The Singles Jukebox

We liked what he did with Ms Dynamite – will this float the boats again?…

[Myspace]
[6.88]

Alex Macpherson: The recent convergence of UK funky with dancehall is a beautifully inevitable development which pretty much assures that this summer is going to be fucking brilliant – especially if the unstoppable “Your Eye Too Fast” is a harbinger of quality. Sticky’s already given us one single of the year in Ms Dynamite’s “Bad Gyal”, and he picks up precisely where he left off: those unmistakeable socafied rhythms, galloping and cascading while bursts of strings dart off at tangents and an addictive house piano riff underpins it all. It’s a bucking bronco of a beat, and Lady Chann rides it as hard as she does an errant boyfriend’s miserable ass. Fierce and ferocious, she castigates, denounces and threatens him with a tongue-lashing he’ll never forget. This is partly, of course, because she’s the first (of many, no doubt) to dare dip a toe into the waters of Recent Unpleasantness – though it’s more like wading bodily in and splashing it in everyone’s face, with the line everyone will quote (“ME A THE CHRIS BROWN, YOU A THE RIHANNA”) displaying a brilliant disregard for tastefulness. Music basically doesn’t come better than this; if you don’t get that, then you need not only new ears but a new ass.
[10]

Hillary Brown: I cannot fathom how anyone could enjoy this in any way. It doesn’t seem danceable. It doesn’t really have a melody. The rhythms aren’t interesting. I can’t understand the lyrics. Not only do I not like it, but I can’t get out of my head and into a space where others could.
[0]

David Raposa: Whatever Sticky’s rat-a-tat-tat Fugitive Riddim leaves standing, Lady Chann’s dungeon dragon style puts down quick and hard. I pity the fool that can’t keep his eyes on her prize.
[8]

Rodney J. Greene: The imitations that UK MCs have been doing for a while have been passable and all, but it’s high time that someone finally takes the initiative to introduce honest-to-god dancehall deejaying into funky house. Luckily, it’s such an obvious thing to do that the learning curve often involved in such fusions is nonexistent. Both elements are at their respective genres’ most rhythmically aggressive, and Lady Chann makes the most of the pugnacious occasion.
[9]

Michaelangelo Matos: Well made ragga-house: not a huge reward-in-itself, but there’s something in the tension between the raw vocal and the smooth music that strikes a unique spark.
[7]

Martin Skidmore: Energetic dance-reggae, with Lady Chann sounding positively angry at some man wanting sex too soon. The music is kind of jerky in parts, and a bit too celebratory for a song that is all about refusal. Still, if you ignore the meaning, and I often do, it’s the kind of thing to get me jumping around, except when the impetus is lost in the odd clunky moments.
[7]

Dave Moore: Lady Chann’s aggressive delivery stands out in a generally clunky production — each element kind of hangs out in its corner and the effect is of a song with several of its layers accidentally muted. I can imagine her voice having real power in either a more spare or complementary lush setting, but this middle ground makes everything sound awkward.
[5]

Tom Ewing: Vivid, lubricious, uncontrolled, silly excitement – gawd bless you, Sticky. This is the piss-elegant side of funky – those aggressively, ostentatiously classy Latin rhythms – allied to Lady Chann’s chat, a masterclass in derisive force. The two parts never quite mesh, which makes the record seem more spontaneous, riskier, closer to implosion.
[9]