Mr. Mention

Originally released independently in Jamaica and later issued by PolyGram after Buju Banton became a global star, Mr. Mention collects the dancehall singer’s hits from the early '90s, a time in which his popularity exploded in Jamaica. This collection is a perfect illustration of how Banton bridged past to present. Songs like “Batty Rider,” “Have to Get You Tonight,” and “Dickie” took dancehall's fierceness to a new level, with a quotient of explicit sex and violence that would shame even the most hardened American gangsta rappers. On the other hand, there were also “No Woman No Fret,” “Love Me Brownin’,” “Buju Movin’,” and “Who Say,” which paired Banton’s vicious vocal attack to some of the sweetest and gentlest tunes of Jamaica’s past. (For reggae fans, it was the equivalent of Kurt Cobain deciding to sing some of the most beloved Beatles tunes.) All the disparate elements of Banton’s style—harshness and sweetness, relaxation and aggression, past and present—converge on “Bonafide Love,” a co-performance with Wayne Wonder that manages to be sweet and scary at the same time.