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M.I.A.'s debut record is both intensely urban and aggressively modern. The group's sole member, Maya Arul, infuses her blend of hip-hop and chunky electro with raw, tribal overtones and a healthy dose of sex appeal. There are elements of world music here, in Arul's multilingual vocal as well as the ...

Grammy winner (for 2001's Halfway Tree) Damian "Junior Gong" Marley, the youngest singing son of the immortal Bob and brother of Ziggy, Julian, Stephen and Ky-mani, has made a major splash in the family business. The confrontational title track of his third album (which entered the Billboard Top 20...

There's nothing like the warm spirit of the Caribbean to re-energize a dry, stale season of the same old song and dance. And with summer fast approaching there couldn't be a better time for Barbados-born singer Rihanna to break into an industry that is eager to celebrate the next big thing. Thanks t...

A Moment in Time...

While Disney has successfully cornered the market for younger teens with its Disney Channel musicals, Step Up shows the company (through its Buena Vista subsidiary) addressing the older high-school set with equal flair. Directed and choreographed by Anne Fletcher (choreographer of the excellent Brin...

Black Woman & Child...

It seems impossible to avoid the fusion and clash of cultures in world music these days. Connectivity means it's all within your (everyone else's) reach. Here on their second album, Nu Med, Balkan Beat Box continue to play at the nexus of Eastern European, klezmer, Arabic, hip-hop, rock and elect...

Now that everybody wears Rastafarian-flavored red, green, and gold wristbands and the Signal De Plane and Pon De River dances have grown to macarena-like proportions, you have Sean Paul (and the guy who actually invented these dances, the "Energy God" Elephant Man) to thank. This re-release intended...

With the release of 1995's Til Shiloh, reggae's premiere dancehall DJ proved he is as powerful a singer as he is a chanter. A quintessential Jamaican genius, Buju is a nexus of everything about that music culture that awes and frustrates outsiders who fall under its spell. This 21-track follow-up is...

In 1993, when Shaggy successfully reworked the Prince Buster ska classic "Oh Carolina," he was on the cusp of creating a hot, new ska/pop fusion. Unfortunately, he opted to become a pop-reggae novelty act like Snow. Shaggy's fourth album certainly won't win over new fans or appeal to reggae pu...