“Reggae Loves Romance!” leaves no doubt that it is an Alfa male driven album. From its first track to the last, it is all about male ego ‘honing’ or reeling in, a prospective or particular woman. Once again Eisaku “Selector A” Yamaguchi has done it. He has put together and produced a masterful album to please the ladies.
According to Selector A, the title of his album is the story of a man; and the theme is about the type of woman that a man likes and wants. The overall scheme is a dedication to all Caribbean woman. The estranged producer also carefully pointed out that the concept for the album came about when he showed his co-workers a story from a man’s perspective and they agreed it is a story for the album. The idea is that the man’s love gets stronger as you listen to each of the tracks.
For example, all the tracks have a story to tell and within track 12, the story there is that the man’s love is getting stronger and stronger.
“These particular tracks carry strong messages and people already know that when these artists are singing their respective songs, the audience and fans, know that what they’re singing about is true,” said Selector A. “I was not just looking for love songs. There is always a saying, why do you love someone? A person may look interesting and are kind to you, both of you start talking and talking until one day the person becomes special to you. Then you decide to be with this person. Thereafter, you don’t mind doing anything for this person from day one for the rest of his / her life. I wanted to show emotional feelings and used one album to change the listener’s thought,” explained the intriguing producer.
The incentive and inspiration for the idea of the album is, ‘man finding a woman.’ “I want people to have nostalgia (bring back memories) by listening to my album. That’s why I put the album in the order that I did. From the first track to the last track, there is one man showing his love for a woman.” “The concise meaning being, loving someone and the power of that love,” Selector A stated.
In addition, the music analogist confirmed that he literally took six months putting the album together. He said it took him that long because he had to go through the catalog to decide what to use; then listen to his selections, put them away and go back to them again and listen. At the same time, he had to choose songs that would make the audience reflect upon their years as youngsters in love.
Selector A, was earnest that each artist is singing the best topic for himself. Here again, he stated that Romaine Virgo, is singing about love from his point of view and contends that each artist is also singing about their particular experience; which makes the songs on the album authentic. He also noted that one important factor is that all of the artist are Jamaicans.
The album’s layout is exceptional, each artist’s song carried its own weight and the caliber in sequence was arranged beautifully. Hearing these songs were a refresher and because of the album’s theme each song was listened to with more profound intense. A superb album for Valentine’s Day. Pulling put out my favorites would be: Garnet Silk’s “Come To Me,” Morgan Heritage’s “Love You Right,” Romaine Virgo’s “Dark Skin Girl,” Maxie Priest’s “I Could Be The One,” and “She Is Royal,” by Tarrus Riley. Rounding out the completion of the album includes: Richie Spice’s “Brown Skin,” Beres Hammond’s “Tempted To Touch,” Sanchez’s “Pretty Girl,” Sizzla’s “Woman I need You,” Christopher Martin’s “Take My Love,” I Wayne’s “Need Her In My Arms,” and Jah Cure’s “Love You.”
Moreover, when asked what did he hear in these particular songs to give them a qualifying pass he stated, “There are so many beautiful songs out there; however, if a song didn’t fit into the concept of a “Man’s Love For a Woman,” it was out….it did not get selected.” Each track, he said, had to be real because the perception had to be that it happened in real life. “In the movies man can find a love interest in 120 minutes, but in real life, it takes in some cases a lifetime. Each track is serious and can happen in your lifetime,” lamented a meticulous Selector A.
In citing the beauty of the album, Selector A explained that there are three artists on the album who clearly define what the album is referring to; Romaine Virgo, Richie Spice, and Sizzla… whose tracks pellucidly mentioned love — dark skin girls, brown skin girls, Jamaican girls and African women. He said when you listen to the album from the beginning to end, you will know the meaning of the tracks, thus, the significance and overall relevance. Selector A, couldn’t pick one album to compare this album to. The biggest difference he said is that each track is linked to the next track, so lyrics were key.
Selector A’s biggest reason for releasing this album is that there are too much domestic violence out there and with this album he hopes that people can go back to a time once was; also, because of the things he sees on the news too often. He said, “That’s why I hope this album can help change anybody’s mind or solve their problem. When I release an album it always has a meaning to help somebody or support somebody,” he quipped.
The sternly spoken producer also created the album because he sees race discrimination problems today. “Some police officers are attacking African-Americans for no reason or even if there is a reason, it’s overkill — their actions. As Japanese, we want to show our position. We love African-American people and we love Caribbean people, so which means I want to say to all of them, we are proud of our skin and our culture and we are 100 percent behind them,” he said.
The album will be released worldwide on April 8, 2016 and will be available at any major music store including online.
