Steppin’ cover

Steppin’

Released

The profile of reggae in American and England is often skewed towards dub, so much so that fans lose sight of why the rhythms were cut in the first place. Griffiths is a master of something that really only shows up in Jamaican vocal pop—a kind of relaxed emotionalism, not nearly as churchy as American soul (not a Jamaican church, is it?) and not as perky as rocksteady and ska. Griffiths loves the straight ahead, unadorned vocal and Steppin’ will make you yearn for her lack of pretension if you spend enough time with it. I cannot confirm this but I think Adele’s conversational singing takes something from Griffith’s brand of power and quiet control.

Sasha Frere-Jones

Recommended by

Suggestions
The Toughest cover

The Toughest

Peter Tosh
Writings Ov Tomato cover

Writings Ov Tomato

Gav & Jord, Equiknoxx
Samba cover

Samba

Vieux Farka Touré
King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown cover

King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown

King Tubby, Augustus Pablo
Marcus Garvey cover

Marcus Garvey

Burning Spear
Heavyweight Dub Champion cover

Heavyweight Dub Champion

Scientist, Roots Radics
Mundell cover

Mundell

Hugh Mundell
Libertinaje cover

Libertinaje

Bersuit Vergarabat