When Buju Banton failed to crossover back in the 1990s, the truth had to be faced: Reggae was no longer a force in US popular music and in 2014 it is a marginalized if not cult sound, Reggae has become the soccer of pop music, those who know, know. At City Park Foundation’s Summerstage on Saturday afternoon, presented by the ubiquitous Questlove’s Okay Player website and Federation Sound, you’d be hard pressed to prove it. Half an hour into headliner Chronixx set, people are still trying to get in.
Chronixx, the 21 year old son of singer The Chronicle, raised in recording studios with the likes of the late great Gregory Isaacs and the jailed but not forgotten Buju Banton, is the spearhead of the Reggae Revival finally making its way to the US. After decades of hybrid hip hop and a failure to get a footing in the US market, Chronixx and other musicians signed to his ZincFence Recordz, folks like Jah Cure, Kabaka Pyramid, and Protoje, all of whom he name checked, are making a sharp turn backwards: socially conscious, Jah conscious Reggae. “Dance Hall is just Reggae played in Dance Halls” the 21 year old singer claimed from the stage.
Before we got there, New York’s creative collective Rice & Beans, brought out some great dancers and DJs and toasted along between sets. Opening act was the sublime Junior Reid. You might know Reid from the time he spent with Black Uhuru, or you might know him from the hit “This Is why I’m Hot” and his last song was with rapper Spesh on “Born Free” but that isn’t what we got Saturday afternoon. Fronting his own band, Reid performed mainstream reggae with lotsa bass and every bass lick like Aston Barrett had wandered on stage. At 51 years of age, Reid gave a high energy all out performance and topped it with the gorgeous lover’s rock “Hard Choices”.
This was about as big as it gets for Chronixx, while not his first US concert, the people are watching vibe was unmistakable hard on the heels of his US Television first performance on “The Tonight Show” which followed a week of hype by Jimmy Fallon himself, who claimed he first heard Chronixx playing in the lobby of a hotel in Jamaica (apparently he didn’t bother checking out Questlove’s website), the world was ready for the Reggae star of the moment.
“How many people here are from Jamaica?” Chronixx asked and the answer was deafening but even still, this was about showing America what you got and the pressure effected Chronixx and his band The Zincfence Redemption not in the slightest. The consciousness raising roots reggae performer performed songs off his debut EP Dread And Terrible, extolled the virtues of Jah and Rastaman, and performed an excellent version of his break through “Here Comes Trouble”. Towards the end he covered the crown prince of reggae Dennis Brown and nailed it in the afternoon’s most triumphant moment. Despite his youth, he has a certain gravity about him, he is the real deal not a contender for Reggae and for testifying. He transcended his own moment.
Love has indeed found a way. Chronixx is is all there and already a Reggae who might be able to do what Buju, Beres, so many others haven’t done in way too long… crossover. I mean, really, Magic!?
Grade: B+
