Spin (p.128) - "Beenie represents everything right about music: He sings, tap-dances, and rides a riddim with ecstatic glee."
NME (Magazine) (4/11/98, p.40) - 7 (out of 10) - "...[Beenie Man] remains an idiosyncratic proposition....After 15 cuts of prime dancehall, "Ain't Gonna Figure It Yet" comes as something of an aftershock, as the sounds of a hillbilly hoedown lead to a straight-faced country song..."
Personnel: Beenie Man (vocals); 56 Crew, Marie "Twiggy" Gittens, Michelle Jackson, J.C. Lodge, Michael Mendez, Nicola Tucker (background vocals); E. Freeman, Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Lloyd "Gitsy" Willis, Ansel Collins, Dean Fraser, Nambo, Jeremy Harding, Steve "Lenky" Marsden, Bob Patin, Kerry Marx, Milton Sledge, Mike Chapman, Hoot Hester, Tommy White, David Cole, Buju Banton, The Taxi Gang, A.R.P., Anthony Kelly, Lady Saw, Little Kirk, Danny Marshall, Andrew Thomas, Handel Tucker.
Producers include: Sly Dunbar, Lloyd "Gitsy" Willis, Robbie Shakespeare, Jeremy Harding, The Shocking Vibes Crew.
Engineers include: Hugh "Cuban" Palmer, Jeremy Harding, Dean Mundy.
Recorded at Sonic Sounds Recording Studio, Hard Sound Recording Studio, Penthouse Recording Studio & Anchor Recording Studios, Kingston, Jamaica; Wildwood Recording Studio, Nashville, Tennessee. Includes liner notes by Maxine Stowe.
MANY MOODS OF MOSES was nominated for a 1999 Grammy for Best Reggae Album.
Since debuting as a five year old prodigy, Beenie Man (aka Moses Davis) has quietly developed a reputation as a versatile performer whose pushes the boundaries of reggae. MANY MOODS OF MOSES finds Beenie Man applying his rapid-fire vocal style to duets with dancehall king Buju Banton ("Woman A Sample") and dancehall queen Lady Saw ("So Hot"). The opening cut, "Foundation," immediately indicates this isn't going to be a run-of-the-mill reggae album. Featuring cameos by Sly & Robbie and Dean Fraser, it has an African flavor to it that includes harmonizing a la Ladysmith Black Mambazo and a few verses of the folkloric "Wimoweh" before swinging into a contemporary dancehall beat. Elsewhere, Beenie Man throws in dub elements ("Have You Ever"), a tribute to Bob Marley and Steven Biko ("Steve Biko") and a hidden cover of Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative." Most surprising is the inclusion of "Ain't Gonna Figure," a pure country song recorded in Nashville and overflowing with fiddle and pedal steel.