August 2009 Reggae Albums Releases

Contagious. | Release date: Aug. 4, 2009. | Label: VP Records.

Awarded Best Male Vocalist and Best Song at the 2008 International Reggae and World Music Awards, Tarrus Riley is the most promising of the second generation of Jamaica roots reggae singers. With an August 4, 2009 release of his much-anticipated third set CONTAGIOUS on Cannon Productions, distributed by VP Records, Tarrus Riley reaffirms that he is one of finest singer/songwriters of his generation, irrespective of musical genre. The son of Jimmy Riley – who has had a long career as a solo artist as well as being a former member of the Uniques and the Techniques. Riley’s songs retain ties to the Jamaican roots tradition while still managing to sound distinctly contemporary. In addition, his strong stage presence gives him crossover appeal and marks him as a coming force on the international reggae scene

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Imperial Blaze.| Release date: Aug. 18, 2009. | Label: Atlantic Records.

Sean Paul is known primarily for his airtime devouring, party-engineered, reggae pop tracks, but for his next album the singer said that he wants to take a more responsible path, and focus on youth violence in Jamaica. Some of the tracks from the new socially conscious Sean Paul album include titles like, “She Want Me,” “Birthday Suit,” “Hold My Hand,” and “Don’t Tease Me.” Left off was Sean Paul’s climate change warning, “Gimme Dat Booty.”

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Light. | Release date: Aug. 25, 2009. | Label: Sony.

Matisyahu had been working on his third album for nearly two years, making it the longest time he has ever spent making a record. The follow-up to Youth had been delayed several times before its release. First scheduled for early 2008, Light was pushed back numerous times because Matisyahu continued to tour off and on since the release of Youth. The new album’s release date was set for April 21, 2009, but on March 3, the release date was pushed back to May 12, 2009. Then, once again, he pushed the release back, this time to Summer 2009, ostensibly because Matisyahu decided to record more new songs. That date had already passed, and in a message from Matisyahu on Twitter the album is due to release on August 25th.

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Our World. | Release date: Aug. 25, 2009. | Label: VP Records.

TOK’s third album, Our World, is scheduled to be released in August, according to the group’s website. It will be distributed by VP Records. Afternoon Porn Star is the set’s lead single. It is produced by Tony Kelly, one of the top dancehall producers of the last 15 years. The quartet (Craigy-T, Flexx, Alex and Bay-C) has made a name as a hit-single group. They are best known for the songs When Doves Cry.

Their debut album, My Crew My Dawgs, was released in 2001 while the second, Unknown Language, came four years later. The latter contained the hit songs Gal Yuh Lead and Footprints.