Caribbean Beat — January/February 2017 (#143)

Single Spotlight
What Can We Do Again? John John, featuring
a_phake
Trinidadian neo-soul singer John
John has successfully taken on
one challenge for a number of
Caribbean musicians: to write
and sing a song that addresses
issues that are larger than our
Caribbean space, including
the wider Americas, but still
remaining relevant to our
instant circumstance. The question asked in the title of
this powerful single — “What Can We Do Again?” — is
made after observation of the desperation of black
souls in the Americas. “We prayed for all these years /
We wasted all these tears,” is a lament of keen scrutiny
from an impatient generation. The song asks a hard
question, and gives one solution: unify. Co-producer and
co-writer a_phake (Ravi Maharaj) strips down the song
with bare accompaniment on a guitar passing through an
echo reverb, to add a haunting dimension to the lyric. It
challenges past actions and questions current biases that
have plagued people of colour in the Americas for some
time, one in need of answers.
All Because You Love Me Stephen John
Love songs don’t get more
universal than this. Universal in
the sense that this praise song
addresses more than feelings
of love between people, but
speaks to that relationship
with God that has John and his
collaborators “walking, smiling,
dancing, singing.” A funky bass
ostinato creates a hypnotic groove that carries John’s
velvety voice — so reminiscent of R&B crooner Maxwell —
along on a even pace, so that the message is not hidden
by the rhythmic effervescence so popular in modern praise
and worship music. The production is modern, and looks
to an audience that understands less is sometimes more.
Spoken-word verses and a fabulous bridge vocal by Derron
Sandy, Diamonique Roy, and Faith Otey address the subject
of love in terms that speak to Caribbean people, and in
the timbre and accent that suggest this single can bridge
regions and can make plain the non-discriminatory way we
love, we walk, we dance, and we sing.
Reviews by Nigel A. Campbell
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