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.
