Back to Basics

Once little more than a curious foreign oddity, dancehall reggae has gone mainstream. Sean Paul sells millions, Elephant Man and Bounty Killer turn up on records by Mariah Carey, Lil' Jon, and No Doubt, and hip-hop is consistently pollinated with dancehall rhythms. Beenie Man has been integral in driving dancehall's American crossover, but his latest album, the aptly-titled Back to Basics, returns the music to its Jamaican roots. This isn't a bad thing. "Dude" features Beenie spitting playfully raunchy rhymes over an intoxicating mix of acoustic guitar, steel drums, and laid-back rhythm, but it's Ms. Thing's inviting vocals that set it apart (and not just because she cooes things like, "I wanna dude who will do me in his van"). Beenie sticks mostly to his favorite subject here ("Love All Girls," "Grindacologist," "Pussy Language"), though the grooves vary wildly throughout. The only real American fingerprints belong to Timbaland, whose shuffling beats on "All Girls Party" fit seamlessly here, proof perhaps that dancehall's infiltration of pop is all but complete.