampler of Shabba's talents.

Included here are popular collaborations with other singers, including Maxi Priest ("Housecall"), Johnny Gill ("Slow and Sexy"), and KRS-One ("The Jam"); in addition to pairings with producers and arrangers like Sly Dunbar ("Shine Eye Gal"), Sean Combs ("Rough Life"), and long-term production partner Bobby "Digital" Dixon. "Trailor Load a Girls" and "Wicked in Bed" show Ranks wielding his renowned sexual braggadocio, while "Roots and Culture" proves him capable of tackling social issues. Ultimately, Ranks was a key player in the rise of Jamaican dancehall, and GREATEST HITS is a great overview of his contributions.

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